the elk herds at mt st helens were introduced by teddy roosevelt, he took alot of animals from the olympic coast. when i started hunting elk in the area you seen spikes and small branched antlers, very seldom did you see a 6x6 though they were there. the bodies and hoof prints were huge. 90% of the bulls taken in the 60's and 70's were spikes. The herd itself was second largest behind the bethel ridge or east cascade herds. I do believe over time some cross breeding took place. after the mtn blew i use to see alot of bulls, bigger than the ones i hunted in the early sixties. i always thought this area never had the minerals to grow huge bulls, or the gene pool was weak, but i believe for the most part these are roosevelts
