FIRE!

There are a lot of things that could mess up your hunting this Fall.

None of them could be much worse than a forest fire. And right now, most of north Louisiana is under high alert for forest or grass fires. And there is no rain in the forecast for our area for the next week. Union Parish and most surrounding parishes are under an official “burn ban” prohibiting any kind of outdoor burning. Don’t take a chance with that, and if you see someone else doing it, please report it.

If you are doing some early work on your deer hunting lease or duck blind, or going after doves this weekend, please make sure you take extra precautions to make sure that you don’t accidentally start a fire that could ruin this year’s hunting in your area and even cost someone their life. There are lots of ways that you could accidentally start a fire. I have heard of four-wheeler mufflers getting so hot that when a rider would stop in a patch of extremely dry grass, it started a small fire.  I have seen the fire coming out of the end of a rifle barrel being sighted in throw sparks that could start a fire (especially muzzleloaders) in dry grassy or straw area. If you are camping in the woods, or at the deer camp, make sure you carefully control any campfires or outdoor cooking fires and put them out properly. Make sure you cover campfire ashes with water AND dirt, when you are through. It’s worth the effort. And please, don’t even think about burning brushpiles or trash right now. Not only is it against the law during a burn ban, it would be just plain dumb.

The map below from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture shows just how extreme our conditions are right now. The parishes in yellow are under high alert for possible outdoor fires. The ones along the river in orange are in extreme fire danger.

Do your part. And don’t let your hunting season– or a lot more — go up in smoke because of one careless moment.