Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hunting burn areas

With all the fires this year, in prime hunting areas, how long do wait to hunt burn areas. I have hunted the same year successfully, and years later been successful in the same burn? Curious what others have experienced around and in burn areas.

If it stays dry and no green up occurs I doubt same year would be very good.

I have seen Mule deer come out from the green area's to feed on the fireweed which comes up the same year of a fire. Its almost like they are exploring the new ground.

Nice, swelled up and looking love!

Well, I see some green back through those trees so it has something to eat at least!

Rarely does a fire totally scorch an area. there will be pockets of green within the fire perimeter.
Burns can be great the very next year but watch out for falling trees.
Ash is also hard on your leather boots , treat them with something to protect the leather.

Yeah, he's all rutted up. Look at that roman nose, that's an old buck.

I'll be hunting some burn areas this year. More and more every year it seems. I've seen deer roll around in the ashes.

The ashes seem to help rid them of ticks and such. I see them rolling in ash and licking certain stumps! I figure there must be some minerals, they like in the burnt stumps.

Wood ash has lye (KOH) in it. Very hard on leather. The old timers would make lye by pouring water over ashes in a wood barrel and collecting the filtrate for making soap.

Mule deer need fire if they are going to survive and flourish as a species.

In my experience....a few years the after a fire the game pops (Mule deer) explode with the bucks developing nice racks and the does with healthy twins. This is true for Moose and any other game animal I am aware of here in the Pacific Northwest.

One of our Mule deer area's was burned severely with a massive fire, three years later we went there for day hunts and came home with three bucks and a Moose in three days hunting.

The root systems of various shrubs, bushes etc... are stimulated producing highly nutritious food and lots of it.