Cows gone wild on Jordan

kilacam

Six Pointer
Yesterday while hunting Jordan I was down on a creek edge. I heard something massive coming out of the creek bed thicket. I thought I was about to see the biggest deer on Jordan gamelands. Turns out it was a cow, there were actually 3 of them. At first I figured they had escaped or something recently, but as I walked further I found their bedding and where they had been grazing on vegetation down by the creek.

It appeared they had been there for a long time from the bedding area and old cow patties. Wasn't the big boy I was hoping for, but an interesting experience. Had a great day in all, saw deer most of the day, just nothing worth the drag.

Anyone else ever find livestock like this on gamelands? Anyone ever seen these cows before? They were in a pretty isolated area I accessed by boat so they have quite a large area to themselves it seems.
 

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
I was thinking the same thing. I was actually going to email and ask about the regulations on this. If I'm meat hunting, who needs a deer when there is free range organic beef.
Unless they’ve found the neighbors corn pile I’d leave em, but that’s just me…
 

kilacam

Six Pointer
Unless they’ve found the neighbors corn pile I’d leave em, but that’s just me…
I really wasn't planning on shooting one, but free beef is tempting. I haven't disclosed the location to anyone, not even my friends, they should be safe for now.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Yesterday while hunting Jordan I was down on a creek edge. I heard something massive coming out of the creek bed thicket. I thought I was about to see the biggest deer on Jordan gamelands. Turns out it was a cow, there were actually 3 of them. At first I figured they had escaped or something recently, but as I walked further I found their bedding and where they had been grazing on vegetation down by the creek.

It appeared they had been there for a long time from the bedding area and old cow patties. Wasn't the big boy I was hoping for, but an interesting experience. Had a great day in all, saw deer most of the day, just nothing worth the drag.

Anyone else ever find livestock like this on gamelands? Anyone ever seen these cows before? They were in a pretty isolated area I accessed by boat so they have quite a large area to themselves it seems.
i have seen everything but a free range cow at Jordan. :)
We do have some free rangers in chatham but they get unfree pretty quick. Lotta cattle places in chatham.
 

timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
There used to be some free range goats on some public land in Ashe county. Don’t know if they are still there or not.

Personally i would have brought home some new York strip, ribeye and t-bone.
 

kilacam

Six Pointer
There used to be some free range goats on some public land in Ashe county. Don’t know if they are still there or not.

Personally i would have brought home some new York strip, ribeye and t-bone.
I dropped a pin on their bedding area, now you got me thinking about my deep freezer mentioning those cuts.
 

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
The difference is the wild cattle in Hawaii are descended from cattle given to the Hawaiians by Captain George Vancouver in the 1790s.

Running wild ever since. Not recent barnyard escapees.
 

kilacam

Six Pointer
I emailed WRC asking about the regulations or legality of harvesting a cow/livestock on gamelands. They responded with "Please contact your local animal control officer for guidance", so it would seem to me they have nothing to do with it.
 

JONOV

Twelve Pointer
I emailed WRC asking about the regulations or legality of harvesting a cow/livestock on gamelands. They responded with "Please contact your local animal control officer for guidance", so it would seem to me they have nothing to do with it.
Honestly they wouldn't get involved the more I think about it.

The AC officer is the one that would ultimately handle it; the question would be "do I have the right to whack a cow and does someone else have the right to demand payment for their lost cow?"
 

JoeR

Eight Pointer
I ran into this on private land in NY and asked the local ENCON officer for guidance. He didn't have a solid answer for me except "You can buy a lot of steak for the price of bail and a good lawyer." I guess when there is no specific law outlining what's legal and what's not, anything can happen. I left the cow alone.

Joe
 

berryman26

Six Pointer
Yesterday while hunting Jordan I was down on a creek edge. I heard something massive coming out of the creek bed thicket. I thought I was about to see the biggest deer on Jordan gamelands. Turns out it was a cow, there were actually 3 of them. At first I figured they had escaped or something recently, but as I walked further I found their bedding and where they had been grazing on vegetation down by the creek.

It appeared they had been there for a long time from the bedding area and old cow patties. Wasn't the big boy I was hoping for, but an interesting experience. Had a great day in all, saw deer most of the day, just nothing worth the drag.

Anyone else ever find livestock like this on gamelands? Anyone ever seen these cows before? They were in a pretty isolated area I accessed by boat so they have quite a large area to themselves it seems.
Hey if you want some help hauling some meat out... I'm 30 min away...
But in all seriousness, is there a farm adjacent to the gamelands?
 

Dick

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
always found it comical talking with some of the wildlife officers over the years. Mostly while fishing. But a good number of them had absolutely no clue what fish they were looking at let alone regs.
 

ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
Years ago in Georgia, we had a hunter shoot a small brown calf on some leased timberlands. No farms anywhere close, as far as we knew. He had the most puzzling look on his face and said' "what are we gonna do now?" Well duh, cut it up :sneaky:
 

Rescue44

Old Mossy Horns
There used to be some free range goats on some public land in Ashe county. Don’t know if they are still there or not.

Personally i would have brought home some new York strip, ribeye and t-bone.

Man...6 or 8 rib roast. Aged, rubbed just right, cool center..barely warm at most. 🤩🤤🤤🤑
 

Triggernosis

Ten Pointer
I don't know about shooting a full size cow. Slaughterhouses aren't allowed to receive dead animals for processing, except for deer, so you would have to process them sumvamitches yourself. How big were they?
I shot a rogue 800-lb steer for a local rancher a couple of years ago and it took 3 grown men and a whole lot of struggle to get that thing loaded into the back of a pickup truck.
 
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