st hellens mud flow

[summit creek]

does anyone know the quality of bulls out of the mud flow are they rag horns like tootle and coweeman or good bulls over 300"

[Tbar]

There are some good bulls in there 310-320, but I would guess 260-270 is more realistic. I haven't spent much time down there in the last 3 years but I also don't think a lot has changed. A trophy us the bull you are happy with weather its 250 or 350, good luck in finding the one.

[blackveltbowhunter]

  260 or 270 is a trophy in there. With 230 to 250 being your average "nice" bull. If a good bull for you is over 300 I think you may be disapointed.

[h2ofowlr]

It will take a lot of looking to find the trophy.  A ton of rag horns with blacktail size racks.  North side is okay, south side is steep as crap and lots of cover.

[BENCHLEG]

blackveltbowhunter, is on the money if you are looking @ the potential of the unit. there are always exceptions though. 300 or better keep looking .

[summit creek]

thanks for the info i have 12 quality bull points and dont wanna burn em im hell bent goast point west side or blue mtns east side then stuck huntin spikes i have a 289 rosie from 08 and dont wanna loose my points in a unit if the quality isint there thaks again

[Wtrfowlr62]

its a good unit i but wouldn't hold your breath on a bruiser. I've seen a couple really nice bulls (300 range) but not many. there are decent bulls though. i would say their are a couple in that range but in my opinion luck is what you get a chance for one that big.. their there but not many, most likely you'll take a bull in the 250-280 range.

[TheHunt]

If you are looking for quality do not look there... 

[summit creek]

If you are looking for quality do not look there...

thank you

[heavy hauler]

almost a 100% hunt, but good luck getting a monster.  standard bulls there are 5x5. and a few cheater  6x6

[kglacken]

Had a cow tag in there a couple years ago. Had shots on 10 different bulls and saw 17 total bulls in 3 days of hunting. lots of bulls, but 300 inches is rare 

[jstone]

OK just curiouse, why if there are so many bulls they are not bigger?? Something in the food, What?

[h2ofowlr]

A lot of in breeding I think.  May also be lack of quality food sources with the changes to clear cutting.  Out of 25 bulls we saw, one was a decent 5x5 saw a 6x6 that was about 25" wide by 21" tall.  Nice bodies goofy a$$ racks.  Bulls with deer racks.

[bucklucky]

250 is a average nice bull, getting much bigger than that you'll havr to get seriousely lucky. I know what a 300 bull looks like and I have seen a small handfull in my years spent up there. I had a couple guys one year durring my buddies mudflow hunt tell m e about all the 350 bulls they had been seeing ..... Yeah if you add 100 inches  I know there are a few 300 bulls im sure but as much as I have spent looking over the mountain with my spotter and NOT seen any ........

[BullMagnet76]

The mudflow unit is NOT worth your points, it is a very small area and once the first shot is fired in there the rest of the elk run up on th hills out of bounds.  DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!

[bucklucky]

The boundry is the highway and the 3000 line on the toutle side, them hills they are running into are legal grounds  I think there is a hunt that is in the mudflow that is just the flow itself but not the permits for the quality hunts.

[BullMagnet76]

I grew up hunting that area and I did a lot of research on that unit last year, I called and talked to the game department and they told me not to waste my quality bull points, it is a decent unit if you are just looking for a cow.

[h2ofowlr]

I grew up hunting that area and I did a lot of research on that unit last year, I called and talked to the game department and they told me not to waste my quality bull points, it is a decent unit if you are just looking for a cow.

We had two cow tags for archery and couldn't fill them.  We hunted it a week.  We saw a lot of rag horn bulls, some as close as 6 yards, but could not locate a cow within distance.  Everytime you chirped you had 2-3 bulls run up on us.  It sucked for cow hunting.  We hunted both side, it may be better for rifle or muzzy, but don't waste it on archery.

[bucklucky]

I bet you havent seen my posts on the st helens hunts before  worst quality bull tags there are IMO. Back in the 80's and 90's (I learned to deer hunt in the margret) it was pretty bad ass seeing nice 7x7's even 8x8's running around up there. Back then in (The Canyon) where we killed most of our bucks during the summer you could see 200 5x5's and bigger, groups of 20-50 branched bulls none smaller than a 5x5. I miss those days. We lived in st helens . It has gone down hill ever since the late 90's.

[blackveltbowhunter]

 

    The only thing I would add is that while it may not be the tag, "I" would want to draw. It may be a "quality" tag to some. My hunting partner drew it for archery in 2009.... on a couple points. Awesome hunt. We had a great time saw tons of bulls and he killed his first bull with his bow. A "nice" 230 inch 5 point. It was a "quality" experience from that standpoint.

   Speaking for myself, I normally pass up very few bulls on a general season tag. I dont want to burn a buncha points on a hunt where I may never even lay eyes on a 300 inch bull. But having done the hunt I can say without a doubt, its hella fun Your opportunity at an " above average" ( speaking westside raghorns ) bull is very real. Especially during the gun season as alot of bulls will be filtering back into the unit after the rut. But, if your goal is a "quality" bull as relates to antler score, then dont waste ur points. 

