Gillette and Dubois Fires blowing up pretty big

elks96

elks96

Long Time Member
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The Fish Creek Fire and the House Draw Fires are getting after it today. The smoke from fish creek is pretty heavy all the way into Riverton.

The House Draw fire between Gillette and Douglas has I90 Closed and also appears to have closed.

Nears Gillette there are several other fires that were growing rapidly as well. I just heard that the Constitution Fire has closed 59 and between all the fires there are tons of evacuations and stock getting moved.

Crazy what one dry thunderstorm can do…
 
160,000 acres. Crazy

Screenshot_20240822_132349_onX Hunt.jpg
 
treedagain said:
Try and keep it off the BLM? Would make for some good public hunting.
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I don’t think they are trying anything except to not get killed… It is just running hard, it skipped I90 with no problem. Winds are around 10MPH but supposed to just to 15+ again tonight. Which ever way they wind blows it is going to run fast and hard…
 
treedagain said:
Try and keep it off the BLM? Would make for some good public hunting.
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It's hitting the blm and state land now.

Wonder how many cattle got turned into ribeyes
elks96 said:
Am
I correct they have 2 other fires by Gillette as well. The constitution and another one. The closer one to Gillette is smaller but they have not released the data yet so ONx has not mapped it?
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I can see those on ONX
 
elks96 said:
Am
I correct they have 2 other fires by Gillette as well. The constitution and another one. The closer one to Gillette is smaller but they have not released the data yet so ONx has not mapped it?
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Screenshot_20240822_140044_onX Hunt.jpg
 
I watched the Fish creek fire blow up on saturday from up high... rumor is they are getting close to shutting down the highway between moran and dubois. Brooks lake lodge has been fully evacuated. It gets over the highway into all that timber and the wilderness, they arent stopping it till winter would be my guess
 
grosventrehunter said:
Let the fire burn on private and fight it on public. Why are we spending tax money on private land when they don't allow public access. Let the big ranch owners pay for the fire fighters and tankers. Reap what they sow....
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I have paid taxes on my small acreage for 18 years, a small portion of which goes towards fire protection. I have also denied access to folks wanting to hunt the numerous deer on my 6 acres.

So I should be disqualified from fire protection? That’s a little f’ed up and twisted.
 
grosventrehunter said:
Let the fire burn on private and fight it on public. Why are we spending tax money on private land when they don't allow public access. Let the big ranch owners pay for the fire fighters and tankers. Reap what they sow....
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dumbest thing ive read in a while, and thats saying something for this place. Fire doesnt know boundaries...so just let it burn on private so it can jump right back onto public? Let livestock die, houses burn, and small time ranchers lose their livelihood all because you have an issue with people who have more land than you? Pretty pathetic statement
 
Fair question. Sure fight the fire where it is and for sure protect homes. But if you have to choose between private range land or public? Do we protect private interests or public? Do the landowners pick public over private? No
So public resources should value public lands and infrastructure 1st if there is a choice.
 
grosventrehunter said:
Let the fire burn on private and fight it on public. Why are we spending tax money on private land when they don't allow public access. Let the big ranch owners pay for the fire fighters and tankers. Reap what they sow....
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Speaking as someone who lives within the evacuation zone of the Flat Rock Fire, having had to pack my house up as I could the other night while watching the flames coming closer to my house, and having seen first hand flames surrounding my neighbors houses, I am glad fire crews were out there keeping things under control as best they could so we didn't lose our houses, irrespective of whether they were on private or public land. A little ignorance goes a long way.
 
Typical response from some of the landowners. It's deprivation tags/money, LO tags, corner crossing, and now fire protection from wildland fires. I hear city folks don't have to worry about large wildland fires, wild animals eating your green grass, people crossing at corners, and the list goes on and on. Everyone chooses where they want live.......if it's in the mountains or priaire and it's prone to wildfires, then hire folks to clear around your house/property. Don't expect the government to do it for you. I find it funny the same folks ***** and complain about buzz working for the government but it's OK when said government comes on your property to fight fires. Interesting...

How many of these large ranch owners who are millionaires/ billionaire ever reimbursed the government for fire fighting on their land. It never happens, yet they get reimbursed all the time by said government. Hypocrites?
 
