Fire destroyed my elk country, when do they come back?

T

Tomas

New member
Lightning recently started a fire in the area I hunt elk. We've been hunting this area for a few years, but have never encountered a fire so close to hunting season. I'm sure they've all run off to save their skin, but I'm wondering from you long-time elk killers, if you've encountered a fire in your hunting area and when, if ever, the elk came back?

Will they still use the area as an escape route in the next few weeks? All the food is obviously gone, so they won't be there for that.

Will they re-populate next year when the under growth has a chance to recover?

I'm sure the fire will be out when the season starts, but we are sure that we can't use it at all this year, and are trying to find the herd.

Thanks

Tom
 
Sorry about your trouble for this year. Bad when stuff like that happens right on top of hunting season.

They will be back, maybe as early as next year. Fire is a good thing for elk and deer as it allows better grasses, etc to replace brush. Are you west side or east? My experience from Oregon west side clear cuts (non-scientific observation) is deer will be back as soon as the grass starts growing again (less than 1 year), and we usually find elk back year 2. Not sure if a fire would be the same as a clear cut or not. If it was me, and that was the area I had, I would sure be carefully looking at the closest non-burned areas that have suitable habitat.

The place we go east-side muley hunting has an old burn on it - no telling how old, but at least 10 years, but you can still see that it was burned. We have taken the majority of the deer we have got in that unit right in the heart of the burn.
 
Fortunately, fires don't kill as many animals as you might think. In the spring, there will be new grass, and in a few years there will be lots of new undergrowth, and the elk will move back in. I have seen areas used by elk very recently after a fire if water is available. Someone told me elk will go into a burned-over area and eat ashes for the mineral content, but I don't know about that. Generally, it's a few years before you will see them in that area, possibly as many as 5 years if they need a lot of cover. Was that the area the Crow Creek fire burned?
 
Someone told me elk will go into a burned-over area and eat ashes for the mineral content
Click to expand...

I have heard that as well. I have also heard people say they have seen elk rolling in ashes while there were trees burning around them. My expierence as a former MT guide has seen elk and deer in a burn area the same year, but usually on the edges and close to the un-burned areas.

Remember, we are talking about an animal that will do what he pleases, when he pleases. Good luck to you.
 
I have been burning off a piece of property for about the last 5 or 6 years, down in Southeastern Oklahoma, and I have noticed that every where I burn the leaves off, the fire always leaves quite a few pecans, acorns and hickory nuts that have been covered. I see deer eating them within hours of them being burned. They will eat the nuts while small pieces of wood are still smoldering on the ground.
Pretty strange that an animal that is supposed to be scared of fire, will eat while the ground is still smoking.
 
I think it depends on the area.I have hunted the eastern side of the divide in Montana for about 20 years.With maybe 10 inches of rain a year recovery is a slow process.The area I hunt burned about 1990.The next year the Timothy grass was waste high,and forage was good.All the dead timber was still standing.Hunting was good,but the place was ugly.The next year Douglas fur and Lodgepoles were as thick as the hair on a dog's back,maybe knee high.In about 5 years the trees got about head high,good cover.Then about 10 years after the fire all the dead timber finally fell and you just couldn't walk through it without fear of breaking a leg.

During that time we had good success bow hunting but finally moved when it got so rough you could not get through it.I understand that it has burned again and burned all that dead timber on the ground to ashes.

If you are in an area that gets a lot more rain the rotting process and regrowth will be accelerated I suspect.

The amount of forage after a fire increases,but the cover for the animals and for you trying to hunt them changes drastically as does their trails,bedding areas,feeding areas.

And the fires are not uniform.You will have pockets that are not burned.Some places the tops of the trees are burned and the undergrowth is more or less intact,and some areas look like the surface of Mars.
 
We drove thru Yellowstone NP one year after the Big Fire ('88?). We saw lots more elk and bison than in any of our previous 3-4 trips. Fire will kill big trees and let new, tender, green growth flourish. This is what will bring the animals back into the area. Look for new growth by next spring and you will likely find many browsing animals in the area also.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB
 
Go out there ASAP and pick morels! There's bound to be loads of them out there according to stuff I've read. It will at very least give you something edible where otherwise you might be missing out.
 
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