I get a free half beef every year but I highly prefer elk burger to beef. Elk steaks are good but no comparison to some grade A angus. I’m shooting though. A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.
Im already at full draw and waiting for the onside front leg to move forward :) Of course Ive only killed 2 elk and am pretty much still a noob when it comes to elk hunting! Pete
This year I was hunting with my birth year Bear Kodiak and I wanted to get an elk with it, so yes. Most years probably not unless it is late in the season. Great eating.
Yes I do but I'm going to wait for her to get past that tree a bit, I'm not good enough to get an arrow past that tree without clipping it, and if I stick the tree it's over!
I certainly like elk meat, but I love playing with the bulls even more! If it’s the 1st three weeks of the season, she walks. The last week? Her next destination’s the freezer!
Would be putting tension on the string and getting ready for that right leg to move forward and putting an arrow thru the boiler room... Love to eat elk and always room for a cow elk in the freezer (or I'll get another freezer)!
Can't eat the horns, but you can find them on the ground. I don't have much ego, don't need to be the king of the P&Y club. I love elk meat first and foremost. Of 13 elk I've shot, the best eating were the two cows I shot. Far and away the best game meat I could ever ask for, tender, delicious, and plenty of it. And they were both huge cows, older dry Roosevelt cows. I absolutely would be shooting at this cow, but knowing me, I'd hit that freaking stick in the way. I missed another giant Rocky cow in Montana twice as it stood broadside too. With a lousy compound, so I got rid of it and bought a Rocky Miller Deathmaster from Rocky. Got animals with that bow.
I prefer to wait for a bull because I want to be the king of the P&Y Club. So I guess I’m passing unless it’s the last day or 2 of the trip to shoot a cow. I do love elk meat.
I don't mix pork into it but I do mix those cheap hamburger chubs into it, works great and the best elk IMO are the young bulls, they are good size, tender, often alone or paired at most and naive enough to let me get close. :)
Also gotta agree with Ermine, antelope is tops! I wish they were the size of elk!
No mixing it with any other meat or fat for me. Pollutes it IMO. That's just me. antelope can either be excellent or inedible. My first one was inedible, so every other one after that always had a tinge of that gawd-awful bad goat taste. It will never top elk for me.
My father in law raises all natural Scottish highland beef. I always mix a little high quality beef fat with my elk burger and I mix pork for my sausage. Good stuff!
Never liked ground meat that is as lean as wild game will be, not even beef, yet I can take the same meat and stew it or whatever and it's great. Grinding seems to change it somehow.
Depends on the pack out. If it's an easy pack, I'm most likely dropping the string. Otherwise, I'm moving on and looking for her older brother.
I'd much rather be packing a bull if it's going to be a bear of a pack out.
Had a buddy shoot a big cow about 6 miles in a several years back. Between the two of us we were able to pack her out in one very heavy load each. That pretty much did me in for packing cows long distance.
I travel to far to kill a cow elk early in the hunt. I travel from West Virginia every year to chase bull elk. It is a great feeling when you hear bull elk bugling and you start calling and get in close and see the bull mad and pacing back and forth. You stand there hoping to close the deal. Most times I do not close the deal but I learn from the experience and my heart was pumping fast and the adrenaline was flowing. I have never regretted not filling my tag when I made the choice to let a cow or calf walk in order for the opportunity to chase a bull elk. I guess I live to chase bull elk.
Of course. However, depends on the status of my freezer(which is usually pretty full) and how many days of elk hunting I have left. I like looking at heads with horns on my wall, and I still have room for a good bull elk.
In Arizona we don't have many any elk tags so I would make ultra certain I was shooting a cow, assuming I had an antlerless tag. But otherwise yes, I'm letting an arrow loose.
I guess I'm different, I don't enjoy elk meat any more. I'd rather eat deer then elk, period. And after eating axis deer, even mule deer and whitetail don't taste that good anymore. I haven't shot a cow in years, never liked shooting mothers. It doesn't bother me if others do, as long as we're not miles in.
I have learned alot about elk hunting. If you live in an area where you can scout week in and week out you can afford to wait for a trophy bull. If you are not shoot the first thing that is legal. With enough time and trips you will eventually get that trophy bull. Most guys I know who are locals in Montana and Colorado ( where I elk hunt the most) shoot more cows on a regular basis than bulls. However when they shoot a bull it is usually a dandy.
Love elk meat, but I get more meat from a big bull and enjoy staring at the antlers for years to come. If I had a cow tag along with my bull tag it’s a no-brainer. I do enjoy seeing cows up close like that and like to pull on them for practice. Helps settle the nerves when the real deal comes around. Most of the time though, they’re in the way between me and my intended target.