I hope this chit will pass in Clackamas County, enough has been lost. Not to be a dic, but, there's going to be some serious blacktail hunting in the years to come. It'll be insane.
Hoping to hear some updates this evening.
On the hunting end, that's not being a dic, only the cold hard facts Boomer. Big burns do wonders for ungulates a couple years few out.
In my father's youth, late 40s before the big logging operations in the 50s (in this area, up high especially) there were few to no deer around. Down low they were kept sparse for the larder. Had to hike back in where there'd been burns, big fern groves. Later, come the population explosion after the old growth clear cutting (of the 40s, 50s and 60s) in this area. and a bad winter in the early 60s, deer were so starved as to start eating fir needles of felled trees as the loggers were still limbing. Then it grew up into brush. Some of that was well managed and grown into timber, some not, some on the second or third growth. That's what is burning in that Riverside fire east of Colton, Green Mountain country. Don't know abou the upper Mollala, Butte Creek, Fish Creek Divide country to the south or Memaloose, BatleAxMountain to the east. Big time timber country, Doug fir an hemlock. Then Reagans big push in the 80s, that chit was prime regrowth when I was coming of age, then the f'ing spotted owl and it overgrew. By prime, the ground absolutely torn up with game tracks. By sparse, dink trails through the brush. Back to much fewer game animals and cougars. So, this will make lots of forage. Rambling generalities for your amusement. Oh, one little 20 acre stand of timber in the area was being logged for the third time some 25-30 years ago - grandpa had plowed that as a field with draft horse as a boy. Timber grows fast there.
My old man had the foresight to buy a clearcut 40 acres for $1300 in 1959, at age 19. Added another soon after, nearly but not contiguous. It's such productive Doug fir ground, excellently managed, he built a home in the late 60s, and then lived off the timber he'd grown since the early 90s when log prices went to hell and he said F'it and retired. Phucqking shame if he lost it in his final years. Word is ok still today. Mix of memories this all brings up.
Rootin for you big time bro.
Nice thing about Doug fir it can take quite a bit of fire as you know. We're blessed with a lot of it here. We had some big fires in 2018 that's the year BC about burned up. There were a couple near here but not near any people at all. Big jeezus ugly mess I tell you. Some burned insanely hot right into the soil on steep south facing hill sides nothing of any value will grow there for a while. But a lot of it burned like lightening bolts with a lot of scorched but live Doug fir especially the big ones and the odd patched not burned at all. The understory is going gang busters already with chest high fireweed and other forbs and there's deer all through it.
