# Shooting a cow with a calf?



## bass2muskie (Nov 5, 2013)

So I have been looking over some of the scouting pictures I have gotten from my trail cams and as some of you have seen there are a lot of calves with the cows which brings me to a question. How many of you have shot cows with calves? What are the chances of the calf surviving with out the cow? The area I am hunting I have a control tag and a spike tag along with my deer tag. It kind of sounds like I am hoarding lol but I promise I am not. Just a lot of chances to hunt this year. When they are in a herd like that you cant really tell which cow has a calf and which one doesn't. So do you just take the shot?


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

When I am not hurting for volume of meat, I ALWAYS fill a cow tag with the smallest calf I can find. Tasty as can be(seriously, turn the whole animal into steaks including neck and shoulders), easy to pack out, and no concern about orphaning a calf that might not survive. I think they survive ok if another cow finds them, but I'm not sure. It might be a little heart wrenching the first time you smack down a calf, but after you've wiped the milk off its lips and thrown some of it on the grill you'll be hooked. Good luck! (even better, if there are two of you with cow tags one shoots momma and the other takes the calf as it will typically stick within 50 yards or so of its downed mother until another cow collects it).


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Bow hunt or rifle hunt? Even is it is during a bow hunt it may be very hard to tell if that cow you have your sights on has a calf or not unless they are together or until you go up to her to clean it and find that she still has milk. Now during the rifle hunt they are fair game. The vast majority or calf's can pretty much take care of themselves as long as they are with the herd.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

johnnycake said:


> When I am not hurting for volume of meat, I ALWAYS fill a cow tag with the smallest calf I can find. Tasty as can be(seriously, turn the whole animal into steaks including neck and shoulders), easy to pack out, and no concern about orphaning a calf that might not survive.


You got that right.










-DallanC


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## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

I am with Johnnycake with harvesting the calf. Unless you are after trophy cow elk ivories a calf is plenty of work to pack out but the meat will be really tender. As far as the survivability of the calf goes I would not be concerned for the calf. It will be adopted into another cow/calf situation if it was so detrimental to population cycles there would be regulation restricting such a harvest. 

I firmly believe that bears need a little bit more momma time than an elk. By the time the elk earliest elk hunt starts your calves should only be supplemented with milk. Shooting lactating cow is kind of gross during the gutting process as milk is secreted from the teats. Milk mixed with blood kinda nausciates me a little. I figure if you are harvesting a calf you are taking an animal that old man winter himself has had his eye on as well. Given the option take the calf. Given only the option of a cow I wouldn't worry if she is dry or fertile or with a youngling. Her calf will mix in with the herd and be fine.


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## bass2muskie (Nov 5, 2013)

Critter said:


> Bow hunt or rifle hunt? Even is it is during a bow hunt it may be very hard to tell if that cow you have your sights on has a calf or not unless they are together or until you go up to her to clean it and find that she still has milk. Now during the rifle hunt they are fair game. The vast majority or calf's can pretty much take care of themselves as long as they are with the herd.


It's during the bow hunt.


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## 30-06-hunter (Sep 22, 2013)

How much meat are you guys getting from a calf, and which tag does it fall under not knowing the sex from 2-300 yards away?


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

30-06-hunter said:


> How much meat are you guys getting from a calf, and which tag does it fall under not knowing the sex from 2-300 yards away?


It is anterless


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## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

Imagine how complicated it would be to hunt if you had to see an animal genitals prior to harvest.... -8/-


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

A calf elk is usually much bigger than a big buck deer, so plenty of meat on them. I'm not talking a calf with spots still on either.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Nambaster said:


> Imagine how complicated it would be to hunt if you had to see an animal genitals prior to harvest.... -8/-


Did that once. I saw the buck but he went behind a bush with some other deer which were does. I could only see his shoulder back and not his head. Then I saw his buckhood hanging down so I knew which deer to shoot. All this was from about 50 feet away.


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## bass2muskie (Nov 5, 2013)

Well that makes me feel better about shooting a cow with a calf. I just don't know if I could pull the release on a calf. Something inside me just won't. Not saying it's unethical just a matter of preference. I don't want a wet cow either though so we will see what happens in 2 weeks. Thanks for all the input.


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## RoosterKiller (May 27, 2011)

Unless the calf is right next to the mother giving you a reference for size. Then you might mistake the calf for an adult cow. The calf will be in excess of 200 pounds. Lots of calves get shot for this reason. The second reason is becuase they are real tasty.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Like I said, the first time I shot a fawn it was hard. Hard shooting, hard cleaning, hard butchering. But when that first chop graced my mouth, I got over all that hardship real quick. As for size, I've shot 4 calves now and the smallest was a depredation calf in late January I only got 35lbs of meat from her. She wasn't going to make it and I felt pretty good pulling the trigger. The biggest calf I shot was in September and I got just over 100lbs of meat from her.


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## Mr Muleskinner (Feb 14, 2012)

I never had a problem releasing on a calf. They clean good, pack better and ate best of anything I have ever tagged. I have no problem releasing on any cow either. If they are legal to hunt they are fair game.


