Lots of cows grazing on some private lands I hunt too. I guess the owners get money for allowing the cows to spend the summer on the 17,000 acres. They talk in terms of animal units which actually mean a cow and bull or a cow and her calves so if there are 400 units on the ranch there is usually about double that number in actual animals. I have found the elk don't like the cows and elk presence on the ranch goes way up after the cows are removed in late sept. The cows do serve a function though since they trample the dead sage in the low lands and that allows the grasses and new growth to come up.