My Platoon Sergeant and I were going to go to Dayton area end of March but...

[Eric M]

"Carcasses of up to 200 elk, 150 deer and eight bighorn sheep were recently discovered by foresters and wildlife biologists surveying the burned-over area to determine salvage- logging operations and habitat restoration needs." That was part of the announcement on the WDFW website regarding the W.T. Wooten wildlife area from November 2015 discussing the losses from the School Fire. Is there still public land down there worth shed hunting in? Or is it a waste of a 6 hour drive?

[fair-chase]

The School Fire was in 2005, not 2015. You might want to recheck the dates on the news release.  While there is still a visible scar from the School Fire in some areas, it's mostly just the leftover standing snags. The brush and grasses in the area are fully recovered.

There were a few area fires this year (Blue Creek, Grizzly Complex) but they should not effect you. The Blue Creek fire was nearly all private land to the South East, and the Grizzly Complex was mostly confined to the wilderness which will not be accessible in March due to snow.

You will not be alone shed hunting the Blue Mountains. The area gets hammered by horn hunters. Also keep in mind that the Cummins Creek Drainage is closed until April 1st in an effort to protect wintering wildlife.

[Eric M]

The School Fire was in 2005, not 2015. You might want to recheck the dates on the news release.  While there is still a visible scar from the School Fire in some areas, it's mostly just the leftover standing snags. The brush and grasses in the area are fully recovered.

There were a few area fires this year (Blue Creek, Grizzly Complex) but they should not effect you. The Blue Creek fire was nearly all private land to the South East, and the Grizzly Complex was mostly confined to the wilderness which will not be accessible in March due to snow.

You will not be alone shed hunting the Blue Mountains. The area gets hammered by horn hunters. Also keep in mind that the Cummins Creek Drainage is closed until April 1st in an effort to protect wintering wildlife.

Thank you. I looked again and indeed it says 2005. A good argument for reading glasses. Thanks for looking out. I saw the Cummins Creek drainage was closed. Maybe we'll try somewhere else. Just wanting to go somewhere a little more open, but not really too familiar with the east side. I'm a little tired of looking on the west side.