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## manysteps (Sep 28, 2009)

Nambaster said:


> Imagine how complicated it would be to hunt if you had to see an animal genitals prior to harvest.... -8/-


Yeah, let's not start that, can you imagine the turkey hunt?!


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## 30-06-hunter (Sep 22, 2013)

I think I know what I will use my control tag for.


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## bass2muskie (Nov 5, 2013)

You guys are making me wonder now how good they really are.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

RoosterKiller said:


> Unless the calf is right next to the mother giving you a reference for size. Then you might mistake the calf for an adult cow. The calf will be in excess of 200 pounds. Lots of calves get shot for this reason. The second reason is becuase they are real tasty.


 Very True! This was a decent size calf and tasty too. Not a very good shot though.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Bass, you should stop wondering and find out this season! Shoot a calf, you'll never want a whole cow elk again!


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## nateysmith (May 13, 2013)

I am wondering myself now if I want to take a calf. There will be 3 of us with OTC elk tags in our pockets. Still hesitating a little though on whether I want to take a calf or let bass2muskie do it


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

C'mon Nate, everybody's doing it....


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Make it a good shot,Ive cut up more than 1 that had a meat return of 25 to 35 lbs.Have seen a number of hind qtrs completly blown away,then the hunter wants to know :where is all my meat:-O,-


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## bass2muskie (Nov 5, 2013)

Well you've convinced me. I'm going to give it a shot. "Pun intended"


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

I had to reread the subject, I was confused on how one gets the calf going fast enough to shoot a cow. -O,-


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## bass2muskie (Nov 5, 2013)

Huge29 said:


> I had to reread the subject, I was confused on how one gets the calf going fast enough to shoot a cow. -O,-


 Its not easy to do. ;-)


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## nateysmith (May 13, 2013)

You just need to shoot two arrows so that you get the cow and calf in one shot


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## glock31 (Dec 28, 2007)

When I go after calfs and fawns I make sure that I get the ones with the bright white spots on them.... Sorry maybe this comment makes me a A$$ but there is no way I could bring myself to kill a fawn or a calf, I dont care how great the meat is.


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## bass2muskie (Nov 5, 2013)

glock31 said:


> When I go after calfs and fawns I make sure that I get the ones with the bright white spots on them.... Sorry maybe this comment makes me a A$$ but there is no way I could bring myself to kill a fawn or a calf, I dont care how great the meat is.


I'm with you. I've given it alot of thought and there is just no way I could do it. That's just me. Maybe I'm getting soft who knows.


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## Spry Yellowdog (Sep 8, 2007)

I have arrowed both the sweet tender calf, and a gnarly old cow. Without a doubt I will pass on every old cow encountered. And shoot one farther back in the herd thats slim and trim or any of there kids. Cows are meat harvest so why not get the best meat possable?

Spry


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## bass2muskie (Nov 5, 2013)

I'm not saying I'm going to go with an old gnarly cow. I think there is a happy medium between outdated and newborn. But like I stated its all preference and it's just not mine


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## provider (Jan 17, 2011)

I have a late season tag and intend to shoot a calf. I'd rather do that than find one inside a cow. 

If I hunted before the rut I'd shoot a yearling cow.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

It's called game management:


Everyone loves sweetbreads! Sweetbreads (the thymus gland) is best when taken out of a calf or yearling elk. As-a-matter-of-fact the thymus gland isn't easy to distinguish on a mature elk and many times gets ground up as burger meat. Geeze, that rooins the flavor, what a waste.

.


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## consultutah (Aug 4, 2014)

nateysmith said:


> You just need to shoot two arrows so that you get the cow and calf in one shot


Learn to shoot like this guy:


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

wyogoob said:


> It's called game management:
> 
> 
> Everyone loves sweetbreads! Sweetbreads (the thymus gland) is best when taken out of a calf or yearling elk. As-a-matter-of-fact the thymus gland isn't easy to distinguish on a mature elk and many times gets ground up as burger meat. Geeze, that rooins the flavor, what a waste.
> ...


I've never been a big organ meat guy, but I thought the sweetbreads was the thymus, not the thyroid gland? The thymus is large in young animals and is progressively smaller in mature animals.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Catherder said:


> I've never been a big organ meat guy, but I thought the sweetbreads was the thymus, not the thyroid gland? The thymus is large in young animals and is progressively smaller in mature animals.


Yeah, thymus. Geeze, I did a whole thread on it in Recipes: 

.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

This is a calf that I shot last year. If you don't need tons of meat, I'd shoot a calf every time.  Taste better and WAY easier to pack out! I average between 40-60 lbs of meat on a calf as opposed to around 115 to 130 lbs on a mature cow.


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## 30-06-hunter (Sep 22, 2013)

wyogoob said:


> Yeah, thymus. Geeze, I did a whole thread on it in Recipes:
> 
> .


Do you eat it raw or cooked?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

30-06-hunter said:


> Do you eat it raw or cooked?


cooked, medium

see:
http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/30630-recipe-month-november-2011-a.html

.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> Yeah, thymus. Geeze, I did a whole thread on it in Recipes:
> 
> .


Geeze, I changed the typos.

thanks man

see:
http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/30630-recipe-month-november-2011-a.html

.


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