Moo Cow's effect on game

T

Tomas

New member
I've been hunting Idaho for many years. I hunt public lands. There are some times open range moo cows milling about at various places where I go, and when I see or hear them, I beat feet to a new location. I've never encountered deer or elk any where near them...they seem to eschew them at all cost.

Until this year.

While walking on a game trail I round a slight bend and see a massive mule deer looking down hill. There have been moo cows , about a dozen, in this area, 300-400 yards away from where I am currently at (just a few) all week. He's so intent on what's going on down hill he doesn't even hear me, which was surprising. After gathering myself a bit, I step out and shoot him. When I get on his carcass, I look down hill to see what was so darn interesting, that it cost him his life...and there is a small pod, 8 or so, of elk running around down there about 100 yards away, trying to figure out what all the noise is about. So, I shoot one of them, too. Whole thing took 5 minutes. I radio camp for the horses...

I have NEVER seen game so close to moo cows before in many years of hunting. Every time deer or elk encounter moo cows, they beat feet. They really seem to avoid them. But not on this day. I'm curious what your experiences are with moo cow's effect on deer and elk behavior.
 
Moo Cows effect on game

A fellow I knew, in the sixties and seventies rode a cow on a saddle to hunt deer. He brought tee cow up by bottle and it was a pet.
he had many fields all surrounded by deep woods.
Elk will breed with cows and have offspring. I don't know what the genetics and survivability of the offspring is. Most or all Ranchers shoot them, I understand.
Same with Buffalo except there are many off spring running around.
I understand there are few pure breed Buffalo now. All have some bovine in them. Some Ranchers even breed Buffalo with Yaks.
Deer are not afraid of the cows, was the reason. They saw them and heard them and were familiar with their walking sounds.
 
Never heard of cattle and buffalo breading in the wild. And elk and cattle????As far as I know artificial insemination is used for cattle, buffalo breading.
 
"Beefalo" is a known cross-breeding. Reportedly excellent meat. Cows & elk? I just really doubt that.

Cattle just feeding along and not running won't move the whitetails of central Texas from daytime bedding areas. And I've never noticed deer being particularly concerned about cows when the deer are moving in the late afternoon.

Wildlife biologists claim that a deer's attention span after spooking is maybe twenty minutes or so--and then they return to whatever they were doing before the disturbance. From what I've seen, a deer's "comfort zone" is no more than a couple of hundred yards when up and moving in brushy country.
 
The biggest problem I've had with cattle is them looking at me while I'm sitting in the hunting blind, waiting for me to give them some range cubes. :mad: Spoiled cattle are more than likely the cause!
 
I've never had the same experience. I've shot deer out of feed lots that still had cows in them. I've jumped deer out of brush while herding cows, I've shot elk where cows are free ranging on the same ridge. I've come to regard the don't like cows stuff as bunk.

now if we're talking about fenced pastures that have too many cows to support the land? yes, the deer have no reason to be in a dirt pasture, there's no food, but free range cows are completely different.

just out of curiosity what part of idaho do you hunt?
 
Guv:

Really?? "moo cow' is what we call cattle. Can't just call 'em cows, 'cause elk are the 'cows' out here...so we differentiate by calling them 'moo'.

tahunua001: I hunt near McCall. Drew a middle season cow tag and hunted deer as well. Elk were tough to find this year...deer were everywhere.
 
same up this way. I hunt unit 11 for elk and 11A for deer, the deer all have blue tongue this year and the coyote populations have reflected that and the elk takes are pretty sorry this year, I have a late cow hunt.

the term moo cow is a recent thing as far as I've noticed. my brothers and I all started referring to cattle as moo cows when we all started getting into elk hunting 5 years back or so. ever since then I've noticed a lot more people calling them moo cows to differentiate. hear it a lot on the radios during season too.
 
I agree with your prior experience. If there are cattle around move another location because you're less likely to see any deer or elk.
 
"Elk will breed with cows and have offspring. I don't know what the genetics and survivability of the offspring is. Most or all Ranchers shoot them, I understand."

THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!
Elk are cervids and cows are bovines.
 
I see deer around my cattle often, but I thinks more to do with the fact they can read and see the NO HUNTING sign every 100 yards on my property.
 
this thread has taken a pretty funny turn. it's almost as funny as the "rattle snakes are hybridizing with bull snakes making a deadly offspring that doesn't rattle" claims that I see.
 
