How does a prescribed burn affect deer hunting?

[dbpredator]

They burned an area this week on the WMA I plan to hunt this season. How is it going to affect the deer and hunting?

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[MetalMan2004]

Smoke your clothes and maybe your smell will blend in with it.

[Hills of Texas]

It should be fine in my opinion. Deer will be in there searching for new growth and you may even have increased visibility. Burns, cows, floods, ranchers driving the two tracks and feeding are just another day for the deer. Doesn’t make any difference

[Nova]

If we get a little rain, the green up will be awesome.

[PoppinPiggies]

What Nova said with a little moisture it will green up and BOOM natural food plot!

[tminc]

And the deer will go crazy with the new growth

[RifleBowPistol]

I guess it would depend on a few things. Is the spot you are hunting going to be burned, or just in the general area? Then is the burn going to be done right before or during hunting season?

I have hunted the Aransas Wildlife Refuge for many years, many of those years, they did controlled burns in various areas, they decided needed to be burned. On multiple occasions those burns were done, while we were hunting, or right before hunting season. Areas outside the burn, the deer were what I would call normal. But if you went into a area, that had just been burnt, there was no grass or anything edible for the deer. You rarely ever saw any deer activity in those areas. We walked through multiple areas, just after they were burned, probably within a month. One occasion we saw a small buck, we would find a few tracks but, not many at all.

I have been around brush fires, not controlled burns in areas close to the refuge, with basically the same vegetation. I noticed, the animals in the area, did not seem to panic, till the area was smoky. When the area starts to get very smoky, then animals start to panic and run like crazy. If the area was not filling up with smoke, the animals did not seem to have a clue there was a fire burning.

But that same area, the next year would have a lot of new grass, it might have more deer in it. I say might. Some of the areas, they burnt, never had much deer activity before or after they burnt them. Those areas, the deer just traveled through on their way to and from other areas, before and after they burnt those areas.

The bad, we noticed at least at the refuge, is there is a type of grass they have out there, that when it's not burnt, you don't notice so much that it grows in clumps. After their burns, where there was that type of grass, whatever it is. There would be thousands of lumps on the ground, that were difficult to not trip over.

Not knowing what type of vegetation you are dealing with, I could not say, how a controlled burn might affect your hunting. I have only seen controlled burns done in dense live oaks, in sandy coastal areas, at the refuge.

[Cullbuck]

It won’t bother them any, I’ve seen them back in burned areas before it has quit smoking.


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[walker1983]

Deer often move to the best available food sources. The week or two immediately following a burn - the burned area won't have much for them to eat. I'd hunt somewhere else until the area starts to green up.

[SaltwaterSlick]

When I hunted along the Rio Grande, the better-lifers (AKA wets) were forever setting the river cane on fire and it would burn large areas of the river bottom lands (big mesquite flats), and I've sat in my stand with fires still visible and have the deer come out of the brush and into the burned over area like it was not even there.... I couldn't tell it had any adverse effect on them. Further, after a few days (sometimes only 2 or 3) new green chutes of green would begin to pop and it was like hand corn.

[treestand]

The landowner has done several burns over the years at the ranch I hunt. Drastically reduced cover which the deer don't like. They avoided the burned area during daylight and once the burned area greened up, they would feed there but only at night.

[El Paisano]

With rain it will green up real quick and draw deer in.

[AntlerCollector]

One of the biggest bucks I’ve killed was walking over a burn that was still smoldering. It will sprout new growth almost as soon as it rains

[Kong]

I was working out by Lamar point and seen all the smoke, I’m assuming your hunting that area but the deer will be all over it once it gets some rain and the new grass pops up. I seen 2 solid bucks on the property next door to it on Tuesday morning, one was a real pretty 10 point.