Methods and network devices are disclosed for multicast forwarding. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving at a node a multicast message comprising a message header, where the message header comprises an incoming message bit array and a set identifier value associated with the incoming message bit array. The method further comprises selecting a first forwarding table entry, the first forwarding table entry comprises a set identifier value matching that of the message header. The method further comprises comparing at least a portion of the incoming message bit array to a corresponding portion of a neighbor bit array of the first forwarding table entry, determining that for at least one relative bit position a corresponding destination node is both a destination for the message and a reachable destination from a first neighboring node, and forwarding a copy of the message to the first neighboring node.