Wildfire Impact on Elk

[Jmaberry11]

Hello everyone,

Forgive me if this is somewhere deep in the Rockslide world and I missed it. I got my first ever elk tag this year and am planning our Idaho hunt for October 2022. Watching the news and obviously staring at my units in OnX for hours and hours, I have noticed quite a few active fires. We still are 6 weeks out from the hunt, but all of these fires raised some questions. I have found quite a bit of information on burns, hunting them, and what not, just not a lot on active fires.

1) How much fire will impact large-scale elk movements? As in, can enough fire force elk to make significant movements that they would generally not make during that particular season?

2) Assuming that elk will, in some way, move to avoid fires; are those movements predictable? Do they go high? Do they go low? Is it completely dependent on the nature of the fire?

3) I am not from the West, as you may have gathered. Is all of this extremely normal during this time, and should I avoid racking my brain over active wildfires?

As usual, thanks to everyone that takes the time to help out people like me. This forum has been an awesome tool for learning.

-Joshua

 

[IdahoSwede]

I’d avoid hunting close to an active or very recent burn area.

Inciweb is a good resource.

 

[mattflint]

Im in ne wa. We got fires all over. It has become a big part of planning early season. Though completely unpredictable.
Ive got a big fire due north of my fav. spot that I planned on hammering this year. Just took my cams down a few days ago. Elk are not frequenting the area. Thing is Idk if that is fire related or not. As Im finding elk in spots near home that I generally do not.
Right before season on a scouting trip, I was met by the wildfire fighter on my way down my little mountain. Been real smokey so I thought nothing of it, but the top of this mountain was on fire and I had no idea. Little nerve wracking.
Something to keep in mind. While I dont know elk well enough yet to give you much input there. Id keep as much distance between you and the fires as possible and pay mind to the prevailing winds. I keep a fire shield whooya at the top of my crap in my bag now. Not going to be much help but better than nothing I guess.
Be safe up here, and good luck. Seems the elk are finally getting fired up and talking.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Awful lot of variables go into hunting the burn areas. My own experience has been with two fires, about 25 years ago. One in the Hells Canyon recreation area the other to the Northwest in the Chesnimus area. Both had lots of edges and un-burned areas with in the perimeter of the fire, both benefited from early fall rain and had lots of green up, both had lots of elk around the pockets. Both still had hot spots even with snow on the ground.

 

[Jmaberry11]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like things have calmed down for the most part in our hunting unit. I am going to keep an eye on things throughout. This will be my first elk trip so I’m sure I won’t have too much to offer. However, if I do I’ll post back here.