Hunting Burn Areas

[Losefreeze]

So living in CO, and with all the wildfires this year, how early will elk return to a burn area which they so like to frequent? Same year within months, next season, or years out? Asking as part of my normal stomping grounds have a few of the smaller fires that occurred this summer and was wondering if it was worth the boot rubber.

[Jhg]

Yes. Amazing how much will be left green, sometimes, along seeps, small creeklets, swampy oozes on mountain slopes. Worth finding, worth hunting.

[Swede]

It really depends on the area, the burn and the level of human activity during the fire suppression. If the fire is of short duration and there is not a lot of disturbance, the elk won't go far, or be gone long. If it is a large complex, and what I call a clean burn, it will take until there is good forage coming back. A clean burn is where nearly every tree, shrub and all grass is burned. In a clean burn it is usually the next spring or summer when the green grass returns and the elk with it. Elk will be drawn to the nutrient rich grasses of a recent burn and bed in some pretty open spaces even into the hunting seasons. Hunting open ground bulls can be tough, especially for the bow hunter.
Often what you have is a large dirty burn. A dirty burn leaves a lot of green material usable for forage and cover, so the animals will start drifting back into the area soon after the suppression is over. I have known of elk hanging around in parts of a fire area all the time the suppression was taking place. If there are some large areas in the general close in, where people are not going due to a lack of fire, then elk may hang out there and drift quickly into green areas within the burn perimeter.

[Losefreeze]

Well wouldn't you know. In continuing my daily e-scouting came across the news that my area that contains A-C is now closed due to an active fire that they only have 5% contained. Unless by some miracle they get it taken care of quickly sounds like I need to step up my new area blind dart throwing. So goes the fun of the season.

[lilshootergirl]

I feel really bad for those people who work hard to hunt, scouting, preparing, then only to find your unit is burned! I know I would be really sad, as it cost so much to hunt out of state! Hope my units don't get burned! How ever. I've learned to have more than plan A,B,C! Be mobile, ready and prepared to hunt another unit that my tag allows!

[Lefty]

Yes. Amazing how much will be left green, sometimes, along seeps, small creeklets, swampy oozes on mountain slopes. Worth finding, worth hunting.

Rocky areas, wind changes most areas are not a total burn, In some ways burned areas can be easier to hunt ,..

[RAMMONT]

How productive a burn is for hunting will depend on what kind of animal food is left, and not just any green stuff will attract the animals, it has to be the right type of graze or browse before the animals will return. If the area was grass and brush then it will return to normal pretty quickly, within a couple of years, to what it was like before the fire. If it was a thick forest it'll take 100 years before it looks like it did before the fire. If the burn was really hot and it burned out the nutritional value in the soil then you wont see much of anything for a longer time. Grasses and weeds will normally start growing within months (if the weather permits) but most often by the next spring. Within a couple of years grass and shrub areas will return to normal. Next small trees and larger shrubs will begin to grow and finally trees will begin to return to normal. If the area was forested it will take 20 years or more before it starts to look like it did before the fire. When you see the type of grasses that elk like to eat then they will be back, but those aren't always the first grasses that come back.

In my area several problems make hunting burns of minimal value. When we get fires they are very hot due to the excessive amount of fuel (beetle-kill and blow-downs) so the ground is burned out pretty badly. On top of that, quite often the Forest Service or BLM will close vehicular access (and all other public use in some cases) due to the possibility of excessive erosion until the foliage returns.