Hunting Burns, By Jim Carr

[Justin Crossley]

Jim Carr knows that hunting burns can be a great strategy for finding game. In this article he explains some of the reasons they can be so good.

Hunting Burns

 

[loggerchas]

Good article Jim. From a forestry point of view it all comes down to biomass per acre. Generally speaking, with all the exceptions and caveats, an acre of ground has the potential to grow a certain amount of biomass due to moisture and soil nutrient constraints. If all of that biomass is tied up in doghair thickets of old growth, not much forage grows. If the trees are killed, that allows the forage to get a foothold and consume soil nutrients and moisture with the addition of sunlight that never hit the ground before. Depending on heat of the fire and amount of soil heating, native seeds hidden in the soil, rehab efforts (aerial seeding), and remnant root systems of species that sprout from the roots after fire (e.g. quakies, some brush species), vegetation after the burn may be forage better suited for deer or elk, sometimes both.

Hunters need to keep safety in mind when hunting burns also if they are unfamiliar with them. Dead trees rot. No news there - but the support structure holding those trees upright rots first making for hazards even with a gentle breeze. Relative heat of the burn and duration of the burn influences how fast this happens. When all that forage begins to grow it decreases moisture loss to evaporation and acts to hold moisture in the soil against the dead roots which accelerates root rot and potential hazards.

Final note, watch for stumpholes! After a fire the stumps of trees can smolder for months leaving a significant hidden void. Real easy to be focused on critters and slip an ankle into a stumphole and then have a dire situation in front of you.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Great read @Jim Carr

 

[idahohikker]

Burns are non-resident hunter magnets due to Randy Newberg and articles like this. Burns are good but you can expect some company. I laugh when nonresidents say where should I hunt in this unit, are there are elk because there aren't any burns. As stated in the article, some areas outside of burns can have great habitat as well.

 

[robby denning]

one of my favorite articles for this year. Glad @Jim Carr took it on.

And thanks @loggerchas for the sidebar info.

 

[Btaylor]

How much is regrowth affected by the infusion of carbon and calcium as far as species distribution? Dont know much about soil make up out there or how potential ph and calcium shifts could impact regrowth. Controlled burns are a fantastic habitat management tool over here for deer and other wildlife.

 

[realunlucky]

Thanks Jim enjoy reading it, great information packed in there.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[loggerchas]

How much is regrowth affected by the infusion of carbon and calcium as far as species distribution? Dont know much about soil make up out there or how potential ph and calcium shifts could impact regrowth. Controlled burns are a fantastic habitat management tool over here for deer and other wildlife.

Somebody had to ask..... Just kiddin'! Fire is mother nature's logging crew and like all logging, it can be done in multiple ways with multiple results - good and bad.

Fire science is a whole field unto itself. I am not a fire scientist. In college they offered degrees in Fire Management and Forest Management. Fire management was a lot more focused on weather, topography, rehab, and chemistry (nutrients). Forest Management focuses of putting that biomass the acre of ground can grow into usable tree trunks, how to measure those trees, and how to harvest those trees.

Short story from my basic knowledge from books and the field is: lots of nutrients can be released through fire (prescribed or wild) but nutrients can also be lost in a fire is too hot. Lost isn't necessarily the right word - made unavailable is a better way to look at it. When a fire is too hot the soil structure is changed (hydrophobic) and water will not permeate the soil for months/years. Water (inmost cases) is needed to transport nutrients into the roots for organic use. A hot fire can also volatilize nutrients into the air rather than leaving them in the soil, or form chemical bonds in the soil that makes the nutrient unavailable until further soil processes take place. In general, a moderate or low intensity wildfire does increase available nutrients - and also changes pH due to all the ash which changes what species are preferred for regrowth.

Lodgepole pine is a perfect example of how intensity of fire can impact regrowth. Certain genotypes produce cones that are sealed by resin (serotinous cones). Other stands do not produce serotinous cones. The heat needed to "open" those cones via melting the resin just happens to be the temperature of a cone laying on black charred organic matter or soot covered soil.

Assume three fire scenarios. (A) If a fire rages too intensely and too slowly (hot fire - no wind) through a stand of lodgepoles it consumes the cones and seeds - no natural regrowth until area is seeded from the edges. (B) If a fire flashes quickly (hot fire lots of wind) through the crowns often the cambium of the tree is cooked (=dead tree) and the needles are burnt off but the cones remain unhurt on the limbs - just covered in soot. Next windstorm breaks those little twigs - cones fall to earth - cone opens due to solar heating against the dark organic matter/soil. (C) ground fire (cool fire, slow moving) creeps in understory, creating black earth, but since the trees weren't killed no sunlight reaches the ground so natural reproduction is stunted.

Best thing to happen after a fire is a huge windstorm! If those dead trees are laid down it creates microenvironments for future growth and the decomp process of the trunks benefits everything putting usable nutrients out of the trunks in the air back into the dirt and creating organic matter that makes the soil more absorbent and able to withstand droughts better. A tree standing up may take decades to break down organically, a tree laying on the ground in contact with the soil becomes mush in just a few years.

Excellent article for the science seekers: soil nutrients and fire.

 

[Btaylor]

Interesting read. Thanks for the link.

 

[JD5521]

Great read!

 

[Mike 338]

Way to much gear-centric stuff normally. Love this article.

 

[psp8ball]

Thanks for the article. And to Loggerchas for going into depth on the fires. We had a large area we hunt in Montana burn about 6 years ago. Was mostly beetle killed pines. The area still looks like the moon. It's very sad. Was a great area to hunt. Now just has a straggler elk from time to time.

 

[Jim Carr]

Thank you loggerchas great input.

 

[Benjblt]

Great article.

 

[Buckfevered]

Very interesting

 

[Magnum61]

Great article, @Jim Carr ! but I have to ask something, being from Washington. Why are all the best hunters in that state from Buckley, Olympic Peninsula, or Colville? If I ever run into people deep in a great spot, that's where they are from if they're from WA... or Monroe area.

 

[Stoke_82]

Only place you can consistently find older mule deer up here in Southern BC. Great information

 

[robby denning]

Only place you can consistently find older mule deer up here in Southern BC. Great information

That is interesting. Any speculation on why you don't find older bucks in unburned areas?

 

[Dazzler]

That was a good read. Thanks

 

[Stoke_82]

That is interesting. Any speculation on why you don't find older bucks in unburned areas?

You do find them elsewhere and honestly around here everything is so thick might just be that they are easier to spot on the fringe or out in the burn.