Forest fires vs hunting season?

C

Calum

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Given the wild fires we are having out here in BC (and yes lots of other places in Canada) I was wondering if there was going to be any negative effect on this falls hunting season out here in BC (especially VI)?

Would it make more sense to let the critters recover a season?
Thoughts, experiences?

I know one area I hunted a few years ago is now burned out. :(
 
I read on another thread that the gates that are common in much of VI are closed to limit access and fires. Unless there is significant rain, i could see the fire risk remaining high to extreme into Sept or longer. Environment Canada showed 10% of normal rainfall for June and July, in the Lower mainland. One could see salmon rivers being dry, or water temps forcing smelts to head to bigger water prematurely which would affect survival.

Finding game would mean finding water. In hot years some high areas i previously hunted were dry, food was blasted and of low nutritional value. Even once the rains come, there would be little or no incentive to head back to high country. The last time i had a moose draw there was a major fire there, one could not have even lived on track soup, not so much as a song bird in my area. Completely throws the dice and negates any knowledge of some areas. More scouting to find anything, walking once you find it.
 
Forest fires are good for the animals, especially the sheep.
the animals don't just stay there and burn LOL
Forest fires are a natural thing that man has only intervened with in the last 100 years or less.
I believe there were A LOT more animals across north america before man invented the helo bucket dumper or water bombers hehehe.
The animals will move, a smart hunter will go to the topography and figure out where they went for respite from the flames ;)
 
They may have to come up with a new camo color that will blend in with ash and blackened trees.
I haven't heard anything yet in the news about animals affected (killed or burnt) by the fires yet. Usually the media grabs onto any of that type of news. Have any of the outlying areas reported extra wildlife sculling about?
 
There were A LOT fewer animals before there were miles and miles and miles of corn and soy bean fields. Far more deer around now than there was before the colonization of North America.
Forest fires are good for forests though. Some species of pine need forest fires for their cones to open. And fires open the bush.
However, it'd be a safe bet that there will be no hunting in any of the burned over areas. Bambi isn't stupid and won't live where there's nothing to eat.
 
My favourite spot was burned in 2009. The deer numbers there last year and the year before are healthy.
 
Your area may have been burned out, but Mother Nature has been busy rejuvenating that same area.
Few more years and you will be amazed at the growth that has recovered...the trees might not be so much, but there is a start.
Some tree species actually need a fire to burn over the area to allow the seeds to germinate...a natural selection so to speak.
Not the idiots who flick their cigarette buts out the window and starting huge fires.
How many years back was it that the Government actually closed access to Crown Land because of the then severe fire situation?
There where thousands of angry campers and few went in anyways causing more siht !
Relax, and be extremely careful if you venture off the beaten path.
Rob
 
The only part of BC where this drought is looking "very" concerning is on Van Isle , the reports I'm hearing are pretty scary.
Bright side for the guys fishin the chuck is all the salmon are holding in massive numbers in the inlets on the west coast. Hopefully the runs are not smashed by over fishing this year.
The land animals will fair well however, extreme weather across BC like we are currently seeing is simply disasterous for the future of our salmon, cutthroat and steelhead.
Where the Government needs to intervene is to put a closure on ALL salmon and steelhead fishing for the duration of summer.
 
sunray said:
There were A LOT fewer animals before there were miles and miles and miles of corn and soy bean fields. Far more deer around now than there was before the colonization of North America.
Forest fires are good for forests though. Some species of pine need forest fires for their cones to open. And fires open the bush.
However, it'd be a safe bet that there will be no hunting in any of the burned over areas. Bambi isn't stupid and won't live where there's nothing to eat.
Click to expand...
Wow. You just don't quit, do you? Millions of elk and bison (buffalo) roamed North America. We slaughtered them to near extinction. Elk Island National Park was started by a half dozen guys in the very early 1900's because they saw there were very few animals left.
And white-tail deer? They were brought here from Britain (that would be AFTER Colonization, wouldn't it?) and they simply exploded as a species. Many colonies were given the Red Stag as a celebratory gift from the crown.
But, yeah, you keep believing your view.
 
Where do you get the idea a White Tail came from Britain if it did they brought every one of them because they don't exist over there. White Tail are native to NA but slowly made there way into the more settled areas. In Northern Sask for example my dad can remember when they first showed up after the mule deer started to go down in numbers and the land opened up to farming.
The elk and bison were in greater numbers and also lived in most states of the Union and across a lot of Canada until they were hunted to extinction almost.
 
rookie wildcat said:
Wow. You just don't quit, do you? Millions of elk and bison (buffalo) roamed North America. We slaughtered them to near extinction. Elk Island National Park was started by a half dozen guys in the very early 1900's because they saw there were very few animals left.
And white-tail deer? They were brought here from Britain (that would be AFTER Colonization, wouldn't it?) and they simply exploded as a species. Many colonies were given the Red Stag as a celebratory gift from the crown.
But, yeah, you keep believing your view.
Click to expand...

Well, that destroyed any credibility you might have had. Where does such stuff come from?
 
When we had the big fires down in the Crowsnest Pass in Alberta in the early 2000's you could pick morels by the bucket full. I so far have found one here in Quebec since I moved here.
 
45ACPKING said:
Forest fires are good for the animals, especially the sheep.
the animals don't just stay there and burn LOL
Forest fires are a natural thing that man has only intervened with in the last 100 years or less.
I believe there were A LOT more animals across north america before man invented the helo bucket dumper or water bombers hehehe.
The animals will move, a smart hunter will go to the topography and figure out where they went for respite from the flames ;)
Click to expand...

I agree.

Effects of fires are short lived, and natural.
 
Predation is the major reason for the decline of island deers. Keeping hunters out won't help the situation by much.
Hopefully raining will start next month, I need salmom running by my favourite spot.
 
Sitting on the deck here in lowermainland ... Can't believe how cool it is today. 18C right now compared to +35 yesterday in the shade. Gonna make the 5 hour drive home a lil nicer without the heat LOL
It actually tried to rain here this mornin but was a lackluster attempt LOL
 
rookie wildcat said:
Wow. You just don't quit, do you? Millions of elk and bison (buffalo) roamed North America. We slaughtered them to near extinction. Elk Island National Park was started by a half dozen guys in the very early 1900's because they saw there were very few animals left.
And white-tail deer? They were brought here from Britain (that would be AFTER Colonization, wouldn't it?) and they simply exploded as a species. Many colonies were given the Red Stag as a celebratory gift from the crown.
But, yeah, you keep believing your view.
Click to expand...

Anybody who has ever studied history of the exploration of North America by early European explorers knows White-Tail deer were recorded by those explorers as a species native to North America. Through colonization, the opening and farming of lands they have spread across the entire country inhabiting areas they had not originally. White-Tail are a species that does well around humans and our colonization practices.
 
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