thoughts on shooting a cow?

My friend and I each got a cow tag for 18A. Just wonder on your thoughts about shooting a cow..Is it hard to find a cow without a calf? what happens to calf? hunters i talked too say the calf will hang around and bawl then most likely perish on its own.. What are your thoughts? thank you..

The calf will make it

Someone in your group will have the Calf tag. Plug it!

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Originally Posted by TroutSlayer

Someone in your group will have the Calf tag. Plug it!

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Depends on the season. Calf season is a week later than the regular season opener in our WMU. Most cows we have seen have no calves. Bears and wolves take care of them.
Ive been told that an early born calf has a good chance at survival if it hooks up with other adult moose. Late calves, not so much. With some 40 years of moose hunts, our group has taken maybe three calves, and half dozen cows. We call, so we have never targeted cows and calves...

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Originally Posted by chomper

My friend and I each got a cow tag for 18A. Just wonder on your thoughts about shooting a cow..Is it hard to find a cow without a calf? what happens to calf? hunters i talked too say the calf will hang around and bawl then most likely perish on its own.. What are your thoughts? thank you..

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That's a tough question to answer because cows are notorious for hiding calves out of sight while they scout the area for threats. When we drop cows assuming they're alone,we could be dooming one or two calves to certain death. That's horrendously counter-productive from a conservation stand point,especially,in light of the huge population drop we're experiencing in Ontario in particular and Canada as a whole. Only yearling calves have a chance of survival without the cow. I believe it's incumbent on every Moose hunter with a cow tag to take every reasonable care that the cow is "dry" (check for signs of lactation) or better yet,watch for a while before you decide to shoot to see if calves are present. It may take a while so be patient and watch carefully.

Years ago then we could shoot calf in rifle season ,
We shot a Cow and a calf to and put them in the freezer ...
It was a good hunt .

(Maybe because that policy now have less Moose ,
but we steel hunt every year Moose just we don't find it , that is ok to
steel enjoying great outdoor ...

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Originally Posted by chomper

My friend and I each got a cow tag for 18A. Just wonder on your thoughts about shooting a cow..Is it hard to find a cow without a calf? what happens to calf? hunters i talked too say the calf will hang around and bawl then most likely perish on its own.. What are your thoughts? thank you..

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Originally Posted by TroutSlayer

Someone in your group will have the Calf tag. Plug it!

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Agree with this if you have the tags to shoot both.

You won't regret putting calf meat on the table.

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If ya got a cow tag and have a calf tag might as well take em both.

Shoot the calf first, Cow won't leave for a bit

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

That's a tough question to answer because cows are notorious for hiding calves out of sight while they scout the area for threats. When we drop cows assuming they're alone,we could be dooming one or two calves to certain death. That's horrendously counter-productive from a conservation stand point,especially,in light of the huge population drop we're experiencing in Ontario in particular and Canada as a whole. Only yearling calves have a chance of survival without the cow. I believe it's incumbent on every Moose hunter with a cow tag to take every reasonable care that the cow is "dry" (check for signs of lactation) or better yet,watch for a while before you decide to shoot to see if calves are present. It may take a while so be patient and watch carefully.

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X2, Great post

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

That's a tough question to answer because cows are notorious for hiding calves out of sight while they scout the area for threats. When we drop cows assuming they're alone,we could be dooming one or two calves to certain death. That's horrendously counter-productive from a conservation stand point,especially,in light of the huge population drop we're experiencing in Ontario in particular and Canada as a whole. Only yearling calves have a chance of survival without the cow. I believe it's incumbent on every Moose hunter with a cow tag to take every reasonable care that the cow is "dry" (check for signs of lactation) or better yet,watch for a while before you decide to shoot to see if calves are present. It may take a while so be patient and watch carefully.

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X3 -way to go,if we want to hunt moose in the near future....

That's a tough question...... Minister biologist I am not, I sure hope they have a better understanding of how it works then I do...
Best of luck with whatever you decide.