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grosventrehunter said:
Typical response from some of the landowners. It's deprivation tags/money, LO tags, corner crossing, and now fire protection from wildland fires. I hear city folks don't have to worry about large wildland fires, wild animals eating your green grass, people crossing at corners, and the list goes on and on. Everyone chooses where they want live.......if it's in the mountains or priaire and it's prone to wildfires, then hire folks to clear around your house/property. Don't expect the government to do it for you. I find it funny the same folks ***** and complain about buzz working for the government but it's OK when said government comes on your property to fight fires. Interesting...

How many of these large ranch owners who are millionaires/ billionaire ever reimbursed the government for fire fighting on their land. It never happens, yet they get reimbursed all the time by said government. Hypocrites?
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Extending such reasoning to its logical conclusion would mean that firefighters would never respond to a fire unless it involved government property. This would include house fires in town. I suppose this would save some tax dollars by not having to maintain fire departments since there would be a diminished need for their services. This seems like a sensible solution, especially since fires are strictly confined to acts attributable to the landowner and never the product of an act of God, product design flaws, and arson to name a few. I take pride in the fact that the Campbell County community comes together to support each other when confronted by such circumstances. But to hold such responses in disrepute wholly undermines the efficacy of what it is to be a part of a community, particularly when it is done in the name of one's own selfish interests that are adverse to the community.
 
There are no rules pertaining to ownership of property when it comes to fires. There is no trespassing, fences or water rights regardless of what land is burning. That has to be worth something.
 
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nfh said:
cowboystatedaily.com

Grim Wildlife Death Count Expected As Wildfires Rip Through Northern…

State Game and Fish agents are preparing for the grim task of counting wildlife carcasses killed by raging wildfires in northern Wyoming that have burned…
cowboystatedaily.com cowboystatedaily.com
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Some interesting talk about this on social media. A wildlife biologist from Sheridan is telling folks to call him this week. I'm not sure, but I think they will offer to take back tags in 1 or 2 areas. Closures are doubtful. I hope they do the right thing, but lately, based on the actions of the Dept , I don't have a clue the direction that will be taken.
 
jm77 said:
Some interesting talk about this on social media. A wildlife biologist from Sheridan is telling folks to call him this week. I'm not sure, but I think they will offer to take back tags in 1 or 2 areas. Closures are doubtful. I hope they do the right thing, but lately, based on the actions of the Dept , I don't have a clue the direction that will be taken.
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the right thing to do is shut down antelope hunting. but i agree will the G&F make the right call, well i doubt they will
 
nfh said:
the right thing to do is shut down antelope hunting. but i agree will the G&F make the right call, well i doubt they will
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Why would you want to shut down the antelope season when only about 25-30% of the Hunt Area burned?

Most (about 80%) of the accessable public land did not burn.

If I had an Antelope Hunt Area 22 license and I had access to hunt private land that did not burn, or planned on hunting the accessable public land and the entire Hunt Area got closed down, I would be pissed.

ClearCreek
 
ClearCreek said:
Why would you want to shut down the antelope season when only about 25-30% of the Hunt Area burned?

Most (about 80%) of the accessable public land did not burn.

If I had an Antelope Hunt Area 22 license and I had access to hunt private land that did not burn, or planned on hunting the accessable public land and the entire Hunt Area got closed down, I would be pissed.

ClearCreek
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Well what we need is a clear assessment of the damage done to the herd.

Not a easy task but one would think a fly over could give them some good numbers.
 
@ClearCreek Let's assume the number of antelope permits for these areas that partially burned is the surplus of animals, at least I hope that's the case. Would G&F just consider the number that possibly died expendable? So an over harvest of antelope is acceptable?

I honestly don't understand why G&F doesn't seem to think antelope populations, in many areas around the state are in crisis. My local area is down to 75 type 1 tags from years of 1000 or more licenses. Does this not trouble you? It does me, especially when I see three does in June with five fawns and now those same three does have one fawn between them. My local folks at G&F don't seem to think this is a problem that needs addressing other than to decrease tags.
 
It's coming in clear to me that doing what's best for wildlife is no longer the top priority for the various GF agencies across the West.

It's changed a lot in Wyoming the past 24 years I've lived here. I was pretty excited when I moved here from Montana how much priority the GF was giving to the resource FIRST.

That ship has been sailing away from the dock for the last decade or so, and very quickly oh, I don't know, the last 6 years in particular (hint).

