Forest Fires

[gkempf]

Was just curious with all the fires you western hunters had this summer, how long do you wait to hunt them again. Guess maybe it depends on the rain you get in the spring and summer to promote new plant growth?

 

[Phaseolus]

Winter snowpack is what drives moisture in the Rockies. So far we are behind again, i’m hoping for a wet winter

 

[justinspicher]

I think it also depends on when the forest service opens the area back up.

 

[swampthing]

Hunt a fire right away. There is always pockets that dont get burnt. Animals will utilize these pockets.

 

[Smokeslider]

The burns will generally have good growth the following year depending on burn severity. As stated previously, even on hotter burns, you’ll find areas of lower intensity burn effects and as such will attract animals.

 

[Montero]

I agree with finding areas where a mixed severity burn on the larger fires occurred. Find that combination where areas with tree cover mostly just saw ground fire ( low burn severity) near areas where new forage will occur (trees burned/ generally higher severity during the fire) would be a good combination.

 

[Hoodie]

I live 30 minutes away from one of the bigger burns that happened on the westside of the Oregon Cascades.

If itś accessible next year I´ll be scouting it. The snowpack on the west slope of the Cascades is a very different beast than it is in the Rockies, so there´s little to no doubt there will be some amount of regrowth in at least some areas.

All burns aren´t created equal but a massive (like 80K acres or bigger) fire isn´t going to burn uniformly. Some areas will be mosaic, some scorched earth.

I hunt a burn from a super-hot fire about eleven years ago. I think it´s just starting to peak. Other burns are starting to get brushed in well before that.

One of the biggest issues we´ve had in the Cascades is a lack of good forage on low-elevation winter range since logging ended on federal lands. Some of the recent burns burnt all the way from the crest to the foothills. I´ve got high hopes for the next ten years or so. Last time we had a fire comparable to this on the westside the blacktail density estimates 3-4 years into the recovery were mind-blowing.

Generally, but especially the first year after a burn, I think the edges are where it´s at. Another thing to look for in big, scorched earth burns is isolated pockets of standing timber. Sometimes a big burn area has so much good feed it´s tough to narrow down where to spend your time. I think focusing on the best potential bedding cover is good in those cases, especially for elk. In my area deer seem to be more spread out in burns. I almost never see elk too far from a patch of timber.