January cow elk

RICMIC

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Feb 21, 2012
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Two Harbors, Minnesota
I just returned from my January cow elk hunt. Once again I had to pay my dues in order to be successful....as it should be. I had spent 6 weeks in WY this fall and filled my bull tag during the archery season, and after some fishing ventures attempted to fill my limited cow/calf tag when the rifle season opened. No luck, so I returned home and waited for a report from my friend about when the elk returned to the winter range. He told me in mid Dec. that the time was right, but severe weather delayed things until recently.
I drove 1,380 miles in two days, and saw nothing but thick fog where the elk were supposed to be. The next morning was still foggy, and I was trying to glass thru it when my bud came out to do some ranch chores and told me that his neighbor could see some elk on the mountain behind his house. After a short drive, I was looking at 4 bedded elk that were in enough fog that I couldn't range them. An hour later I had climbed up to where the elk had crossed over the top (two feet of snow & 800 feet or so up), and they were now bedded 324 yards on the next ridge. BOOM, ?????? I couldn't see her now after the other elk ran off, so it was down the mt. & up again....another hour of huff, puff, sweat, swear, foggy glasses, etc.
I finally got to where the cow had been and saw no blood or a dead elk. What the heck?? Then I spotted the wounded cow as it stood up on the next ridge. 340 yards this time. BOOM! Flop. Great, except hat meant another long hike and a real beast of a pack=out.
Just then my friend roared up in his mountain sled (I had called him after the first shot), and he was able to ride up to the cow and drag it all the way back to his trailer. It still took me about 1 1/2 hours to get back to my truck. So now after four days of driving and one day of hunting I am back home and starting to work on four frozen elk quarters. Life is good.
 

RICMIC

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Feb 21, 2012
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Two Harbors, Minnesota
Let's give it a try. I was able to import the photos and video from my phone the same way that I do with my camera. I will try to link them as an attachment here. I did not take a pic of the dead cow as the first time I was close it was already loaded on the trailer. The 340 yard follow-up shot was to the top of the far slope, and it is tough to pick out the cow laying there. If the video loads, it is a panarama of the way that I had come. I started out on foot in the fog zone behind me, and my first shot was from the first slope out of the fog (324 yds.) to where I am standing now.20230108_114016.jpg20230108_113922.jpg
 
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RICMIC

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Feb 21, 2012
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Two Harbors, Minnesota
Well, I at least got the photos...not much to show, but the video won't post. I should have pulled out my camera and taken a few shots of the long line of elk that was moving across the mountain over a mile away. It looked like when the big herds used to migrate out of Yellowstone. These gals weren't leaving, they were likely just moving around to where us old guys won't be shooting at them.
 

Colorado Cowboy

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Jun 8, 2011
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The first time I shot a late season cow elk (late January) many years ago, it kinda spooked me a little. When I was gutting it and a partially developed fetus came out, I was a little bummed. Since then I have taken a couple more and knew what to expect.
 
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RICMIC

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Feb 21, 2012
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The first time I shot a late season cow elk (late January) many years ago, it kinda spooked me a little. When I was gutting it and a partially developed fetus came out, I was a little bummed. Since then I have taken a couple more and knew what to expect.
I had the same reaction to my first cow elk kill also CC. This cow was "dry", and had a big body, so I am suspecting that she was an old-timer. As such, most of it became hamburger and sausage. But, I have never had a poor eating elk, even a rutty old 6x6.
 
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RICMIC

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We had our first steak from the cow, and that old gal was the toughest piece of wild game that we have ever chewed on. It still tasted good. That was a piece out of the rump and we just fried it up to medium rare, so I hope that the backstraps are better. We'll just make sure to marinade, tenderize, or slow cook it in the future. On the spike bull that I had shot during archery (Sept.), that is the best elk that I have ever had.
 
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Hilltop

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Feb 25, 2014
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Eastern Nebraska
We had our first steak from the cow, and that old gal was the toughest piece of wild game that we have ever chewed on. It still tasted good. That was a piece out of the rump and we just fried it up to medium rare, so I hope that the backstraps are better. We'll just make sure to marinade, tenderize, or slow cook it in the future. On the spike bull that I had shot during archery (Sept.), that is the best elk that I have ever had.
My wife's last cow elk was the same way. Back straps were so tough you struggled to even eat them. She made amazing hamburger though!
 

Colorado Cowboy

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Years ago I shot a small 3 point blacktail deer in southern California that was tougher than any meat I've ever eaten. I ended up making burger out of it. The backstraps were even hard to cut. It had a lot of fat too. Just never know.
 

JimP

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Years ago I shot a small 3 point blacktail deer in southern California that was tougher than any meat I've ever eaten. I ended up making burger out of it. The backstraps were even hard to cut. It had a lot of fat too. Just never know.
In over 50 years of hunting the worst eating animal that I have ever shot was a cow elk, I would of been better off boiling the boots that I was wearing and making soup out of them.

As you say, you never know until it hits the table.
 
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RICMIC

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Feb 21, 2012
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Two Harbors, Minnesota
I made my wife's favorite...Philly Cheese-steak sandwiches out of one of the tenderloins last night. They were excellent, but were still a bit chewy for TLs. I picked up 60 lbs. of sausage from the local processer, and will likely convert what whole meat I have into burger or sausage at some point.