Finally the next significant step - Transferred from QDMA Forums

[yoderjac]

After a pine thinning last year and a clear-cut of two small hardwood ridges last year. Then over the winter we put in firebreaks. This fall we sprayed the hardwoods with herbicide. I just got a call today. They think the weather is right and are planning to execute the controlled burn tomorrow. I hate that this conflicts with our archery season but it will be well worth it in the long run.
I hope to get some pics tomorrow and post them.
Thanks,
Jack

yoder...Looking forward to the pics. Don't know which I enjoy more...habitat stuff or hunting. Thinning of our pines is in full swing right now with another 4 weeks left. Puts a bit of a damper on the hunting mood but man, do I enjoy seeing what is unfolding.

Well, I didn't get any pics. The burn coordinator gave me a 5 minute "how to" handed me a drip torch and added me to the crew. My butt is dragging after a day of burning. We only got it about 1/2 done. The rest will need to wait until the weather is right again.
I'll take some "results" pictures tomorrow.
Thanks,
Jack

I was wrong about the pics. Although I didn't take any myself, a couple game cameras took them for me and transmitted them back to camp.

Thanks,
Jack

Is that fire that hot that the cam is reading 98 degrees? I wouldn't think so.

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by Gator
Is that fire that hot that the cam is reading 98 degrees? I wouldn't think so.
==================================
It was an 80 degree day to start with, the cam is in the sun, and there is fire to the right of the camera on the side of that field. 98 is quite possible. I burned up one of my ground blinds. I did clear around it before I lit it up, but he fire jumped the small break. I tried to put it out with a shovel, but it was too hot for me to get close enough. So, I believe the 98 degree reading.
Thanks,
Jack

You get any video of you beating the ground blind with a shovel??? LOL

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by Massey135
You get any video of you beating the ground blind with a shovel??? LOL
==================================
I wasn't beating the ground blind, just the ground in front of it where the fire jumped my small break. It didn't take long for me to give up. The problem with contracting out a burn is that you don't know exactly when it will happen until the day before. So, even if you prepare around blinds, more debris can build up by the time the burn happens and when it happens, it is so sudden that you don't have time to prep again.
You can put up and take down blinds for turkey with no problem, but for deer I find it best to keep them up all year. You don't need to do that for firearm where shots are 50+ yards, but for archery, deer need to be well acclimated before they will approach close enough during daylight.
So, this particular blind had been up for a couple years. It was on its last legs. It had some rips and tears. I considered taking it down but I was afraid that collapsing it would destroy it anyway, so I just did the best I could with a shovel at the last minute. I should have sprayed around it with water before I lit but we only had one 25 gal tank with us and had already used some around my new elevated blind stand made from treated lumber. I was concerned that we would be low on water if we had any jumps of our major firebreaks.
I should have taken video of the blind burning but I was off to work on lighting up other areas.
This was a good lesson learned for the future. The permanent stands I've been building need to have permanent full size firebreaks around them. That will make everything easier. We are adding a couple more short full size firebreaks tomorrow with the Cat Dozer. It sounds like the crew will be back tomorrow morning and finish the burn.
I have to say that they really kicked my butt yesterday but I learned an awful lot about controlled burns.
Thanks,
Jack

They are a lot of work. My dad and I almost had one get away from us once. Only 6' of disced ground as a break, and, of course, it jumped. I was doing the jig for an hour or so: could have been a lot worse. Glad yours went well.

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by Massey135
They are a lot of work. My dad and I almost had one get away from us once. Only 6' of disced ground as a break, and, of course, it jumped. I was doing the jig for an hour or so: could have been a lot worse. Glad yours went well.
==================================
It's not over yet. They are coming back in the morning. We had 10' breaks put in. It was only that little hand made break right where I ignited that failed. It was only about 3' and not completely clear.
Hopefully tomorrow will go well.
We did have one faux pas. A neighbor didn't get notified (changed email address) and when bonkers. Can't really blame him. His bunkhouse/cabin burned down last year so he is fire sensitive to start with. Then, he doesn't really understand controlled burns. He saw the smoke and came over and saw no one but charred ground within 10' of his property line and could see 3' flames deeper in our pines. He couldn't find anyone around since we were much further down lighting up strips to keep it cool. Of course, once the fuel is gone around the firebreak the crew moves on but a layman just sees unattended fire.
One of my partners spend an hour each on the phone talking him down. He might have been hotter than the fire itself. We made sure to notify him today about tomorrows burn.
This experience has taught me a lot and I've developed an even greater respect for folks who do this for a living. My butt was dragging and today was a recovery day for me with light work and hunting only. It is grueling work!
Tomorrow should be the end of burning for a few years.
Thanks,
Jack

We finished the burn today. Here are some pics from my phone:
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/g...psgjquphka.jpg

Thanks,
Jack

I amm looking forward to your results come next spring. Also really interested in how long this keeps the deer out.

