Wildfire smoke and elk hunting

[yardwork]

I see many of the northwest states have air quality alerts for the next week or so. How do you change your plans to avoid getting sick or inflaming any existing conditions, if you have them? Thanks.

 

[SWOHTR]

I'm not going out until it clears or gets better. AQI is in the "hazardous" category. If it got down into the "moderate" I'd be happy, but that is quite a few steps below "hazardous."

 

[Ridge Ghost]

I hunted Saturday, Sunday and Monday last weekend. Saturday and Sunday were about moderate for air quality, and I didn't mind hiking hard all day in it. Monday was hazardous, and also very windy. It was miserable and I went home after two hours to save my lungs for another day.

 

[IChaseCoues]

We came out of the Wilderness in Idaho a couple days early without a sheep doe to the smoke being too bad to glass but a few hours in the middle of the day. It was hard on the lungs and sinus hiking around in it. The fires have doubled in size since we were in there and are pushing a lot more smoke into the unit. My buddy isn't planning on going back in until there's a change.

I hope the weather changes soon up there. That's the only way to slow those type of fires down!
And don't get me wrong, I am a proponent of fire but in a managed way.

 

[Rogue541]

I hunted Sun-Mon in the Cascades and ended up with a terrible headache from the thick smoke. Still saw plenty of sign but not enough to keep me in the woods.


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[mtwarden]

Montana the smoke has been pretty bad, but fluctuates greatly by area and by day. Obviously areas that are really close to an active fire(s) tend be worse. I trail run a lot and will run up to the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups category, once it rises past that, I won't run in the hills. I'm hoping by rifle season this summer will be just a bad memory, but if not I'll probably use the same threshold for hunting as I do running.

I think all states have a site where you can look up air quality by location. Some also have a smoke outlook page that discusses forecasts for smoke.

 

[COlineman78]

Smoke wasn't bad on the western slope in CO, but as soon as I got through the tunnel it got hazy and just kept getting thicker as I dropped in elevation. You might be able to find better conditions in different areas, so if it's a concern you might look around.

That was Monday, the smoke has cleared up here in Denver and with very little fire in CO it's not bad at all. There was just a bad upslope monday that brought the smoke down from the northern states.

 

[GKPrice]

Getting choked out in the Willamette Valley - Impossible to get any sort of report online due to constantly changing wind and humidity changes but looking at the coast range from the gun room window I cannot even see an outline of Mary's Peak (cough, cough, cough)
A good rain is probably the only thing that will change anything significantly and the upper McKenzie may make it even worse momentarily

 

[treillw]

I got up at 3am, drove to my spot, and started hiking up the mountain. About halfway up I had enough and turned around and went home. The smell was starting to give me a headache and I had ashes falling on me. I couldn't believe all the particles I could see in the air from my headlamp - that kind of freaked me out and I could feel it in my lungs. I took my shirt off and wrapped it around my face to make a filter. I have also heard of people using respirators (new product idea - camo respirators). From my understanding, it is the particles that get lodged in your lungs that are the biggest problem, but I'm no expert. I'm sure the carcinogens etc in the smoke aren't any better.

Anybody know how dangerous it actually is? I guess you don't really know till you're dying from cancer 20 years later.

How Smoke from Fires Can Affect Your Health

 

[BullElk]

We came out of the Wilderness in Idaho a couple days early without a sheep doe to the smoke being too bad to glass but a few hours in the middle of the day. It was hard on the lungs and sinus hiking around in it. The fires have doubled in size since we were in there and are pushing a lot more smoke into the unit. My buddy isn't planning on going back in until there's a change.

I hope the weather changes soon up there. That's the only way to slow those type of fires down!
And don't get me wrong, I am a proponent of fire but in a managed way.

rain next week mid-week or better yet probably SNOW!!!!

 

[BroodBuster]

Great cover scent

I'll hunt it until I start to feel physical effects like burning eyes, scratchy throat and trophy boogers. Plan A last weekend was so bad I just kept on driving to Plan B which still kinda sucked but at least you could see a mile or two. Obviously when you get socked in by smoke spotting and stalking can be very difficult but if you are calling and still hunting in thick timber it's a little more doable.

As with all things in the back country know, understand and listen to what your body is telling you and if you get that bad feeling that something is amiss there is no shame in calling it a hunt or just taking a rest day.

 

[danarnold]

Great cover scent

I'll hunt it until I start to feel physical effects like burning eyes, scratchy throat and trophy boogers. Plan A last weekend was so bad I just kept on driving to Plan B which still kinda sucked but at least you could see a mile or two. Obviously when you get socked in by smoke spotting and stalking can be very difficult but if you are calling and still hunting in thick timber it's a little more doable.

As with all things in the back country know, understand and listen to what your body is telling you and if you get that bad feeling that something is amiss there is no shame in calling it a hunt or just taking a rest day.

I had all of the above symptoms opening week in co.....THERE WAS NO SMOKE THO

 

[5MilesBack]

I had all of the above symptoms opening week in co.....THERE WAS NO SMOKE THO

My wife works with a woman that was complaining about her throat and eyes and was wondering what would cause it after spending all day at Garden of the Gods the day before. The smoke was so thick, you couldn't even see Pikes Peak from the Springs that day. My wife looked at her and said "are you serious". The woman told her she didn't even know there was any smoke. SMH.

 

[KHNC]

I heard the entire LEMHI unit is closed from 09/15-24 due to smoke. It will re-open on 9/25, once im back home.

 

[young7.3]

Any field reports on the smoke conditions in the Frank?

 

[gansettx]

Here is a pretty good resource for MT...the Sat photos look pretty bleak for anyone west of Bozeman.

Montana DEQ - Wildfire Smoke Report

 

[harge57]

Anyone have thoughts on the smoke conditions in NW Wyoming/Jackson over the next few weeks? I will be there 9/9-9/31. I am not familiar with how smoke conditions usually play out.

 

[mtwarden]

I can't speak directly to NW Wyoming, but imagine it's very similar to here- it's a giant crapshoot- it changes daily- one town will be clear and another completely smoked in, the next day they can swap. The only exception are towns that are very close proximity to a large active fire- they have generally been poor regardless

if you do some digging, I bet that WY has a similar site as we do, that should give you a little idea on what to expect

 

[Kraze]

North Idaho/Eastern Washington has been absolutely blanketed in smoke since Monday. Visibility is nothing and the air quality is consistently up into the hazardous category. I know I'm not going out until it clears up a bit, which last I heard, might be Friday afternoon if we get this new system moving in.

It's bad enough here that it's constantly on the news, so I'd check news sites for any area you are thinking about hunting to see if they mention smoke levels and the forecast for when it might blow out.

 

[mvmnts]

My plan A and my plan B were totally smoked out so I called my season early. Pretty bummed. Might try to take a 4 day weekend later in the season if I can squeeze it in, but that's about it for me.