It's already to the point that I all but refuse to shoot a mule deer as they're totally in the dumps. Now its even that way with a limited quota pronghorn tag, I'm not feeling good about shooting one. Certainly not excited about the hunt.

The only animal left I feel OK hunting and shooting a couple of is elk, but I can't help but feel that's about to slide down the drain too.

In this particular case, why would a hunter be pissed about closing down a unit that just suffered a severe fire that could have whacked a bunch of the pronghorn? IMO, if a hunter is pissed about that, they simply don't care about the resource.

Finally, the GF shouldn't be making bad decisions because they're afraid they'll piss off hunters. They should be managing for what's best for the wildlife, but it just hasn't felt that way for quite some time.

IMO, when in doubt, issue less tags or make the hard decision to close a unit down for a year altogether rather than pound what's left into the dirt.
 
BuzzH said:
It's coming in clear to me that doing what's best for wildlife is no longer the top priority for the various GF agencies across the West.

It's changed a lot in Wyoming the past 24 years I've lived here. I was pretty excited when I moved here from Montana how much priority the GF was giving to the resource FIRST.

That ship has been sailing away from the dock for the last decade or so, and very quickly oh, I don't know, the last 6 years in particular (hint).

It's already to the point that I all but refuse to shoot a mule deer as they're totally in the dumps. Now its even that way with a limited quota pronghorn tag, I'm not feeling good about shooting one. Certainly not excited about the hunt.

The only animal left I feel OK hunting and shooting a couple of is elk, but I can't help but feel that's about to slide down the drain too.

In this particular case, why would a hunter be pissed about closing down a unit that just suffered a severe fire that could have whacked a bunch of the pronghorn? IMO, if a hunter is pissed about that, they simply don't care about the resource.

Finally, the GF shouldn't be making bad decisions because they're afraid they'll piss off hunters. They should be managing for what's best for the wildlife, but it just hasn't felt that way for quite some time.

IMO, when in doubt, issue less tags or make the hard decision to close a unit down for a year altogether rather than pound what's left into the dirt.
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All this^

This reminds me of the attempt to separate mule deer and whitetail licenses by Nesvik and the Task Force(Driskill). The mule deer comes out the loser, but all on the ground G&F tow the line so they don't piss off big daddy in Cheyenne. It's not the same Dept I used to know.
 
jm77 said:
All this^

This reminds me of the attempt to separate mule deer and whitetail licenses by Nesvik and the Task Force(Driskill). The mule deer comes out the loser, but all on the ground G&F tow the line so they don't piss off big daddy in Cheyenne. It's not the same Dept I used to know.
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The irony there, is that they say they're doing that because they want to do more to "help mule deer".

Will have 100% the opposite effect.

But hey, at least Big Daddy and Driskill will be happy, that's all that really matters. Who cares about the wildlife!

The real question remains though, what qualifications do Big Daddy and Driskill have in regard to wildlife management? They don't hunt, they don't have wildlife degrees, they don't listen to their own biologists, they don't even understand the regulations.

Its unbelievable.
 
Remington fire last Friday after dark.
DSCN4933.JPG


Burning in mostly public land hills, The only chance at stopping it was to back burn from the county road and cat line down on private land. Only fighting this fire on public would at best be doomed to fail and at worst, get someone killed.
 
Huh.

I remember a dude from Utah warning Wyomingites not to follow in Utah footsteps.

Some little feller in Laramie laughed at the suggestion as according to him, "he'd never let that happen".

Now here he is just a few years later, copy and pasting what is said in Utah.

Of course, he'll go shoot "a couple of elk", while I'm sure laughing about Wyoming's elk herds being in great shape.

Should I tell him where that's headed?

Nah.

Go shoot a pile of elk. Pay attention in a few years, then complain.

Fantastic job leading from behind
 
hossblur said:
Huh.

I remember a dude from Utah warning Wyomingites not to follow in Utah footsteps.

Some little feller in Laramie laughed at the suggestion as according to him, "he'd never let that happen".

Now here he is just a few years later, copy and pasting what is said in Utah.

Of course, he'll go shoot "a couple of elk", while I'm sure laughing about Wyoming's elk herds being in great shape.

Should I tell him where that's headed?

Nah.

Go shoot a pile of elk. Pay attention in a few years, then complain.