 

[yoderjac]

Always love the burn pics. Bet your future results will be amazing.

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by Fish
I amm looking forward to your results come next spring. Also really interested in how long this keeps the deer out.
==================================
This is the first burn I've done on our property but they do them regularly on Quantico MCB near my home where I hunted for years. I've seen both deer an turkey in controlled burns while they are still smoking and brush piles still have hot coals.
Prescribed burns don't keep deer out at all. However, it does change the vegetation in the habitat but not the terrain. That change in vegetation over a large area changes how deer relate to it. So, it is not a matter of deer leaving. It is a matter of the body of deer movement information collected over the last few years of hunting loses it currency abruptly rather than evolving slowly over time. Not seeing deer after a controlled burn is more a function of the hunter being in the wrong place at the wrong time because of deer movement pattern changes rather than deer leaving the area.
Thanks,
Jack

Jack, I know about the butt dragging. I checked my fitbit after last Monday's burn at my place (4 acres) and it showed 25,000 steps (which supposedly equates to about 12 miles). Anyway, I'm headed back tomorrow to see how things are looking. My neighbors, next 100 acre tract, have been monitoring for me and it was still smoldering as of yesterday. I'm glad rain is in the forecast.
Do you have any suggestions on seeding or just let nature take its course? By the way, this was a prescribed NRCS under story burn in a hardwood stand.
Thanks,
Preston

Quote:
==================================
Originally Posted by NC Retiree
Jack, I know about the butt dragging. I checked my fitbit after last Monday's burn at my place (4 acres) and it showed 25,000 steps (which supposedly equates to about 12 miles). Anyway, I'm headed back tomorrow to see how things are looking. My neighbors, next 100 acre tract, have been monitoring for me and it was still smoldering as of yesterday. I'm glad rain is in the forecast.
Do you have any suggestions on seeding or just let nature take its course? By the way, this was a prescribed NRCS under story burn in a hardwood stand.
Thanks,
Preston
==================================
We did closer to 100 acres. I haven't added it all up yet. We had 5 guys on Thursday including the burn coordinator. On Saturday there were only 3 of us and the coordinator spent most of the time on the Dozer putting in some last minute breaks. Because we didn't want the fire too hot, our strips were all less than 100 feet. I have no idea how many steps I walked in those two days but I ended up with a black toenail on each foot.
I personally see prescribed burns and promoting native foods on our place and don't do any seeding. We have close to 20 acres in food plots so I don't want to waste seed, time, and effort in places that aren't going to get good sun, lime, and fertilizer. Our burn was under an NRCS cost share as well.
Glad to see there are others doing this as well.
Thanks,
Jack

 

[yoderjac]

END TRANSFER FROM QDMA FORUMS

 

[Eggman]

How was the deer hunting last fall after the burn? I have always burned in the early spring and nothing but positive effects on my turkey hunting.

 

[yoderjac]

It was poor, but not really a result of the burn. We had been working hard to get our population in check shooting every doe we could for a number of years. Two years ago we had an acorn crop failure and our food plots were the only game in town. We more than doubled our average harvest of female deer that year. That was followed by a very hard winter by our standards. On top of that, coyotes have been in our general area for a number of years but had not established on our property. That winter coyotes moved in and I began to get regular pictures.

On top of all that, we did a pine thinning and clear cut which disturbed the game patterns and then the burn right before the season. We track our population trends carefully with camera surveys using a wireless camera network that runs 24/7/365. We use the period from early January through April to estimate survival and the month of September to estimate recruitment/immigration. We realized that we overcorrected so last fall, for the first time ever, we put restrictions on female harvest. We limited it to 6. Folks saw fewer deer last season after the burn. I'm sure some was lower populations and some was the disruption. I think the large scale change in habitat caused deer to change their patterns, not stop using the property. Knowledge gained over the years about animal patterns lost value.

The good news is that our populations seem to be bouncing back quickly. I won't know until September for sure, but all anecdotal observations I have from working at the farm and summer pictures is that we won't have any restrictions on female harvest this fall.

Large scale habitat change is disruptive to deer hunting but hands-down beneficial in the long run. By the way, I completely agree on the turkey. I've sat in controlled burns that still had piles smoking and killed spring gobblers. Perhaps the burn makes insects much more available or something.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

Updated Picture Links