Good Elk Hunting 1-3 Years After a Controlled Burn Fire?

elk and bear. in spring, bears love to forage in recent burns digging roots, etc. elk also forage consistently in the burns. as a hydrologist, i love burns. every tree is a straw sucking water out of the system and putting it into the atmosphere. burns are good. natural. productive in many ways. attracts lots of wildlife ranging from rodents and birds to elk, deer and moose. burns in quercus gambellii, oak brush which resprouts from root brings in lots of deer in the following years.

I don't know very much about the burns, but I scout an area that burned in 2012 and have noticed deer and elk changing every year in these areas. Last year it seemed a lot of the big bucks were in the burnt pines.

I have seen big bucks move into a burn area as it is still smoldering and then afterwards when the fresh green shoots are coming up they love it.

Critter said:

I have seen big bucks move into a burn area as it is still smoldering and then afterwards when the fresh green shoots are coming up they love it.

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I've seen them eat charred wood, there is a massive mineral release after a fire. So all of the new growth for the first few years draws them in for two reasons, high nutrient content, and the fresh new growth.

And then the Forest service comes in and sprays for weeds after fires, this draws in animals too, and ruins any benefit that fire may have had for wildlife.

In my observation of the aftermath of the Huntington Canyon fire, it took days not years for the elk to come pouring into the burn areas. To date, they still seem to love hanging out in the mid morning to early afternoon in the burn areas.

I've seen them eat charred wood, there is a massive mineral release after a fire. So all of the new growth for the first few years draws them in for two reasons, high nutrient content, and the fresh new growth.

And then the Forest service comes in and sprays for weeds after fires, this draws in animals too, and ruins any benefit that fire may have had for wildlife.

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Thats crazy. Thanks for all the feedback, I learn something new every year!

cwatkins said:

Thats crazy.

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That's what I keep trying to tell people.