Photos Elk through a USO
- Thread starter kis2
- Start date
PMs incoming to those who requested them. I guesstimated them to be about 28" from top of shoulder to bottom of chest, and that got me pretty close.
Good luck George in AZ! I had a cow tag in my pocket last year as 5 bulls walked in front of me. Incredible sight, also really sad though.
Good luck George in AZ! I had a cow tag in my pocket last year as 5 bulls walked in front of me. Incredible sight, also really sad though.
I'll bite on this one. I have measured quite a few cow elk brisket to shoulder and there are a couple inches of variation. I am going to say that they are about 425 yards away in the first photo. I do this in my day job. Not all the time, but fairly often most of the winter. I'd be curious to know if I was close. I get two different sizes on these two animals are you sure they are both adult cows? Not being critical, just wanted to see what else you might have noticed. One of them appears to have shorter face. That would indicate a calf. Body size is not so much different from the adults this time of year.
No criticalness taken friend. Pretty sure all were adult cows, its been awhile (few months) since I've taken the pictures though and they did have various ages and sizes in the herd. looking at the pics, I think the one in the second picture at the bottom right of the screen could be a bit younger than the center one. The others all appear full grown cows to me though.
PM's incoming
PM's incoming
Nice photos. On a bear hunt afew weeks ago I had the chance to glass quite afew Bulls and Cows... just wish it were Elk season here. It looks like we are in quite different parts of the country but here in the PNW its always fun seeing a white Elk rump on the side of an all green mountain!
Thanks Cordova and I don't mind at all, PM inbound. I think its a relatively new feature, but for those wondering what it looks like you can see the internal bubble level of USO in the first pic. You almost can't see it if you are focused on the crosshairs, which is nice, doesn't clutter the field of view.
In California they'd be tinyunfortunately you do not provide anything in the image that allows us to accurately guess the scale.. Car, window, door, fence, etc. and cows do vary.
haha, yeah, elk and cars don't graze together much! Cows can absolutely be very different sizes, I like to use shoulder to bottom of chest instead of hoof to shoulder (I think there's more consistency there). and around here I use about 28" and it milled pretty close for me with these
The ranging challenges can be very rough with no context (look angle, surrounding area, surrounding other animals to gauge large or small relatively), and even harder on an iphone! no disclaimer needed man, its tougher than being there.
and youre close and so has everyone else been! you guys rock. two pics and they are different distances, so feel free to try the other one and good luck!
I think he was referring to the white (cream) colored rump patch against the green back drop. However the winter coat of all elk is much lighter and tan colored than the reddish brown of the summer coat. The rump patch is slightly subdued in the summer, but almost always prominent. Older bull elk will tend to be lighter colored than younger bulls or cows in the winter coat, but that is not necessarily hard and fast, but if you see a larger elk on the mountain that is also lighter colored you can bet with good odds that it is an old bull.
I appreciate the PM and knowing that I was darn close. I have measured over 100 cow elk and though sizes vary a little, the cows in my country will average 22-24 inches chest depth. I used the cow in the cross hair of the first photo. The other elk in that photo angled an harder to mil. Plus, it appears to be somewhat smaller and maybe a yearling. You are correct. The one in the second photo with what appears to be a shorter face is the one I was referring to maybe being a calf.
Thanks for the info SLVGW360. I haven't seen that bull since (he was out in the woods a good hike), but man, he was just straight silver going on white. huge too. I consider you my elk expert!
Soon as they have antlers again, I'll get some pics through the scope of a bull or two and we can all do some more ranging.
SPOILER ALERT: HERE ARE THE ANSWERS TO THESE!
I like to use the bottom of chest to top of shoulder for ranging (I find it to be more consistent than overall height), I used about 28" for these and that got me pretty close. Laser said first pic at 440yds and 380yds for the second.
Soon as they have antlers again, I'll get some pics through the scope of a bull or two and we can all do some more ranging.
SPOILER ALERT: HERE ARE THE ANSWERS TO THESE!
I like to use the bottom of chest to top of shoulder for ranging (I find it to be more consistent than overall height), I used about 28" for these and that got me pretty close. Laser said first pic at 440yds and 380yds for the second.
