If you have a choice, a yearling usually makes fine eating. Fine grained, lighter in colour, not too gamey in flavour and more than likely very tender.
However any animal in good condition will be good eating, even an old bull, if he has a good layer of fat over his back, chances are the meat will be tender.
Poor condition and stress results in gamey and tough meat, age isn' t necessarily the reason the meat is tough or gamey.
Hang your meat in a chiller for a week, keep it dry.

Good luck with your hunt.

Well, here in PA there isn' t a large enough elk herd to have an open season so the Game Commission has a drawing for elk permits. If I were hunting here for elk I would take the first thing that walked by. But, if I were in CO, would take the fattest thing. Good luck!

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.

Ok,say there is 5 cows all together in the timber,wich one to shoot.I say the one that is standing broadside.[8D]

What if they are all standing broadside? I say it because it happens quite often. I don' t know about you guys but as a bowhunter I' m used to sneaking around or sitting on a good vantage point while rifle hunting. That means usually I see elk before they know I' m there. (At least cows)

Last year I was sneaking through some trees on the edge of a meadow. I peaked a small hill to see 5 cows grazing on the other side of the meadow. They didn' t know I was there. I had enough time to range them, pull out my shooting sticks, adjust my objective lens on my scope and pick out the cow I wanted. Once I had the scope on them I could actually see they varied in size by quite a bit.

2 years ago a group of about 10 cows comes around a corner and starts grazing on a meadow I was watching. Again picked out the one I wanted and dumped her.

3 years ago another hunter spooked a herd. They came busting over a hill only 70 yds from me and I had to make a decision a lot faster but there must have been 50-60 head.

Geez I' d say you guys need to sneak around a little more, you might get to actually pick your cow out instead of shooting the last one heading into the timber running from you.

Again a bull is a different story.

Like I said I' m a meat hunter and the more meat in the frezzer,the better.I choose the largest cow in the herd.If the are running in single file like elk do,I shoot for the last one in the group.Alot of folks try for the front or herd shoot and that will get you in some trouble.So I say the one elk(leagle)that offers a clear shot.

I try and find the biggest fattest on I can. this year My wife has her first ever elk tag and my oldest daughter has her second one. my daughter took a bull calf 2 years ago on the last day of the hunt so she can make her own choice as for my wife it will be first come first served for her. what ever gives her a clean shot. we will be hunting with muzzle loaders.

Optimism springs eternal that one will have choices.
If you hunt on public land and have a cow tag....

First rule, if you are a meat hunter, then first legal match to your license -- shoot. If the light is dim, then BE CAREFUL of spikes that may still be with the cows and " blend in" , easier to miss those " near nothing" antlers than many think.

Second, if you have a choice go for the fattest beefiest cow and if you have time to ponder it, then the one with the most pronounce " pot belly" = likely dry cow.

EKM

Talk about an appropriate topic. I' ll be hunting a cow elk in NM this year and have been thinking about just which cow I' d be looking to shoot. This was a great topic to read. My decision? The first good shot that presents itself.

I' d definitely go for the first legal elk that is in your effective shooting range. This presumes you' re a meat hunter first and trophy hunter second. Think twice if you guys manage to get in range of a nice herd bull and his harem - you could have a few elk down and it would be quite the bear magnet if it happens.