You guys bring up an interesting point. Do you usually see loner cows? A lot of you have said take the first legal one you see. But in 10 years of elk hunting experience I can' t ever remember seeing a loner cow. I' m sure once in a while it happens but my point is I' ve also taken 3 cows in the last 3 years and every time I had a choice of a minimum 5 cows to choose from. As far as I know loner cows are not the norm so the question of which one to take is a good one. Now bulls are a different story.