Why is it...

[Quick Draw]

...that the cow leads an elk herd? I have always wandered this, and the only answer I've eer gotten is "because they do". But really why is that?
Quick Draw

[highmuley]

Doesnt the cow lead...your herd??? Mine does!!

[fair-chase]

Doesnt the cow lead...your herd??? Mine does!!

Just don't let her hear you refer to her as "the cow"     

[runamuk]

In herding animals the lead cow, mare, ewe etc keeps the group together finds food and water and shelter and basically looks out for the welfare of the group.  In horses its a matriarchal thing usually daughters of the leader pick up that position when she is no longer able to lead.  Now in horses anyway there is typically a alpha stallion and he stays with his herd and keeps away competitors and helps maintain order...horses can breed all year long so he must stay...his sons also stay with the herd like spikes until they become old enough to reproduce then they are kicked to the curb these groups of males often form little bachelor bands that travel together.....herding animals find safety in numbers it is bad to be a lone elk or horse or cow....that is how you get eaten.

I think from a biology standpoint the mare or cow leads because she is the one that has the babies and the males are compelled to breed but also to defend against interlopers....if there wasnt a cow to keep the group together imagine the chaos every time the bulls started to fight cows running willy nilly being picked up by random males...it wouldn't work in the long run.......its really fascinating to watch herding animals....

[highmuley]

Doesnt the cow lead...your herd??? Mine does!!

Just don't let her hear you refer to her as "the cow"     

Oh Ya!!!! For Sure!!!! What she don't know wont hurt her (OR ME)!!!

[Hunterman]

The cows are together most of thier lives..The bulls are just for breeding.. The bulls stay with the hurds long enough to breed the reseptive cows..The hurd is lead by a barren cow that knows the feeding areas, caving, and generally the way of the world ( so to say)..Smartest, stongest.. After the rut, most big bulls go on thier marry way, the smaller bulls stay with the hurd until spring, when the lead cow will run them off during calving..

Hunterman(Tony)

[coxral]

I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather be behind the ladies WATCH'N  'em from their behinds!!! 

[ser300wsm]

I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather be behind the ladies WATCH'N  'em from their behinds!!! 

   

[400out]

I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather be behind the ladies WATCH'N  'em from their behinds!!! 

You just have to be careful!! I always get cought looking to follow the wrong cow 

[Todd_ID]

I saw that picture in the deer hunting section 400.... You're a mad man if you ever try following other cows. 

One thing to think about with the cows leading the herd is that most herds have their bulls being hunted each fall.  The cows generally die of old age.  Age equates to experience in the woods, so the old cows are exceptionally smart.

[boneaddict]

Its almost always a cow or old doe that nails me when I am hunting.  Rarely is it the bull or buck.   They tend to be way more wary as they;ve been raising babies.

[PolarBear]

No kidding!  It seems that whenever I get a buck to come by my stand there is always a couple of does pointed right at me.  Not necessarily looking at me but in my direction as if they know something is there but is just waiting to see who moves first.  Once the buck decides to come by it seems that they are not as on alert as the does.  I don't know how many times I had to wait to draw back on a buck because a doe was in the way and looking around.  

[Alchase]

They are also the most inquisitive/aggressive, I have never had a buck or bull try to run me off, but it has happened often with does that walk up up snorting and stomping, lol