I think cow hunting should be banned in most of the province due to the lack of moose, if there are a lot of moose then you could take both assuming the tags were there, but shooting a moose cow early is going to reduce the chances that calf makes it the winter and that cow will not make it to have any more calves, so to me it would be a no 100%.

If you are hunting at the first of the season, your calf tag isn't any good. It doesn't go into effect until Oct. 24. If you orphan the calf it probably won't make alone, having said that if the opportunity presents itself when they are in season then it's a no brainer, take the calf .(Kinda counter productive to the moose population tho)

Resident moose season opening dates – 2020



Season

Wildlife Management Unit

Start date

Moose Rifles, Shotguns, Bows and Muzzle-loaders Seasons 2, 3, 4, 18A, 18B, 24, 27 Adult Moose Oct. 10 Calf Moose Oct. 24

I shot a cow last fall and the previous fall with my bow. what we have found was that you better off finding water that has bedding and feed close by, I would catch them as they moved from those areas to feed and they seemed to hold a fairly regular routine and not have a real large home area. I have hunted moose for years and the vast majority of cows I encounter do not have calves.

If you shoot a cow with this years calf the calf will not make it. The calf will cry away beside the gut pile or in the area until the wolves or bears show up. It is unfortunate that the MNR has allowed this to happen this way. If you think you would shoot a cow with a calf then wait to go till calf season when you can take both. Not only does it suck to leave the calf to die but it also sucks to feed the wolves!! Even if the wolves didn’t find the calf, the winters are brutal and start in November, a young calf has no clue how to survive a winter like that.

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Originally Posted by Fox

I think cow hunting should be banned in most of the province due to the lack of moose, if there are a lot of moose then you could take both assuming the tags were there, but shooting a moose cow early is going to reduce the chances that calf makes it the winter and that cow will not make it to have any more calves, so to me it would be a no 100%.

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I absolutely agree. The calf tag system was dumb from the get-go. The new system next year should go a long way to end that.

Never made any sense to me. Camp by us always applies for cow tag and gets 1 every year. Usually fill it too. We only apply for bull. The other camp will shoot the cow and take pics of calf standing there. It will hang around for day or two until bears or wolves come to gut pile.funny thing...you never do see the calf again....just saying.....

Still hard to believe that we can still kill Cow's and calves with the massive decline of Moose in Ontario. You can't make this up!!!

Cow harvest has never made any sense to me. It's different than deer, where they can potentially breed as fawns and most certainly will as yearlings. A good maternal cow is usually 5-12 years old from what I've read. Younger cows have much higher calf mortality rate. To remove "the biological " unit from an already depleted population smells like the proverbial shot in the foot to me. Removing that one prime cow will take many years to be replaced in the population, plus you've lost that animal's calf contribution to the population, prior to the replacement coming of age. I say shut down the calf and cow harvest completely in all units other than the most northerly ones, and only if numbers appear to be stable.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

I absolutely agree. The calf tag system was dumb from the get-go. The new system next year should go a long way to end that.

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Would any farmer kill 80% of their calves and build up a herd, heck no.

I have a friend in the Yukon, they have a great system, minimum size or point count for the antlers, this means that there are always bulls of breeding age and no cows or calves are shot. I know that calves are killed my wolves and bears and moose are killed during native hunts but 1 more cow killed by a non-native hunter is one less dropping a calf or calves next year.

Ya well, I got a cow tag first time ever, and I'll shoot a cow if one shows up, then we will take the calf also.
We decided to hunt the second week so we could take a the calf.
Otherwise we would never take a calf.

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Originally Posted by JUDGE

Ya well, I got a cow tag first time ever, and I'll shoot a cow if one shows up, then we will take the calf also.
We decided to hunt the second week so we could take a the calf.
Otherwise we would never take a calf.

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The area the OP questioned has the calf season two weeks after the opener.

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Originally Posted by Fox

Would any farmer kill 80% of their calves and build up a herd, heck no.

I have a friend in the Yukon, they have a great system, minimum size or point count for the antlers, this means that there are always bulls of breeding age and no cows or calves are shot. I know that calves are killed my wolves and bears and moose are killed during native hunts but 1 more cow killed by a non-native hunter is one less dropping a calf or calves next year.

