Hunting here in the south is a lot of pine plantation hunting and every so often they do control burns. This year they have done quite a bit. The tracks are everywhere in these areas but there no green shutes or grasses. but these deer seemed to be at least moving through them often. they didn't clear it and burned they just burned undergrowth. So what could these deer be eating in there and how did/do you go about finding high percentage stands. these areas of burn are vast but not everything is burned
They eat some of the brush that is "smoked" I used to walk fire perimeters at sunrise the day after a fire and always found deer tracks, they also will roll in the ash, I think they just go because they are curious.
In my experience, once the green starts coming back in, deer will hit it hard. Even better if there are acorns dropping from trees that survived the burn. There is nothing hiding the acorns in a burn. Sign will be harder to see if the soot is still on the ground.
no acorns have fallen. they may not this year. There is no green yet. they may have sprayed, not sure.
I'm going to say that if there is no viable food and no cover that they're just curios and moving through there at night.
I walked an area that I hunt post controlled burn (maybe a week or two) during our turkey season. Very little new growth yet at that time. Where I was finding tracks was some of the same areas deer traveled pre burn: along a seasonal seep/lowland drainage and some 'micro-topographic' spots (a small ledge/flat spot along a ridge, near springs)... I'll probably be back to that property in a few weeks...
I know that all of my cameras were blowing up for 2 days after moving them and then they just went went cold after two days. Nothing, no does, no bucks.. food source likely changed.
No food, no water, no cover = no reason to stay/ be there. I did forget to mention there is water (lake) on one side of the burn I mentioned above
well there a few swamps that border these burns. I saw 2 saturday does saturday come out of the swamp.
You know some of the general areas I hunt, likely very similar to what you’re looking at. Those stripped pine burns will be heavy food producers next spring and pretty huntable especially until it thickens up heavily over the few springs. Then it’s less huntsble in general but heavy food and bedding. The deer were there before the burn and will still be around. They still love edges and the path of least resistance which those burns are. Any edge that butts up to hardwoods, creek bottom, swamp, or even older or younger pine blocks would have my attention and I’d probably try to zero in on some of those areas with some cameras. The hardwoods could still be good because even if the oaks aren’t dropping acorns if there are thick areas of saplings and low growth in there the deer should still be browsing it. Leaves, branch tips, etc. they’re basically goats and eat so much more than we hunters generally talk about especially if there’s not close ag. Any ag nearby?
No ag close enough so browse is the deal. good advice. It's hard to find the typical trails where I hunt, there is a lot of roaming and they bed is so many different areas from one day to the next it seems. having so much bedding is a curse to a point.
I know on spring burns, you get some rain after and the grasses and vegetation will green up faster than the non burned areas. Little fertilizer from the burn and the black ground heats up faster.
Been an a few burns and wildfires where the vegetation was treated with herbicide before, thanks DNR.
There are many many seeds that won't release without a burn.some seeds remain viable few years and years waiting as it were. Some resin coated pine would be and example and many hard coated seeds. That area should be great in no time. Spraying usually will not effect the seeds.
Usually conifers like jack pine, not sure they have those down south. Up north the only pine or conifer the deer eat are white cedar and white pine. The white pine gets eaten when they are seedlings but they will brouse white cedar no matter the age of the tree. 1 thing I say about seeing years of whitetail checking out a fire in their area, smoking yourself before you sit is very effective.
