Hunting area's recently burned

Travisitguy

Member
Sep 9, 2014
128
1
Bend, Oregon
What is everyone's approach to hunting your unit when significant fire damage has occurred. Do you hunt this area actively or do you tend to move further away if you can with the assumption the fire moved many of the animals out?

I am mainly thinking about Elk behavior.

thanks, Travis
 

Work2hunt

Veteran member
Mar 2, 2013
1,366
11
St. Louis, MO
I think part of it depends on how recent of a burn was it. If fresh green is starting to come up it could also be a hot spot as this fresh green will be very palitable.
 

Hilltop

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2014
3,796
2,161
Eastern Nebraska
What is everyone's approach to hunting your unit when significant fire damage has occurred. Do you hunt this area actively or do you tend to move further away if you can with the assumption the fire moved many of the animals out?

I am mainly thinking about Elk behavior.

thanks, Travis
There were very fresh burned areas where I elk hunted last year. In general the elk avoided them. The mule deer were frequently in the fringes but the elk seemed to want to be at least one drainage away. Like Work2hunt said, older burns can really draw animals in due to the great forage they provide- similar to clear cuts 1+ years old.