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If it turns out that the "new" system needs to be tweeked (it should become evident,quickly),make no mistake,point count Bulls only is definite option.

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Originally Posted by smokeeter

The area the OP questioned has the calf season two weeks after the opener.

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It's easy to get the impression from some of these posts that a lot of hunters don't realize that calves now have their own 2 week season opening 2 weeks after the main opener (depending on WMU). There could be a pile of illegally taken calves if people aren't careful and aware.

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Originally Posted by Fox

I think cow hunting should be banned in most of the province due to the lack of moose, if there are a lot of moose then you could take both assuming the tags were there, but shooting a moose cow early is going to reduce the chances that calf makes it the winter and that cow will not make it to have any more calves, so to me it would be a no 100%.

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Agree 100 % shut the cow tags down for a few years and watch the population grow.

Well... well... if would be no Bull hunter's (antler eater's...) there would be less Cow's without.... calves....

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Originally Posted by Fox

I think cow hunting should be banned in most of the province due to the lack of moose, if there are a lot of moose then you could take both assuming the tags were there, but shooting a moose cow early is going to reduce the chances that calf makes it the winter and that cow will not make it to have any more calves, so to me it would be a no 100%.

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The MNR has chosen to be part of the problem instead of being part of the solution with our moose herd.

This is a slippery slope because they depend on the draw money from moose hunters. If they severely restrict the moose harvest the revenue will dry up.

I personally gave up on moose hunting because a lack of tags and there is no way I will kill a cow or calf of an animal that is on the verge of extinction from our province.

[(How , explain more please ?)

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Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter

[(How , explain more please ?)

The MNR has chosen to be part of the problem instead of being part of the solution with our moose herd.


(This is true ...)

This is a slippery slope because they depend on the draw money from moose hunters. If they severely restrict the moose harvest the revenue will dry up.


(Read my previous post please ... (If is no Bull there will be no calf.... If you kill the Bull's ))

I personally gave up on moose hunting because a lack of tags and there is no way I will kill a cow or calf of an animal that is on the verge of extinction from our province.

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Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter

The MNR has chosen to be part of the problem instead of being part of the solution with our moose herd.

This is a slippery slope because they depend on the draw money from moose hunters. If they severely restrict the moose harvest the revenue will dry up.

I personally gave up on moose hunting because a lack of tags and there is no way I will kill a cow or calf of an animal that is on the verge of extinction from our province.

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Your certainly not alone.
I could never figure out why everybody got a calf tag when we hunted years ago. Adult tags were no longer being available for certain group sizes, but calfs were being cleaned out of the areas we hunted. Packed it in when that started happening

I’ve said it many times before. Sadly, it doesn’t matter what license hunters do! Our Moose herd is doomed! There is simply too many unregulated hunters doing what the hell they want. Once it gets bad enough, they might do something about it, hopefully it won’t be too late.

Unregulated ...?! It is Their Land ... Their Own land
if you are thinking about First Nation ...
Have you ever your own land taken away from you ...?
Beside that what is the Percentage and number of the first nation population in Ontario
And what is the number of the rest of the hunters who hunt Moose ... in Ontario ?
Be realistic do your home work and you will have a tag ...! To hunt Moose ...
6 of us and have 2 cow tag in our group this year , and we had tags in the past 15 years ,
yes we only was successful once with cow and calf , (but that is our inexperience and skill..)
but we enjoyed going hunting every year ...!
And that is matter ...

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Originally Posted by Deer Hunter

I’ve said it many times before. Sadly, it doesn’t matter what license hunters do! Our Moose herd is doomed! There is simply too many unregulated hunters doing what the hell they want. Once it gets bad enough, they might do something about it, hopefully it won’t be too late.

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Technically if you look back in history everyone's family has had their land taken at some point.

