Shooting cows with calfs

[Justin7mm]

I am hunting an area for archery where cows are legal.  I would rather not shoot a cow with a calf, but i was curious about what other people think.  Does anyone actually know how much calf mortality goes up if it loses its  mother in late summer early fall?

[Dbax129]

Tag

[buckfvr]

Depends on where you're talkin..........calf recruitment is poor at best here in n.e. wa, not many make it the first month.....me...dry cows only.........

[blacktailcody]

Pretty sure if its part of a herd they will take care of the calf/calves. But don't trust me talk to someone who knows.

[TommyH]

Depends on where you're talkin..........calf recruitment is poor at best here in n.e. wa, not many make it the first month.....me...dry cows only.........

 

[washelkhunter]

Calves are grazing and actively fending for themselves 1 month after birth and fully weaned by Oct. Elk are herd animals and the calf will rejoin with them. I wouldnt worry about it. However it does make you feel like a total @#$%&*-+ to be gutting momma out whilst baby is nuzzling her face.   

[furbearer365]

If you can keep from doing it I would.  I personally wouldn't enjoy cleaning up a cow while her little one looks back for mama.

[wildweeds]

Shooting any big game animal with younguns on their sides is similar to fishing with monofiliment net in the river,Same thing as pooping where you eat. Go for it on  a barren old hag that takes the feed off of producing animals.

[Coastal_native]

I'd try not too, but if you're hunting herds, it'd be pretty difficult to determine if a cow had a calf or not...in the heat of the moment.  From my perspective, if you're hunting cows, you're either killing a cow with a calf, a cow that is pregnant with a calf, or a cow that will have multiple calves throughout it's life.  It sucks to leave a calf stranded with no mommy, but no other predators take that into consideration...in fact most of them would just assume kill the calf as well. 

[Bullkllr]

Calves are grazing and actively fending for themselves 1 month after birth and fully weaned by Oct. Elk are herd animals and the calf will rejoin with them. I wouldnt worry about it. However it does make you feel like a total @#$%&*-+ to be gutting momma out whilst baby is nuzzling her face.   

What you're saying may be generally true, but I have seen calves nursing in Late November/December.
In September there are plenty of cow/calf pairs not attached to a herd yet. I think if you take the mama in that situation, survival chances for the calf are slim to none.

[Kain]

A lone cow with a young calf?... probably not.  Part of a herd?... probably.  From what I looked up the calves are weaned after a couple months and are grazing with the herd. 


Edit: I have seen some pretty young spotted calves early season but not often.

[TheHunt]

A buddy shot a calf many years ago.  I had the opportunity to eat one of the steaks.  It was fantastic... 

[Kain]

A buddy shot a calf many years ago.  I had the opportunity to eat one of the steaks.  It was fantastic...

Oh shooting the calf?     I hunt with my dad...we got two tags.   

[Coastal_native]

A buddy shot a calf many years ago.  I had the opportunity to eat one of the steaks.  It was fantastic...

So...if you're worried about leaving a calf stranded, shoot the calf and let momma go.  Problem solved.   

[coachcw]

the thing is no matter what your standards are 90% of the guys will shoot the first cow they see .