Elk and fires

[March244]

Hey guys,
I just did a quick search and didn't find what I was looking for. What are you guys thoughts on what the elk will do in burn areas this year? I saw the area i've been going for a couple years is currently closed for a fire, and was thinking.... Will they even be in the burn area? I'm sure next year they will be, but this fall? Right after the fire? Just food for conversation.
Thanks

 

[idahohikker]

There's a lot of threads on this if you search around. In general, hunting a fire the same year can be hit or miss. By the next year it can be good or a total flop, just depends on the specifics of how it burned. Lots of fires these days burn super hot and torch everything, due to fuel loads that are way too high. Those crown fires can take a decade or two to recover from.

Also, you can meet all of your non-resident friends in burns because that's where the vast majority expect to find elk now. Thanks, Randy Newberg for pushing them all there. While I know it's shocking, you can find elk outside of a burned area.

 

[Sturgeon]

I've been thinking the same thing with everyone pushing the idea of burns. The OnX burn layer seems to me like places to avoid, unless you are looking to make friends.

 

[idahohikker]

It's a nonresident hunter locator layer.

 

[dreamingbig]

It's a nonresident hunter locator layer.

Trying to figure where other hunters will be is getting to be a double cross...

Go 3 miles but not 8 (outfitter), don’t hunt burns, don’t hunt boundaries, don’t hunt the roadless areas, don’t hunt the high hunter number units, don’t hunt units with wolves...

Crap! No where left to hunt and stay away from everyone else!


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[idahohikker]

Nope, it's not a bunch of random ideas like that. It's just going to be burns these days that are packed. Check out the the new hunter posts on here and elsewhere. "Going deep" is a thing but there are guys who hunt closer because hauling out an elk 5 miles is brutal so that kinda evens out.

 

[dreamingbig]

It is more than just burns. Boundaries between units or public/private, 2 miles from any road, trailhead, or dead end road are just a few more examples.

For the record I have never shot an elk in a burn.


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[Sled]

i've noticed a change in the elk in my area that i feel is due to a burn. the area is 8k elevation with water, steep thick cover in spots, dark timber and access to abundant feed. it's been full of cows every year until last season. 2 years ago there was a substantial fire that burned for weeks just a few miles away. last year i saw more bulls in my area and very few cows all season. some of the bulls disappeared during the rut to chase cows somewhere else. in the past they would all herd up in the timber and use the flatter openings at night and early am for rutting.

my thoughts are that the fresh veggies over in the burn scar are too big of a draw for the cows and calves. the bulls seem happy to have a bachelor pad all to themselves. i can't prove it but it sure is a coincidence with the timing.