Burned area

[Deerhunter6250]

I am looking to hunt an area that burned 2 years ago pretty hot. Last year they didn't have much moisture but it greened up some and they are getting a lot of snow this winter. It takes 3 points to hunt the area with a muzzleloader which is what I have so I am wandering if the elk will be back in there and if they get pressure if they will stay or head out to thicker cover. I have hunted elk for many years but never in a burned area and I scouted this spot 3 times before the burn and seen some good ones. Thanks

 

[KAGR]

Like anywhere else, if they are pressured they are going to move out. But if you have glassed bulls in there - they likely will return if there is just light pressure.

 

[Deerhunter6250]

I am looking to hunt an area that burned 2 years ago pretty hot. Last year they didn't have much moisture but it greened up some and they are getting a lot of snow this winter. It takes 3 points to hunt the area with a muzzleloader which is what I have so I am wandering if the elk will be back in there and if they get pressure if they will stay or head out to thicker cover. I have hunted elk for many years but never in a burned area and I scouted this spot 3 times before the burn and seen some good ones. Thanks

Ttt

 

[Dos Perros]

I think they could be in there. I hunted a burn one time, it was a year old. To my untrained eye there was no feed in there, at least deep in the burn. But we found elk in there. Upon closer inspection there might be one little flower every 10 feet, or some other little green forb, or something. Like it wasn't 100% dead, just 99.9% dead. But that 0.1% of life was enough to sustain quite a few elk.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

There will be elk I'm sure.

 

[Dos Perros]

Pic of what I’m talking about. Not much feed, but enough.

 

[IdahoElk]

We have had three major fires in our area in the last 10-15yrs and from what I've seen it takes areas that have burned hot about 4-6yrs to become areas that hold elk. Two years after a scorched earth burn is still pretty bleak especially in dry climates.

 

[Deerhunter6250]

Thanks for the responses I appreciate it

 

[Desperatehills]

The area we deer hunted last year was scorched two years ago. We found some deer in the area but no elk. There were lots of elk hunters too. I asked a elk hunter why there were so many elk hunters in a area that seemed to have no elk. He told me the area was good before the burn but they had not seen a elk since the fire. I think this area had enough feed but it lacked cover. I guess it depends on how hot and how thorough the fire burned.

 

[Gapmaster]

The edges may have some good feed where the fire wasn’t as hot. Seen places that burned 10+ years ago that are still like a desert. But man does that stuff suck to hunt in. Nothing like crawling though a maze of logs all day. Your shins will hate you for it.

 

[Jimss]

There are so many variables! The big variables are cover, feed, water, hunting pressure, size of burn, cover, remoteness....the list goes on.

One of the biggest factors with elk is they HATE hunting pressure and human activity. They usually move until they find hidden little areas with 0 human activity. Now that the canopy has opened up by wildfire the elk can be seen for miles, it doesn't take much hunting pressure and they are gone.

 

[bummer7580]

I love hunting elk in Limited Entry access areas that have burned. This past fall the area I hunted had burned 4 years ago. You could see elk standing in the burnt pines from a long distance away, much easier to spot than in live canopy. As long as the burn was a bit of a checker board fire(not complete burn) there will be elk until human pressure moves them.

 

[11boo]

This spot burned and came back very green. No one told the elk. a fraction of the animals are in there post burn.