just talked to my farmer in S.W.Ks., looks to be quite some time for the wildlife to make a recovery, simply terrible.

The biggest wild fire in us history burned parts of Okla and Ks over a year ago. A friend just west of Medicine lodge Ks lost his house, barn and kennels. The site of the Kansas All Age Classic (Gyp Hills club on Ted Turner's ranch) was completely burnt to the ground, they even had to cut fences to allow the livestock (Buffalos) to escape. After the fire quail were spotted in burnt plum thickets, only days after the fire. They fed them and this past fall the trial was held and most dogs that finished the hour had bird work. Quail come back into a burn area within days and prairie grasses come back quickly and strong with any rain. Not sure about rabbits, turkey etc. but fires do nothing to set back the quail if they get any rain at all.

Interesting side light of the fire is that the Zbar ranch (Ted Turner's) is groomed for wildlife of all kinds and this includes a large prairie dog village. The little buggers keep the grass almost to the ground and very little of it in the village area and this is where the Buffalo went to get out of the fire.

They can comes back quicker than you think. We hunted this fall on some controlled burn areas. We couldn't find the burn line.

Always hunt the new growth in burn areas. Quail love them.

control burn areas are different than thousands of acre burns

Nope, the very same. The fire over a year ago in Okla. and Ks. was a wild fire. I've watched quail fly out of a controlled burn and return the next day or so. Just what happened in the wild fire in Ks. By the way over a half a million acres burned in the OK/KS fire.

Chet was that dons house you were talking about, lost his great dog to.

70 mile an hour winds..wildlife did not get away safely...seeing that first hand.

All I can tell you is that Don saw the fire coming and by the time he got his wife in the truck he had to drive through the fire to get to the highway. This fire was moving very fast and the wind currents caused by the heat were in the high 50 to 60s. We can post back and forth all day but this fire was enormous and the quail escaped and came back within days. Not sure what kind of wildlife you are talking about but quail are fine in a fire most times whether its wild or controlled.

Yes it was Don's house and he did lose Sam, a really special animal. I've talked to Don about it as I have a son of Don's Sam dog but never wanted to ask how it happened. Talk from others seems to point to him letting the animals out of the pens so they could escape the fire and Sam ran the wrong way. Just a terrible day for all involved. He got out with his wife and two dogs and his life. Don is 86 and tough as a cob, he has rebuilt and I bet he's running dogs this fall.

? if they survived what would they come hack to? the areas I saw were burned clean, would be not habitat to survive, time will tell.

Go read up on the recovery of the Chaparral WMA after the big fire down there a few years back.