Kentucky Hunter bull elk

Trophy Bull elk are no more elusive for  hunters than cows of the same age. But in Kentucky hunters rarely see trophy quality elk.  Trophy quality elk are seldom seen by Kentucky hunters because there aren't many of them. Antlerless Elk outnumber antlered elk at least 2 to 1. When the Bull harvest is heavy, the ratio of antlered elk can drop to 20 to 1 or less, and only about 5 percent of the antlered Elk have trophy racks. 

As a result hunters may have to view 400 elk before they see a trophy 370 point or better rack in Kentucky.   That requires a long time sitting in a tree stand and quality land.  Almost all of the bull elk taken in Kentucky are only 2-3 years old.   Bull elk do not mature into trophy elk until they are 5-9 years old.  The reason why hunters don't see and take more trophy elk in Kentucky is because we fail to allow them to mature into quality elk and fail to take cows.  

By hunting cows you increase the Bull to cow ratio.  Taking a cow also seems to lessen Bull fever.  There was a time when only Bulls were taken in season.  We now understand that quality elk herd management requires that cows are taken at least equally with the Bulls.   When we take only trophy Bulls and take Bulls too early from the herd we decrease the trophy population and increase the cow to Bull ratio which negatively effects the herds in the long run.   

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