Mulies and Recent/Ongoing Burns

[Kal-Elk]

I'm sure a lot of us are going to be impacted by the glut of wildfires affecting the Western US. I find a lot of info about how burns can be beneficial following regrowth, but I haven't been able to find much about how burns in the past few months/weeks/days factor in (other than, I'm assuming, Mulies going into GTFO mode).

Does anyone have info/experiences regarding RECENT burns and Mule Deer? Is it safe to assume they moved both away from the direction of spread AND upwind of smoke? How far away do they tend to travel before reaching what they perceive as "safe" ? How often will they move following that?

Any conversation on the matter is appreciated.

 

[WKR]

Only thing I have heard is that the deer will come back to a recent burn and roll around in the hot ash to get rid of ticks/fleas.
Now I have never seen this first hand but sounds plausible.

 

[Wildatheart]

I'm sure a lot of us are going to be impacted by the glut of wildfires affecting the Western US. I find a lot of info about how burns can be beneficial following regrowth, but I haven't been able to find much about how burns in the past few months/weeks/days factor in (other than, I'm assuming, Mulies going into GTFO mode).

Does anyone have info/experiences regarding RECENT burns and Mule Deer? Is it safe to assume they moved both away from the direction of spread AND upwind of smoke? How far away do they tend to travel before reaching what they perceive as "safe" ? How often will they move following that?

Any conversation on the matter is appreciated.

Very good questions here, I’m following this thread.

 

[Kal-Elk]

If anyone just has experience hunting not too long after a burn, sharing that would be appreciated.

Like I said, I've found it hard/impossible to find any information on the matter. All they keywords lead me to results of hunting burns the following year or more.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

If there is only one consistent thing I have learned from all of my mule deer hunting tactics its to just go find out for yourself. Go be a student and burn time and boot leather to get your best answer. Every burn and deer surrounding habitat will be different from the next. Sometimes they get pushed onto the next mountain and sometimes they return when there is still smoldering fire. But they have to have some kind of feed and cover near by.

 

[Kal-Elk]

If there is only one consistent thing I have learned from all of my mule deer hunting tactics its to just go find out for yourself. Go be a student and burn time and boot leather to get your best answer. Every burn and deer surrounding habitat will be different from the next. Sometimes they get pushed onto the next mountain and sometimes they return when there is still smoldering fire. But they have to have some kind of feed and cover near by.

Oh trust me, I wish I could be out there right now to find out for myself, but my local National Forests are shut down to access right now: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/cleveland/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD799175

My tag's unit opens in around a month, but who knows if the forests will open before or after that. Just trying to do the best I can right now, given the circumstances.

 

[Laramie]

From what I have seen, deer put some pretty good distance between themselves and the fire. This is a year where in many places hunters would be best served to get their refunds and come back another year. On top of the challenge of locating deer that have moved to avoid the fire, hunters have to be willing to breath in the smoke and ash daily. It's not a fun hunt.