Looking for feedback on Bumping unit 356, Nile 352

[thefeve]

Hey All!

Muzzy season is rapidly approaching and trying to finalize where to head out. Planning to do some hiking and hoping to get away from areas with large amounts of fire road traffic. Has anyone had any luck or feedback on bumping unit or nile? Or know if the fires are still putting that area in risk?

UPDATE: looking at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/5509/41855/ it looks like the norse peak fire is just north of there, but has calmed down and is mostly contained... anyone have thoughts on how that will impact the herds up there? debating if its not smart to get into a unit close to it, or if it could be beneficial as the fire may have moved them around...

Hoping to get up into some more alpine areas on foot to get away from some of the pressure. We'll be backpacking Fri-monday next week, hoping to hike in and setup camp on friday AM to scout around and find a good spot for Sat morning opener.

Thanks!

[Naches Sportsman]

Areas near the American Ridge fire closure are more than likely going to be hunted this next week with a lot of area opened up that wasn't hunted during archery.

[PlateauNDN]

I was in bumping today and bulls be bugling. also, nobody was in the area I was in.

[ghosthunter]

I spent last Friday - Saturday in Nile. We hunted it the past two years for muzzy with no luck. Six hunters.
Know one muzzy spike last year a friend got.

Another friend got a cow bow hunting this year.

We drove most roads in the Nile, checked water sources for fresh tracks ,found one set in two days.

Very dry. We were planning to hunt it but have  picked another GMU.

[Thenewguy]

This early, they are often up high. I like he nearby wilderness area.  A lot less pressure. Get off the roads and stay in the woods all day. You will get an opportunity.

[dreamingbig]

My observation are that true spikes are hard to come by this year due to the tremendous horn growth.  We ran 6 trail cameras from June to September and only had a couple pictures of spikes.  Several 2x3 and 3x3 with normal spike size bodies and faces.  Normally we see 6-12 on cam.


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[E35alex]

Don't mind me, just listening in on the conversation. 

[Pegasus]

Every time I drove through the area I saw a number of spike bulls in July and early August. Don't think there is any shortage of young bulls yet. Maybe after hunting seasons are over.

[yakimanoob]

Glad to hear they're making noise in Bumping.  I was in south Bethel all weekend after a bear and didn't hear a single bugle. 

[yakimanoob]

I ran up to the area around the Norse Peak fire last night with my wife and a friend of ours to do some hiking with the dogs and we heard tons of bugling in the valley below us.  We finally got a look down into the meadow and there was a big 6x6 chasing a group of about 10 cows around. 

We also saw a mtn goat on the way back to the truck.  It's a magical time of year 

[thefeve]

Thanks Everyone for the feedback!

We'll be heading to bumping I think. Sounds like as good of a chance as any!

Only worry now is staying warm... it was 30 degrees on my way to my office in ellensburg today... i need to find a warmer sleeping bag!

Still open to suggestions for places to go, right now leaning toward heading in from the south side off Hi12... maybe indian creek area.