Quality bull Nooksack vs mudflow

[Big6bull]

 mudflow has a nostalgic factor with st Helen’s. Pretty cool area. 

[Magnum_Willys]

I would do nooksack - but its a hard hard hunt - go deep, hunt hard all season you might get lucky.  Say 1 outa 3 chance.  Road hunting for 10 days won’t cut it.  Natives can and do hunt 24/7 seven months a year there.  Yes nite hunting. 

[Ridgerunner]

mudflow has a nostalgic factor with st Helen’s. Pretty cool area.

Most of my time hunting I've generally put in for units with the best trophy quality, that being said being on the mudflow with one of my kids was a really cool experience and a tag I wouldnt mind drawing even though the inches of horn may not be the biggest. 

[Bowhunter3]

I hunted nooksack a few years ago. Lots of pressure day and night. We put elk to bed only to find a fresh gut pile a daylight. I would plan on securing private property if I put in for that tag.

hmm, any idea who would was hunting them at night?

I’m gonna go with poachers, but what do I know 

[trophyhunt]

I hunted nooksack a few years ago. Lots of pressure day and night. We put elk to bed only to find a fresh gut pile a daylight. I would plan on securing private property if I put in for that tag.

hmm, any idea who would was hunting them at night?

I’m gonna go with poachers, but what do I know 

Is it poaching when it’s legal for some? 

[kentrek]

The mudflow also has plenty of poaching.. i was finding some spree killing a few years back and that really fires a guy up... pretty disgusting

[Sundance]

Gosh
Is there any decent west side unit?

I feel this sediment exactly. I don’t bother applying for Westside elk tags other than cow hunts. Ghost points until I draw a multiseason or bite the bullet and gamble on an eastern WA tag. There are still good opportunities OTC for roosies and cascade/rockies in western WA, trophy quality is what you make of it.

[spin05]

I have drawn both.  The natives have really put a dent into the herds of the Nooksack.  If you want a decent bull it will probably be on private property.

Very uneducated comments.  The quality is way down and I believe the herd has really plateaued. Having quite a bit of knowledge about the history I would be quicker to blame 4 years of damage harvest being all male to reduce the b to c ratio and try not to affect the trajectory of the herd. It may have done both objectives but the following ramping up of cow harvest seemed to stop and reduce the growth of the herd making it far from a trophy unit as in the past but a low density unit with a cross section of age classes. Easy to blame the most visible but please try to gain more knowledge before casting stones.

T-bar,
 i know you are involved with that Skagit herd quite a bit.  I was under the assumption the Tribes get the same amount of tags as regular resident hunters true or has that changed ?

[Westside88]

Are the elk numbers in the mud flow doing ok since hoof rot? This is an area I was thinking of putting my dad in for, but I haven't been there in the area in quite some time

[blackveltbowhunter]

Are the elk numbers in the mud flow doing ok since hoof rot? This is an area I was thinking of putting my dad in for, but I haven't been there in the area in quite some time

Define ok?

Like every unit in western wa, ( or the state for that matter ), it's a shadow of what it once was. If you spent time in the early 2000s thru early teens prepare for disappointment. It still has decent B2C ratio, and pretty good opportunity at a bull, especially if you put in some effort. Age class has taken a big hit the last several years, not sure exactly why, likely a combo of factors and the elk density is pretty sporadic these days. But they're are still a few kickn around.

[Westside88]

Thanks, that’s helpful.