Fantastic job leading from behind
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I remember this too, except it was a dumba$$ from Utah that doesn't know the half of it.
 
jm77 said:
I remember this too, except it was a dumba$$ from Utah that doesn't know the half of it.
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I know what Buzz tells the forums vs what he says in testimony.

I also know you do too. Unfortunate thing about government meetings, they get transcribed.
 
hossblur said:
I know what Buzz tells the forums vs what he says in testimony.

I also know you do too. Unfortunate thing about government meetings, they get transcribed.
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I'm sure we're talking about different things.

I'm also sure you haven't affected any change where you live. You keep up on things, but in the end it's mostly hot air coming from you.
 
jm77 said:
I'm sure we're talking about different things.

I'm also sure you haven't affected any change where you live. You keep up on things, but in the end it's mostly hot air coming from you.
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Nah.

We are talking about the dude who spends hours and hours every week across multiple forums blowing his own horn, and then comes on and complains.

Like I said. We saw him in Casper.

I've read testimonies.

His self delusion is laughable.

I get he's your "friend", but I've yet to be you sniffing your own farts at near the level, yet I'll bet your at the same meetings.
 
antlerradar said:
You haven't been involved in fighting may big fires have you.
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Yes, I fought one in my fireplace once. It was big!!. My point was to show how some large landowners are always taking government handouts. Things like wildlife damage, LO tags, failed crops, grazing fees, land locked lands, and government subsidies just to name a few. These folks take the money and run with our tax dollars. Yet, when some of the millionaire/billionaire ranchers need fire protection they refuse to help foot the bill even when they can. Hell, i would wager they never even donate to their local fire departments, but God forbid elk eat too much of their grass.
 
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jm77 said:
I'm sure we're talking about different things.

I'm also sure you haven't affected any change where you live. You keep up on things, but in the end it's mostly hot air coming from you.
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That's the point. We've tried to get our voices heard. Buzz was very vocal, and condescending, about how Colorado and Utah are managed. Attacking the hunters as the responsible ones. The common thread was WE will never let that happen. We all are tough on the net. I'm important to my children. Nobody else cares even a little about my opinion, unless it aligns with their agenda. And hunters are never smart enough to organize. Any time there is an issue dealing with hunting vs other interest, hunters will lose, because of the splinter effect of people in one small location and different species hating on the practices and interests of everyone else. And anytime someone is vocal in this it has an accelerated effect, because there isn't a lot of representation to start with. An example is the prairie dog thread started a few months ago. It immediately turns negative. I posted a video of my boys antelope hunt, mainly to test this. Same. A couple of our resident self ordained preachers had negative. Nobody will rally around that. So it's back to small interest groups.
 
Deercy said:
That's the point. We've tried to get our voices heard. Buzz was very vocal, and condescending, about how Colorado and Utah are managed. Attacking the hunters as the responsible ones. The common thread was WE will never let that happen. We all are tough on the net. I'm important to my children. Nobody else cares even a little about my opinion, unless it aligns with their agenda. And hunters are never smart enough to organize. Any time there is an issue dealing with hunting vs other interest, hunters will lose, because of the splinter effect of people in one small location and different species hating on the practices and interests of everyone else. And anytime someone is vocal in this it has an accelerated effect, because there isn't a lot of representation to start with. An example is the prairie dog thread started a few months ago. It immediately turns negative. I posted a video of my boys antelope hunt, mainly to test this. Same. A couple of our resident self ordained preachers had negative. Nobody will rally around that. So it's back to small interest groups.
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I try to look at things from both sides. Year after year, other states I apply in change things and usually for the worse on the NR side. I don't jump on those state forums and start complaining. But wait till Wyoming does something and no matter where it was started, it's the "greedy" residents that did it and all hell breaks loose. And most that are the loudest are in states where NR are treated worse than in Wyoming! Either way, here comes @BuzzH and everyone loses it. Keep this in mind, whether you can rout out something he said that may of been a change from the past or not, not another person on this forum has the collective knowledge of Buzz about hunting and applying in Wyoming and the multiple states around us. You know how he comments, take it with a grain of salt.

I'll admit, he and I are on different ends of the spectrum when it comes to politics, so I rarely go there with him. He's always wrong with that by the way. It's a Missoula thing I suspect. 🤷‍♂️
 

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