st helens herd

[BENCHLEG]

verry nice bull for the area julzzz, you are correct hunt the brush and you will fill your tag. nice job.

[julzzz]

nice bull buckhorn

[HornPorn]

Nice bulls guys. Oh, and gal I would post a pic of mine but the batteries were dead in my camera.

[Hunter Dug]

It kills me to hear all the negitivity, What happened to just a good quality hunt, having fun, and seeing lots of animals that you can choose to shot or pass on.  For several years I have heard the same thing over and over.  I hunted the Toutle this year seen several bulls every day, and had a great time.  The reason you guys dont see as may elk is because all the gates are open and MOST of you guys, not all but MOST of you guys are stuck to the seat of your truck.  These are great units, maybe not worth 8 10 or 12 points but great units to shot a bull in, and possiblly a big bull,  this isnt the olden days any more.  There are not as many animals in the woods not just in these units but everywhere. Why cant we just go out and have fun anymore.  You want a trophy put your points in where there are trophys, and quit complaining.       

[bullrider97]

   Maybe people are trying to hunt like this...  

[Alan K]

It kills me to hear all the negitivity, What happened to just a good quality hunt, having fun, and seeing lots of animals that you can choose to shot or pass on.  For several years I have heard the same thing over and over.  I hunted the Toutle this year seen several bulls every day, and had a great time.  The reason you guys dont see as may elk is because all the gates are open and MOST of you guys, not all but MOST of you guys are stuck to the seat of your truck.  These are great units, maybe not worth 8 10 or 12 points but great units to shot a bull in, and possiblly a big bull,  this isnt the olden days any more.  There are not as many animals in the woods not just in these units but everywhere. Why cant we just go out and have fun anymore.  You want a trophy put your points in where there are trophys, and quit complaining.       

Thats what the point of this thread is, everyone knows there is getting to be fewer and fewer big bulls in these units but I think the guy who started it is just trying to get a feel for whether or not they're worthy of a trophy of his standards. Anyone can have a quality hunt in terms of animal numbers and sightings in general units if they get out of the truck.  The reason people spend points on quality bull or buck tags is to take a large mature animal.

I think the rifle tags should be in the general bull category.  Your odds of bagging a big bull here during modern is just the same as bagging a big bull in Olympic or Skokomish, and they're in the general bull category. The odds are slim, but possible if you put your time in and work hard.  I think the muzzy and archery seasons should remain in the quality category.

[Hunter Dug]

Like i said FOR YEARS people have none that these units are going down hill ( as far as the number of big bulls)  with the majority of the bulls being 4 and 5 points.  If your eyes want a Big 5 or 6 point put in for a unit that has a better liklyhood of having these bulls.  Quality hunt don't have to mean Trophy hunt.  In the Toutle, Margret, Mud Flow this obviously mean high success rate with the small chance of a Trophy. That has been none for years and is well documented on this site.  Lack of preperation = Lack of success.  Bottom Line.   If I had 10 points I would put in for these units because I am a oppurtunity hunter I enjoy as many oppurtunitys as possible cow or bull. But your chances of shoting a 250 to 300 inch bull are very unlikley.  I seen 26 bulls in 4 days, and none of them were over 200 inches.   Sorry I jumped of track I was commenting on Joebears post.

[youngbull]

hunted with my dad and buddies in the whittier unit for a few days with success.  really rough country but real unbelievable scenery.  spending the time scouting and doing our homework proved to be benficial. Trophy bulls can be had but hard work has to be done.  Unless you get real lucky scouting is a must to be successful.  I would post pics but can't figure out how to shrink pics

[julzzz]

I was one of the rifle tag holders last year. The problem was all the roads were closed.  The hotline said no vehicle access, even if gates were open.  We were not able to scout the area, then come to find out people were in there scouting 2 weeks ahead of time, then night before season bedded their bulls down and came back in the am.  Pretty short hunt.  I went in blind not being able to scout, and still came out with a nice bull.  There is nice bulls in there. I know of a monster 5X5 taken out of the mudflow unit last year. to bad he is not a member of this site. There are Nice bulls in there, just takes some  work.

[Huntbear]

My buddy got his Margaret bull.  A huge 5x6.  We had 265 lbs. Of bones out meat that we packed out 3 miles to the truck.  He shot it opening day. In the nastiest weather u could imagine.