Be Careful With Your Fires This Season!

[timber_hunter]

Just a friendly reminder to be careful with your fires while hunting. The other day I was out near Big Sky and was dismayed to smell smoke as I was still hunting a section of timber. "Damn", I thought, "someone's camped in the meadow below me!" Nope, just the remnants of a fire that was still smoldering in the pine duff, probably 10x10 feet large. The fire had burned probably 2-3 feet down in the duff and was still spreading despite the cold and snowy weather. There was an empty bottle of peppermint schnapps and a can of Red Bull right next to the fire. I had never encountered this situation before so I contacted a wildland firefighter friend and he suggested I call the USFS with coordinates. They hiked in to the fire to check it out, but beyond that I'm not sure what came of it.

Fires are nice but I almost never start one, primarily in the interest of reducing my impact and forgoing the stress of making sure the fire is completely out before I leave. People think I'm a Leave No Trace extremist because of this. I kinda hate seeing fire rings in remote places, or old gnarled dead, but still-standing pine trees with their limbs hacked off.

If you feel so compelled, please use this thread to communicate how to reduce our fire impacts in the backcountry.

 

[WyoDoug]

If I do much hiking away from camp, I might start a fire to keep warm or cook depending on circumstances. But when I leave, the fire ring is destroyed and any rocks I used are spread out to look more natural and the ashes are soaked in water and then spread out. I also pack out all my trash. I have a bum foot with neuropathy and nerve damage that makes it hard for me to hike very far or up really steep terrain so I am usually at hunt camp or base camp depending on our setup.

 

[IDFireLass]

It is not uncommon for wild fires to burn through the winter months and to come back to life come late spring. Doesn't happen much and only know of a couple of stories about it happening from many years ago like in the the 50's or so.
Sounds like the duff was thick and deep and it had all the fuel and oxygen it needed to keep skunking around.