Blues or Nooksack with your Quality Points?

[bobcat]

I got 8 and multi think I will draw it this year?

Very doubtful. Eight points is nothing when many people have twice that many. And having a multi-season tag provides no advantage.

[BULLBLASTER]

Exactly what huntmnw and elkterd said. I trained my but off and that place still broke me. Once i started scouting i quickly realized there are no slam dunks on national forest in the blues.  i did have what i would call the hunt of a lifetime even though i never even drew on a bull tho.

[Tbar]

Exactly what huntmnw and elkterd said. I trained my but off and that place still broke me. Once i started scouting i quickly realized there are no slam dunks on national forest in the blues.  i did have what i would call the hunt of a lifetime even though i never even drew on a bull tho.

This is all excellent and real advice.  I also think it's very relative regardless of unit.  I think it might even be worse in the Nooksack due to no general season and very limited access. You have most of western Washingtons hunters putting in for this hallowed unit that they have literally never set foot in. I think harvest reports reflect that. The other thing about the Nooksack is people aren't lying or misleading when they say land access is tough to come by(private). To say the locals are less than welcoming to non locals is an understatement, everyone wants opportunity, especially if you are being adversely affected.
The other point brought out that can't be emphasized enough is preparedness, both physical and mental.  The Nooksack is as demanding as any sane man wants. People go to this pre hunt meeting where they are given a golden (actual brass) key and think it's going to be a meat shoot only to find the animals behavior and location is completely 180 from the scouting trips of the recent past. Two years ago I came across a "local" who drew the archery tag.  He said he hadn't seen a bull in over a week and would literally shoot any bull. A local guy took him to the valley floor where he shot a small 5 and was happy.  I only mention this story because I've seen more smaller 5s than monsters by a wide margin.

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

Ive got 17, and every year i think man im getting close

Im 38 years old and i bet i hit 55 before i draw...

[GameHunter1959]

Ive got 17, and every year i think man im getting close

Im 38 years old and i bet i hit 55 before i draw...

I'm with you. 39 years old 20 points. Likely NOT SELECTED

[rackattack]

Ive got 17, and every year i think man im getting close

Im 38 years old and i bet i hit 55 before i draw...

Didn't you draw a couple years ago?

[Tbar]

Ive got 17, and every year i think man im getting close

Im 38 years old and i bet i hit 55 before i draw...

Didn't you draw a couple years ago?

Ive got 17, and every year i think man im getting close

Im 38 years old and i bet i hit 55 before i draw...

Didn't you draw a couple years ago?

I believe there was no access due to fire danger and the wdfw reinstated his points.

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

Tbar, he was with me.

[slim9300]

My obvious choice would be Nooksack.  That decision is based largely on the fact that I live in the unit and know it fairly well.  That said I say go with what you know the best.  It sounds like a cliche but it rings true more times than not.  I'm a big believer in you get out of a hunt what you put into it. When going into an area blind help and direction are absolutely priceless but pail in comparison to intimate knowledge of an area.  So I guess my vote would be the hunt I could be most prepared for.

I'm glad I had best preparation possible for my hunt last year. If only I could do it all over again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[trophyhunt]

So, which tag did you go for? 

[luvmystang67]

So, which tag did you go for? 

After a lot of feedback from a lot of folks (a big thanks for everyone's input), I decided that either would be a fantastic hunt and that I didn't need to spend my years of waiting by putting in for general seasons in areas I didn't want to hunt that year.  More simply, I've decided to target blues on years I hunt east side and nooksack on years I hunt westside.  I plan to split it up a little year to year depending on where friends and opportunities exist.  I'll put in for the one on whichever side I'm on and if I get drawn for either one there's great potential for a trophy animal and a hunt of a lifetime.

My personal take on it at this point, is that there are probably more higher scoring animals available in the blues, but I know far more about the west side and nooksack is close enough to home that I could scout it early and often.  I also have a soft spot in my heart for hunting the wet jungle over here for some reason.  So, personally, it is kind of a wash in my eyes. 

I'll report back when I get drawn in 20 years.

[3nails]

So, which tag did you go for? 

After a lot of feedback from a lot of folks (a big thanks for everyone's input), I decided that either would be a fantastic hunt and that I didn't need to spend my years of waiting by putting in for general seasons in areas I didn't want to hunt that year.  More simply, I've decided to target blues on years I hunt east side and nooksack on years I hunt westside.  I plan to split it up a little year to year depending on where friends and opportunities exist.  I'll put in for the one on whichever side I'm on and if I get drawn for either one there's great potential for a trophy animal and a hunt of a lifetime.

My personal take on it at this point, is that there are probably more higher scoring animals available in the blues, but I know far more about the west side and nooksack is close enough to home that I could scout it early and often.  I also have a soft spot in my heart for hunting the wet jungle over here for some reason.  So, personally, it is kind of a wash in my eyes. 

I'll report back when I get drawn in 20 years.

Sounds like a good plan! The only thing that I would comment on is that if you did draw Nooksack you wouldn't be able to scout until about a week before the season. That is about when they hand out the keys to 90% of the area.

[luvmystang67]

So, which tag did you go for? 

After a lot of feedback from a lot of folks (a big thanks for everyone's input), I decided that either would be a fantastic hunt and that I didn't need to spend my years of waiting by putting in for general seasons in areas I didn't want to hunt that year.  More simply, I've decided to target blues on years I hunt east side and nooksack on years I hunt westside.  I plan to split it up a little year to year depending on where friends and opportunities exist.  I'll put in for the one on whichever side I'm on and if I get drawn for either one there's great potential for a trophy animal and a hunt of a lifetime.

My personal take on it at this point, is that there are probably more higher scoring animals available in the blues, but I know far more about the west side and nooksack is close enough to home that I could scout it early and often.  I also have a soft spot in my heart for hunting the wet jungle over here for some reason.  So, personally, it is kind of a wash in my eyes. 

I'll report back when I get drawn in 20 years.

Sounds like a good plan! The only thing that I would comment on is that if you did draw Nooksack you wouldn't be able to scout until about a week before the season. That is about when they hand out the keys to 90% of the area.

I was thinking I could do some walking during bear season, but perhaps I don't understand where the elk hang out up there.  I'll worry about that more when I get drawn someday.

[Bigshooter]

Not to depress anyone, BUT I had 36 elk points 3 years ago, yup 36, thanks to a couple poachers.  With that amount, I still didn't get drawn for the Blues first time.  I finally drew with 37 the next year, AND then drew my second choice behind Dayton, drew W. Wenaha.  Just goes to show how watered down the points pools really are 

Goes to show that points don't mean a whole lot when you have 1000's of people trying to draw 20 tags or so in a random draw.

People need to stop thinking that pts equal tags.  Most people that I know that have drawn quality tags didn't have very many pts.

[Mxracer532]

one thing that guys need to take into acount is which method are you planning on hunting. Modern is going to be harder to draw then say muzzy. So yes 20 points for Modern is nothing but for Muzzy or say Archery the odds are alittle better. Altho not great still alittle better.