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Originally Posted by alfoldivandor

Unregulated ...?! It is Their Land ... Their Own land
if you are thinking about First Nation ...
Have you ever your own land taken away from you ...?
Beside that what is the Percentage and number of the first nation population in Ontario
And what is the number of the rest of the hunters who hunt Moose ... in Ontario ?
Be realistic do your home work and you will have a tag ...! To hunt Moose ...
6 of us and have 2 cow tag in our group this year , and we had tags in the past 15 years ,
yes we only was successful once with cow and calf , (but that is our inexperience and skill..)
but we enjoyed going hunting every year ...!
And that is matter ...

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Originally Posted by alfoldivandor

Unregulated ...?! It is Their Land ... Their Own land
if you are thinking about First Nation ...
Have you ever your own land taken away from you ...?
Beside that what is the Percentage and number of the first nation population in Ontario
And what is the number of the rest of the hunters who hunt Moose ... in Ontario ?
Be realistic do your home work and you will have a tag ...! To hunt Moose ...
6 of us and have 2 cow tag in our group this year , and we had tags in the past 15 years ,
yes we only was successful once with cow and calf , (but that is our inexperience and skill..)
but we enjoyed going hunting every year ...!
And that is matter ...

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I guess your opinion is based on your week long yearly visit to the Moose woods?
Some of us work and live here year long and see first hand the real issues.
As far as the “Land”, it belongs to the Province of Ontario, which means the Ontario taxpayers. The government officials are supposed to be managing it on our behalf.
It looks like your ultimate goal is for you and your group to get as many cow tags as you can to help the declining Moose population!
Thanks, that’s all that really matters.....

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Originally Posted by Deer Hunter

I’ve said it many times before. Sadly, it doesn’t matter what license hunters do! Our Moose herd is doomed! There is simply too many unregulated hunters doing what the hell they want. Once it gets bad enough, they might do something about it, hopefully it won’t be too late.

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^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^

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Originally Posted by Deer Hunter

I’ve said it many times before. Sadly, it doesn’t matter what license hunters do! Our Moose herd is doomed! There is simply too many unregulated hunters doing what the hell they want. Once it gets bad enough, they might do something about it, hopefully it won’t be too late.

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Yeah, every year for the last 27 we have been going to wmu 03, the last few years we have stopped for gas at a couple of FN stations where gas is usually 10 to 15 cents a litre cheaper, at the junction of 11 and 17 in Nipigon, across the street from the gas station there are houses with several meat poles and every year there has been from 4 to 6 moose hanging from these poles! all cows and calves no bulls, this is just what we can see from that little bit of road on the rez, this is also about 8 or 9 days before the gun season opens in that area, so no mystery why moose are hard to find!!!!

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Originally Posted by Deer Hunter

As far as the “Land”, it belongs to the Province of Ontario, which means the Ontario taxpayers. The government officials are supposed to be managing it on our behalf.
..

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Amen....

To respond to the original post questions. Yes, you can find a cow without a calf, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a calf bedded near by. Many times I’ve seen a lone cow in the daytime, but see cow with calf tracks in the same area. I don’t know how a calf will react if you take the cow. What I do know is if you take the calf, the cow will stay near by and bawl. My thoughts are to take the calf first if you can and hope for a bull tag next time. Good luck!!

Lets not get off track here .
This thread is not about bashing the native rights.

Yes you are right . Not about Native rights .

It is about killing all the Moose bulls only ...

"To save the Moose population ...."

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Originally Posted by JUDGE

Lets not get off track here .
This thread is not about bashing the native rights.

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Originally Posted by alfoldivandor

Yes you are right . Not about Native rights .

It is about killing all the Moose bulls only ...

"To save the Moose population ...."

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Bulls can breed when they are 2 years old. So if you don't shoot calves, In a year there could be another bull that can reproduce. Or it could be a cow that gets bred when she's 16-28months old and has MORE moose.


A cow might have 1-10 calves in her lifetime. Every calf she has, That is female, could produce another 1-10 moose in its lifetime.

You look at the way the Yukon, NWT and Alaska regulates moose.
They sure as hell aren't handing out cow and calf tags so hunter's can go kill the breeding stock.

I swear Ontario is trying to keep the moose population down for the deer/caribou/ or God knows what else.

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