Wildfires

[Bridgerland]

Getting ready for the Nevada muzzleloader season and have had an eye on a wildfire that recently burned through my unit. The spot I've had in mind to hunt is almost exactly 2 miles from the border of the burn scar. It's mid to high elevation hills (7-9K) with deep creek ravines running through the bottom. Bare south faces, aspen/sage north faces.

This is a new concept for me to be planning around a recent fire and trying to determine whether or not this could have displaced deer in my target area. Here's a couple questions to the group if there's any of you who have dealt with this in the past:

-How close to the perimeter of a fire do the deer start to feel pressure and move out of the area?

-What kind of a dynamic is created when deer and other game move into an unburned area in order to escape the fire? I have been wondering if my target buck(s) could possibly be pushed out if elk or other deer move into their core area.

 

[Customweld]

Getting ready for the Nevada muzzleloader season and have had an eye on a wildfire that recently burned through my unit. The spot I've had in mind to hunt is almost exactly 2 miles from the border of the burn scar. It's mid to high elevation hills (7-9K) with deep creek ravines running through the bottom. Bare south faces, aspen/sage north faces.

This is a new concept for me to be planning around a recent fire and trying to determine whether or not this could have displaced deer in my target area. Here's a couple questions to the group if there's any of you who have dealt with this in the past:

-How close to the perimeter of a fire do the deer start to feel pressure and move out of the area?

-What kind of a dynamic is created when deer and other game move into an unburned area in order to escape the fire? I have been wondering if my target buck(s) could possibly be pushed out if elk or other deer move into their core area.

I've seen them in a burn that's still smoldering. A lot has to do with the intensity of the fire. If you are 2 miles from the perimeter, I wouldn't expect much impact.

 

[RockAndSage]

What'll displace them is a lack of food and especially a lack of shade, so a lot depends on the intensity of the fire and what it did to the foliage. About the only time I've seen deer just clear out of an area though, is if a cougar moves in, or a fire has burned dense sage right down to bare mineral earth. But if food and shelter remain, they'll be back after the flames are gone.

Something to keep in mind about Nevada, is that the carrying capacity is low - so any place you find that has deer would probably have had deer whether there was a fire or not. Might you get a little lucky and find a few extra in that same spot? Sure. But it's very unlikely there will be deer there that wouldn't have been there were it not for that fire.