Torched Plans

Wildfires and Flexibility

With less than two weeks until my first bow hunt of this season, things are getting a little dicy. Ya see, every late summer/early fall in the Pacific North West carries with it the challenge of dry conditions, lightning, and the inevitable possibility of forest fires springing up in the wilderness that we hunt.

For the town we live in, Atlanta, this season has been (thankfully) slow… Not too many fires to speak of and none that have immediately threatened town or any structures. However, some of the areas that we love to visit have not been so fortunate.

Due east of our town, there is the Ross Fork fire, which is burning up a large portion of Idaho’s GMU 43… An area that myself and a close friend hunted last year with an early season deer depredation tag. The irony is that we hiked in from the backside and had to traverse an area (Leggit Lake) that was burned badly two years ago. This unit is pine rich and absolutely stunning — hard to imagine the thousands of acres there that are now burning.

Hiking to unit 43 through Leggit Creek Trail

Looking from Unit 39 into unit 43 (All of that timber is currently burning)

To the north of town there is the Everly Fire burning at the north end of the Queens River hiking loop. The Queens River trailhead is just five miles before you enter our little town and is a beautiful piece of country. Just two years ago (pre-babies) my wife and I, with our two friends, hiked that area in early July. Thankfully this fire seems contained by the rocky nature of the Everly alpine lake which may help diffuse the spread.

Queens River loop heading toward Everly Lake

Then lastly, the inevitable happened and I got word that a new fire kicked off this week right where we plan to elk hunt. Started by lightning, the fire is at about 45 acres and is spreading directly to the areas where my buddy had been scouting for us a few weeks back. Silver lining is that with the proximity to Henry’s lake, the Sawtell Peak fire is getting blasted with frequent water dumps from the few aircraft assigned to it.

What does this mean for our hunt? Frankly, I don’t know. Fingers are crossed that the fire can be contained and we can push on as planned… what will be interesting though is to see what will happen to the animal patterns. Will they change? Will animals be pushed out, or in? Time will tell and hopefully by this time next week I am packing my bags and heading east.