Burn Areas

[aeverett152]

This might have been covered on another post so I do apologize if this has been posted before...

How long does everyone wait to hunt a previously burned area? There are a couple local areas to me I am going to scout this year. One area is two years old, the other is one year old. With LOTS of rain this winter the area that is two years old is looking pretty prime for deer. Is the one that is a year old too soon? or should it be fine due to the amount of rainfall this year?

 

[Jbehredt]

Answers will vary between hunting them while they’re still on fire and never hunting them because they attract people who watch newberg videos.

 

[aeverett152]

Fortunately, both areas are off the beaten path with no hiking trails or roads going through them.

 

[Maverick1]

Hunt the burn. Just like everyone else. LOL.

 

[Harvey_NW]

I would think both will be prime if they are what I would consider a standard burn. IME the megafires in dense areas that end up completely obliterating the landscape can take some time before vegetation and animals return abundantly. It's no secret that animals love burns, but seeing the amount I did in one from just months prior, was enlightening to say the least.

 

[Wapiti1]

The next year isn't too early. Depends on what it looks like, but deer will use any burn regardless of age in some fashion. That said, where the burn is and time of year you are hunting matters more, IMO.

Jeremy

 

[snowymtnwolf]

Keep an eye on it to see how vegetation does during summer. If deer aren’t really thick normally in the vicinity then doubt they’ll flock there. But, If deer do routinely cross through the area they’ll likely browse there.

I’ve always found burns to be hit or miss.

Im obviously not a biologist, but some vegetation flourishes early after a burn and some takes a few years to get going that attracts bucks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kota]

I would check them out this summer. That’s really the only way to know since so many variables go into how much the deer use them. The more new growth there is in the burn, and the more that’s different than the surrounding area, the more deer will use it. FWIW, I have been in some burns that are 5-20 years old and still look like the moon and are barren of deer.

 

[S.Clancy]

You need to hunt the best available habitat. Sometimes that's in the burn, sometimes it isn't.

 

[Dwight2180]

Answers will vary between hunting them while they’re still on fire and never hunting them because they attract people who watch newberg videos.

Ain't that the truth!

 

[thetacticalnerd]

Worked for a wildland fire department in CA and when I was new I’d always tag with a bunch of foresters and hydrologists when they’d go out for post fire operations. Usually would see a ton of deer tracks two to three years after a major wildfire.

Everything depends on conditions though… the same year the fire hit we had a decent amount of rain but the soil took a bit of time to recuperate as the soil was fairly hydrophobic so a lot of water wasn’t absorbed.

Last year I hunted near an area up in Northern California that burned pretty bad. It was about 2 or 3 years ago and there were a decent amount of deer because there was a decent amount of vegetation that grew that year. In another area in CA it took 6 years until a lot more vegetation growth came in.