What hurts me the most is a fire burning in one of my favorite early season area's. It's where I shot my first bird many years ago over Tucker and also an area that holds lot's of blue grouse. The area has been wiped out for hunting this year and the saddest thing for me is that it's a place Conner and I have spent many hours together hunting. The video is only an hour after the fire started and this is what I saw as the moon came up tonight.
Although it's always sad to lose this valuable resource, Idaho is full of upland habitat to hunt and we'll find somewhere to fill this void in our schedule. I just wanted you to realize that there is still the possibility that the season coming might have a few flaws. By the end of August I'll try and map out a the larger fires and post about them in case they have an impact on an area you might be heading for. It's scorching hot over here right now so keep your fingers crossed.
Went up and took a peek this morning and it wasn't pretty.
But there were some survivors
6 comments:
Rock creek on brownlee was on fire today. I watched bombers work it for hours. It was big too. Also another fire had to be around midvale. I just could see the smoke. I hope your home is ok. Hopefully the bombers get active and knock that fire down by your house.
Sorry to see this happening there!
Larry, at this stage of the game, were the birds (and other wildlife) able to outrun the fire? I would think with Chukar chicks being about 1/2 to 2/3 full grown, they'd easily be able to outrun or fly a fire.
I've always wondered if wildlife have an ability to escape these large fires. On the bright side, with some early fall moisture, some of those burn areas might green up
I think most of the big game animals get out but most of the upland birds sit too tight until it's too late and this fire burned very hot and quickly uphill. Several years ago I watched a covey of huns fly from a fire to a thick bunch of brush which was consumed only minutes later.
The good news is like you say with some early moisture it will green up quickly and provide some great nutrition for the animals that are left.
There were about 40 cow and calf elk on the hill where I took the night picture and I found them about a mile away from the fire yesterday enjoying another green draw. Also for the first time we had a rough grouse in our front yard yesterday which must have flown a long way to escape the fire. We're probably 1/2 mile from the fire line and 2 miles away from normal rough habitat.
It's also an elk winter range so I'm sure we'll have twice as many elk in our front yard this year as in the past. Our neighbors won't be too happy but we like them and encourage them to visit.
Thank you for the blog! I used to hunt this country a lot when younger, very special place!! Mom lives near Baker City and plan a few weeks this fall hiking and hunting chukar. It will be good to be back. I've been working the 62 yr old legs a lot getting ready for the 10 mile days. Loved the comment about the quail and needing too many shells. I always carried two boxes for just that reason...8 chukar 10 quail. Thanks again, love your blog!
Larry, i hope you folks survived the nearby fires ok. Fires are horrific everywhere in the west this year. Hope you are safe Tennessee Gentleman
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