   

[bucklucky]

I had a blast in there for the muzzy tag my buddy drew. He ended up with a nice 7x6. We made some hunts on a few other nice bulls. Definately a fun tag for a good bull. His bull was like 260 If I remember right. Compact with desccent mass. Very cool bull. My buddys daughter killed a 260 6x6 this year. Probably looked like a 300 type bull with all the raghorns in there  I would put in for it if I didnt have many points.

[jstone]

I have a good buddy that keeps missing his opportunity. Would that hunt be good for someone who hasn't harvested a deer or elk. He has been archery hunting sense 06 and hasn't harvested a thing yet.

[kentrek]

hmm sounds like i must be off on my scoring a touch  so where would the best alternative to the flow be ? toutles hunted out and the Margret is lots of privit land. is there another special unit for rosys ?

[blackveltbowhunter]

I have a good buddy that keeps missing his opportunity. Would that hunt be good for someone who hasn't harvested a deer or elk. He has been archery hunting sense 06 and hasn't harvested a thing yet.

    It would be a good hunt for a guy who hasnt shot anything yet, lotsa animals lotsa opportunity. But Looking at the proposed season for the unit, if he is archery hunting it sucks. Looks like a 6 day season. In his case I would go for a toutle tag... Maybe not as many animals and a bit more pressure... but way more season time.

[westside Elkhunter]

Have been down to the toutle with guys that have drawn the tag. Fun hunts. Just hope they dont shut down to fire danger. Some nice bulls hang out in the mud flow.

[WapitiChaser]

Hunted the area before and USED to put in for Margaret and Toutle every year....  Gotta say I wouldn't "waste" a ton of points on what we've seen in there the last 10 years.

That said, a "quality elk" is one I shoot.  A "raghorn" is anything less than a 7x7 shot by anyone else.

[Nuc99]

I have seen a few monster 6x7 elk while hiking in to Castle late last fall...  Go North and you wont see the big guys I am guessing.   Im not even sure the South side is open.  I hunt the Olympics... 

[bowhunterty]

No monsters but you will see bulls. But only being from Sep 5th to 11th this year not a lot a time to be choosey. Since the westside is three point or better for most units is one of the big reasons there are no good quality hunts.

[Huntbear]

Not sure about the mudflow... but if you know where to go in the Margaret, and do not mind a 5-6 mile hike in some steep country... there are some monsters up there still.   You may have to wait for them to cross a line in the sand so it is legal to shoot, but they are there.

[throttlejocky20]

Not sure about the mudflow... but if you know where to go in the Margaret, and do not mind a 5-6 mile hike in some steep country... there are some monsters up there still.   You may have to wait for them to cross a line in the sand so it is legal to shoot, but they are there.

:yeah:I had a cow tag in there a few years ago. Did alot of hiking and seen a ton of good bulls. As far as over 300 I believe its not out of the question. In 3 days of hunting we seen 2 that were for sure over 300 and one that was close. But that said it was early archery and we had the weather to make an ok spot good hunting.

[heavy hauler]

castle lake isnt in the "mudflow "unit.  just my

[kentrek]

castle lake isnt in the "mudflow "unit.  just my

yeah the boundry is below it a bit,but it will still give a guy an idea of what is up there.and lots of those bulls move on down the hill in the fall

[Arteman]

Need to go much farther North for quality westside bulls, I won't call bs on what people claim to have seen in there, but I have never seen, heard of, or even looked at a shed that had come from the flow thats a 300 bull, 280 is monster in there and rare.   I have and know of a lot of people that spend a lot of time there, and watch every elk that habits the area, and have for the past 20 years.  Maybe in Margarets Randle side there is bulls hitting 300 but not in or near the mudflow.  That little girl that killed that bull in there last year really did that tag justice.  Don't just take my word, you can glass everything right now from the highway side, and snow pack has everything down especially on the CastleLake side, its a little late now but a month ago you could have glassed for a week tell your eyes bleed and you won't see any 300 bulls.

[BOWHUNTER45]

my buddy took proberly the best bull I have seen come out of that unit ...I try to get a picture of it .....just a nice bull .... I think I would sheet to a 300- 320 bull down there ... just from what I have seen ...but I am no horn hunter so any elk fits my needs 

[Nuc99]

Oh... Im not familiar with the St Helens Units.  Just saw two 6x7 bulls on the way to Castle.  Like I said I hunt the Olympics and was just trying to be helpful.   You can see the other side of the river that flows from Coldwater Lake.  6 to 8 miles...  from the hike in to Castle.  There are some big bulls in there...

[furbearer365]

All in all you have to consider it quality due to the amount of animals you will see.  The year my buddy drew the tag he took a good 6x6 and it was in a herd of 22 legal bulls.  He took the only 6x6 but said there were bigger 5x5's in the group, he just had his mind on a 6x.  Not many places you could see that kind of herd at one time.  Horn size doesnt make quality all the time

[kentrek]

All in all you have to consider it quality due to the amount of animals you will see.  The year my buddy drew the tag he took a good 6x6 and it was in a herd of 22 legal bulls.  He took the only 6x6 but said there were bigger 5x5's in the group, he just had his mind on a 6x.  Not many places you could see that kind of herd at one time.  Horn size doesnt make quality all the time

does your buddy happen to live in castle rock and work for the county ?