Any cow elk only hunters this year?

midwesthunter

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I am taking a couple guys who have never elk hunted before to WY this year to go after a cow elk. We discussed bull options, but both of them would rather cut there teeth on a lower priced tag. I don't have the unit narrowed down yet that we will be going to. I'm a novice elk hunter my self. Looking forward to a week in the mountains and hopefully some full coolers.

Who else is going after a cow tag straight from the get go?
 
I've only hunted a cow, but that's because I haven't drawn a bull tag yet. I'm in for a Type 1 and a Type 6 this year. I'm hoping for the Type 1, but won't be crushed as long as I draw at least a Type 6.
 
I was drawn for a damage hunt in Central MT .
It is cow only I can shoot two.
Went first part of January and could only find Bulls .
We hunted up on to 50 bulls, no cows.
It runs to Feb 15th. I may go back and thru again first part of February.
 
I hunted cows only this season as I didn't draw my first choice type 1 tag and drew a type 4 as my second choice. I had every intention to pick up a General tag, been I ended up chasing grouse and antelope all September. I ended up seeing a lot of bulls. If I had been bull hunting, I'd have filled my tag on opening day and not gone elk hunting (with my own tag)again until January (drew a type 7 tag too). I'm actually glad I didn't have a bull tag. I got to spend more days afield and get a better feel for the unit for future hunts.
 
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A buddy and I are hoping to pull a cow tag in WY this year. It will be our first year/first attempt at it. Studying onx, gohunt, and WY F&G until my eyes have crossed.
 
Cows with Cushman 2018. Researching quality tent soundproofing as we speak. That is if Uncle Sam says I can.
 
Headed to Wyoming this weekend for a late season cow elk hunt.
 
Cows are good eating. Better than a smelly old bull IMO. I have a shoulder tag for HD 215 in Montana, good only on private land. I haven't been out since the general season closed, but I'm hoping to this weekend.
 
i have to wait 7yrs before i can even put in for a bull again in my home state. Hopefully i can draw a cow.
 
With the price increases everywhere, I see almost all cow hunts in my future. Someday I’d like to shoot a bull, but the cow tags are easier to draw and much easier to justify to my wife.
 
One of these years I'll try going after a bull but I'm really a meat hunter so cows are good.

I drew a cow tag in WY last year and filled it over Thanksgiving. I plan on putting in again for the same tag, same area. My parents live in the hunt area where I drew/put in, REALLY nice to have a hot shower and soft bed to sleep in every night.
 
I hunted for cow elk this year. I couldn't get an archery tag in the area I hunt in Idaho, all my buddies didn't pick up their bull tags before they sold out. We picked up leftover cow tags in ID in a couple units and filled 4 of 7. 3 of the hunters are first timers with filling an elk tag. They are happy to have a freezer full of meat and get their first elk. My first 4 elk were cows, which I would be happy to shoot one every year if I have a tag. Good eating and help keep my motivation high for looking for mature mule deer.
 
I'm putting in for a cow tag only in Wyoming this year because I don't want to risk burning my points in a year where a move and job change is likely with vacation uncertain. I'll use it to scout a unit for a bull tag in the next few years and if I can't manage the hunt the price is a lot easier to swallow as a donation to Wyoming game and fish.
 
With the price increases everywhere, I see almost all cow hunts in my future. Someday I’d like to shoot a bull, but the cow tags are easier to draw and much easier to justify to my wife.

I have only hunted cows. Bulls are cool, and sometimes seem easy to find (I had a sweet shot on a nice bull this year. He would have died right next to a road, too), but I'm mainly there for the hunting experience and the meat. I shudder to think what it would cost me to get a nice set of elk antlers home....

I also like that cow tags tend to be cheaper, but this is my current beef with Wyoming. Why are so many of the cow tags there full-price? That seems cruel and unusual to me.
 
I did the same thing this year. It was my first year elk hunting, and I went for the cow tag. I don't regret it either. I think the most important thing to start out is to just get out there and start learning.
 
I waited 10 years to hunt a cow in Kalistan with a bow! I would have probably waited my lifetime to hunt a bull with the point structure that is out here.

I am headed to NM or CO next year and undecided on whether to go cow or bull at this point. Can't beat the bounty!!!
 
You can't eat the horns! Thats what we like to say. I have a shoulder season tag for 217 in Montana that I hope to fill before the end of the season.
 
I try every year to draw a cow tag in Montana. It usually takes a year or two of applying to draw a tag, which I'm fine with.
I drew "b" or cow tag in 2016 and fill a cow tag opening weekend. In 2015 I just had a general bull tag, and I was hunting mid-November and I found a single set of large elk tracks. It was cold, and the tracks had been made the night before, so I started tracking this big bull. I found his first bed at 9-10 that morning after about a mile of tracking. He left that bed and joined up with a cow/calf pair which I thought was rather strange. They lined out and crossed a large park, so I figured it was early morning or at night when they traveled through the meadow. I went to the truck and drove around to the opposite side of the park and resumed tracking around 11AM. The elk were headed up to a large mountain to bed. Anyhow, I tracked for about another hour and a found out the bull was a 800 pound cow. She was huge and had bedded about 100 yards upslope from the cow/calf pair that I never seen. She would have cut up a lot of steaks/burger and her coat was really blonde like a bull. She would have been a real trophy for me. Good luck in the draws.
 
Hunted for cows 2 of last 3 seasons. Will again this year ,if I don't draw a bull tag.
 

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