I've dealt with cattle grazing in hunting areas for my whole life, in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming.

It's annoying. It's destructive. It's disgusting.

Generally speaking, from my experience...
Aside from the disease, erosion, and battle for good feed that comes with cows destroying an area, it also seems to push the elk into hiding.

Deer don't seem to mind grazing with the cows, but they avoid areas where the cows bed down, and areas where the cows tear up water sources (pooping everywhere and stomping the water hole into oblivion makes them pretty nasty).

Beyond that and the above issues (destruction, disease, etc.), the real problem comes during hunting season:
Where I hunt, Deer season coincides with the deadlines for cattle to come out of the mountains. So, the cattlemen pull their cows out over a 3-5 day period spanning the two hunts, typically. That means that just when you're trying your hardest to get into a good Buck/Bull, you have trucks and trailers up and down every road at 50 mph, 25+ jerks on ATVs running cross-country all over the mountain (illegally), 10+ trucks driving all over hell and back (illegally), and 15-30 guys on horses that don't give a rat's behind what you're doing - they'll run right over you if you don't get out of their way .... all to round up the cattle.

And don't even think about trying to find another place to hunt. It's happening everywhere, at the same time. Plus... there's going to be at least one load of cattle going straight to slaughter, which means there's a livestock trailer and semi-truck parked in the middle of the only dirt road out of the area, with 12 RVs, two dozen trucks with empty ATV and horse trailers, and probably at least one Sheriff's deputy or Forest Service LEO blocking any possible by-pass to get around.

So, just as your limited 5-day hunt gets started and you're already fighting 1,500 other hunters for the deer/elk on the unit, the cattlemen beat the every-living-snot out of the mountain (did I mention it's mostly via illegal means?) and drive the game animals into the next county for a week.
By the time they come back, your season is over.


I hate cows.
But I hate the cattlemen even more.
...And the Forest Service and BLM grazing deadlines don't help.
 
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I hunted a lot of pig and coyote out of cattle herds... During that time I seen lots of "huntable" game from those positions.

They make great cover as you walk. You must move around to stay at the edge of the herd and monitor every one of them and constantly keep tabs.

They don't seem to disturb game at all, actually they seem more confident.

If there's any security donkeys mixed in, don't make friends with them because they will always be in your business... Wanting free scratches and such.
 
Guv:

Really?? "moo cow' is what we call cattle. Can't just call 'em cows, 'cause elk are the 'cows' out here...so we differentiate by calling them 'moo'.
Click to expand...

Really??

Hmmm, I just call em cattle or elk. Either it's an elk cow or just a cow. Semantics is very subjective and many times regional. How do you differentiate between a beef and a dairy cow? "Moo-milkers" and "moo-meaters"? Are there "moo-heifers", "moo-steers" and "moo-bulls" too?


Around here, deer eat and prefer many of the same foods that cattle do. Difference is generally that the cattle are fenced out of the food crops, such as alfalfa, corn and soybeans until it is harvested. Cattle are also now generally kept out of woods, even when pastured, as pastures are generally planted with preferred grasses. Thus, you see deer and cattle regularly together in pastures and in fields opened up to cattle after harvest. Deer have no fear of cattle around here and will seek out where cattle are feeding, because that is generally where the best available food is found. They also will watch cattle that are watching something else, as many times an alerted cow is an indication the deer should be alert too. Over the years it is an accepted practice to wear your barn clothes or step in cow manure on the way to stand, as a cover scent. Many is the time where I've had to wait for a deer to "clear" the cattle before taking a shot. Then there's the occasional Illinois hunter that can't tell the difference.......
 
it also depends on what you're hunting. my whole family exclusively draws cow tags for elk instead of bull tags since there are usually only about 350 people competing for 300 cow tags but over 1000 people competing for 15 bull tags. because of that if someone sees an elk, we specify cow or bull so the other guy knows immediately whether they want to go after it or not. so cow has become the primary vernacular rather than elk. to prevent extra followup questions.
 
"Moo Cow"
"Elk Cow"
Both 2 word terms using 1 syllable words.
Why not call it what it really is?
Moo Cow around here is what your 3 year old calls a cow.
 
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