Scouting

[BrownBear]

There ya go.

 

[Patocazador]

Another contributer is the decades of fire suppression and the subsequent dense regrowth from old fires. This is especially a problem in lodgepole pine. it automatically reseeds itself immediately after a fire. The regrowth is so tight together that you can barely walk through it.

The above comment is more in line with the facts. Back when Smokey the Bear was badmouthing forest fires, Yellowstone NP had areas so thick that a chipmunk couldn't get through it. Decades of fire suppression had made a fuel source that was unprecedented.

When the first big fire hit Yellowstone, everyone was crying while I was smiling. It opened areas for grazing elk and bison, for wildlife viewing, and initiated the natural progression cycle again.

In the early 80's my brother and I spent 10 days in the Bob Marshall Wilderness bowhunting elk. There was a lightning-caused 10 acre fire on top of a small mountain within view of our camp site. The next day about a dozen smoke jumpers parachuted in and put it out.
At that time we couldn't walk except on old downed tree trunks. The elk avoided most areas due to the tree cluttered forest floor.
My brother flew a helo equipped for fire fighting for the forest service. But he came up with a slogan, "Burn the Bob!". If ever a place needed a fire, that wilderness area was it.

 

[BrownBear]

..."Burn the Bob!". If ever a place needed a fire, that wilderness area was it.

I've heard the same over the years from a number of Montana friends who pack their horses in there.

Interesting sidelight:

Back in the early 70's I was working in a national forest out west when a lightning fire started in a wilderness. The district ranger put his career on the line when he turned the FS' own rules and regs on them. He wouldn't allow a single motorized tool or vehicle into the wilderness to fight it! He was an early believer in the "let em burn" ethic, and you should have heard the wailing from the fire bosses when their crews had to walk in and use hand tools with no air support! :rotf:

 

[hoochiepapa]

Reading this thread is making me homesick. I have many fond memories of hunting elk in COLORADO. There's only hunting here if you draw. Even turkey is a draw!
But I'm coming home , soon. Wifey is going to retire next year. We have bought 3 acres in Grand Junction, with a well and a recently remodeled house. Now I just have to get back in some semblance of shape.
Good hunting toall.

 

[longcruise]

Gonna be nice to have you back, Mike. GJ will be a great place to live.