How long after the fire????

[HarryToolips]

From everyone's knowledge/experiences, how long after a forest fire does it take for wildlife to flourish, particularly deer?? The first year right after??? 2 years???

[takla1]

deer will travel thru burn area's the first winter afterwards in snow but it will take 2 springs before the fireweed and small indigenous plants get any substancial growth to them.3-5 yrs it gets good

takla

[HarryToolips]

Good to know, thanks....

[604redneck]

Getting prepped for one of the 2014 fires already?

[Fisher-Dude]

I killed a WT buck in 2003 right after the fire, right beside the fire.

Partner killed a MD buck at one end of a fresh fire - still burning at the other end. There was already green shit coming up where we got the buck, and that deer had a full belly of that stuff!

[Weatherby Fan]

I've seen growth in fresh burns the following year, and have shot deer in them the following year.

[takla1]

I drove thru the Rock Creek valley and hunted the fringe of the fires this fall and it was like a moon scape..ash and burnt poles standing and not a track anywhere near.
We hunted a few yrs back around Princeton fires and it took a good 2 yrs for them to green up and have game using them...when theres no cover they don't hang in there in day light hrs..

takla

[scotty30-06]

Good stuff to know....i will keep my mind on Harrison fire for bear maybe for this spring

[Gateholio]

If there is green stuff in the burn, the deer will follow! :)

[scotty30-06]

Hey Gatehouse....did you do much wolf starring and hunting with pro guide 66...pretty sure I saw a vid or 2 of you guys....awesome work

[ACE]

On the coast here, the burns 'green-up' fast in the following spring ......
Deer, elk, bear, birds and insects take advantage of the fireweed ....

But sadly, the 'new age' RPF's have deemed fire as an un-natural occurrence ....... big pile burns, rather than broadcast burns. Looks like a moonscape for years afterward.

[HarryToolips]

Getting prepped for one of the 2014 fires already?
Ya thinkin about checkin er out;);)

[HarryToolips]

I killed a WT buck in 2003 right after the fire, right beside the fire.

Partner killed a MD buck at one end of a fresh fire - still burning at the other end. There was already green shit coming up where we got the buck, and that deer had a full belly of that stuff!
All good to know thanks guys....

[HarryToolips]

Im also guessing that the first few years after the burn, both whitetail and mule deer would thrive, but when the trees start to really fall, and the landscape becomes full of obstacles, the mule deer wouldn't mind hangin around in those areas because of how they like to bounce/jump, but the whites wouldn't be around so much???

[rocksteady]

Depends on the intensity of the fire.

Rock Creek was high intensity.

when we are doing prescribed burning for habitat the goal is low to moderate intensity, which eliminates slash,debris etc and rejuvenates grasses and shrubs .

[ruger#1]

Deer are already hanging in the Oliver fire areas. Lots of snow this year. Moist ground should be a plus. As long as it is a slow melt off.

[Lillypuff]

animals will stay away from burns for at least 10 years. Especially deer and elk. :razz:

[HarryToolips]

Deer are already hanging in the Oliver fire areas. Lots of snow this year. Moist ground should be a plus. As long as it is a slow melt off.
Right, and wasn't that fire just last year???

[Stone Sheep Steve]

A bio told me they really pound burns in the third year after a fire. Some will be in the sooner.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Im also guessing that the first few years after the burn, both whitetail and mule deer would thrive, but when the trees start to really fall, and the landscape becomes full of obstacles, the mule deer wouldn't mind hangin around in those areas because of how they like to bounce/jump, but the whites wouldn't be around so much???

Right. Mulies love steep burns. Their stotting technique serves them well escaping predation in blowdowns.

[ruger#1]

Right, and wasn't that fire just last year???

Yes it was. I have seen lots of tracks in burn areas. Not sure if they eat the burnt ground. Or if they like it to walk through. I also shot a nice three point whitetail in the rock creek area last year. After a grass fire and a few rains. It doesn't take long for things to green up. We need more prescribed burns. It would benefit the animals.

[Cordillera]

Depends on the size and intensity and the ecosystem. Big burns in the north can be so devoid of cover the animals stay away even though there is food. Smaller burns with lots of skips and there is better cover and they are good. The big burn on Highway 37 is just south of the Yukon border is now 4 years old and the willow is great and the bios report lots of moose are using it now. The fireweed comes back fast but the willow takes a couple years to get really booming in that ecosystem.

[boxhitch]

Is that the fire that was suppossed to draw the bison away from the highway ? Hows the grass ?

[cuervosail]

Does anyone know where to get a map or map layer showing where the fires have been in the province in the past few years?