Another noob to WY Antelope

[dannyb278]

Good luck. I took my 59 year old dad out last year. We had a great time even though we didn't fill our tags. We saw one buck in 4 days on land we could actually access. And I missed. We hunted unit 24 which I can honestly say the public land on that unit suitable for antelope hunting is about 80% locked out, or completely Stripped by mining. That's not to say it can't be done we met a group of guys that came the week before us and they filled all four of their tags in the same unit.

We're going to try again this year. It's a lot of fun. Good luck

 

[BB33]

Pertaining to BLM/State Land, be careful of and understand corner jumping! If it looks like a checkerboard, you have to find a public, not private, road that leads into the public land. In WY, corner jumping is trespassing. As sickening as it may be, it's the law. Land lock is real (and real frustrating), but don't learn the hard way. Call WY game and fish for details if need be. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Pertaining to BLM/State Land, be careful of and understand corner jumping! If it looks like a checkerboard, you have to find a public, not private, road that leads into the public land. In WY, corner jumping is trespassing. As sickening as it may be, it's the law. Land lock is real (and real frustrating), but don't learn the hard way. Call WY game and fish for details if need be. Good luck and enjoy!

Incorrect! There is nothing on the books that makes corner jumping in Wyoming legal or illegal. The G&F lost a court case on it a few years ago and the GWs are under orders not to pursue alleged corner jumping or write tickets. However, depending on the county you're hunting in , the County Sheriff may write one if they know the Prosecutor will back them if they write a ticket and a person pleads not guilty and takes it to court. The best way to handle it if you are thinking about trying to access a piece of property is to contact the Prosecutor for the county where the property is located and find out their stance. If they say they have no problem with it, I'd ask if they would give you something in writing, but it's doubtful that they will. A few years ago a friend of mine out there that knew the Prosecutor went with me to discuss that very thing. I showed him maps I had made and the GPS with landowner chip used to know exactly where we are. He said if we could find an actual pinned corner from a survey that he wouldn't have a problem with it, but not to take a chance on doing it if a corner had not been pinned with a steel pin. He left for a job in CO a couple years ago and I have no idea what the stance of his replacement would be, but have never asked because I have enough property to hunt on now without worrying about corner jumping.

 

[NoWiser]

I called the prosecutor and sheriff last year before my trip and they both laughed at the notion that they would give me an answer to whether or not I'd be charged with trespass. I have a feeling it probably depends on whether or not they are pals with the landowner whose corners I would be jumping.

That said, I was fully prepared to corner cross on my trip out there, and willing to pay the fine for "criminal trespass" if it came down to it. The court case Topgun mentioned made it unlikely I'd be charged with the more serious offense of "trespass with intent to hunt." Luckily there were more than enough antelope far from any property corners. It was never an issue.

I'm a law abiding citizen, but what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. In my mind, sweeping my feet over 6" of private land (never touching the ground) to access land that we, the public, own is not wrong. What is wrong is landowners using this stupid rule to block access, and in turn charge money to hunt public land.

Someday I may regret the decision, but as of now I'm willing to take the chance.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

NoWiser---I think I would also do it under certain circumstances if it was a really decent spot that nobody else was going into. The main thing is that the corner would have to have a survey pin designating the exact spot where I could step from public to public. Even as good as most GPS units are now, they are not designed to be closer than about 10-15 feet due to the Feds not wanting them to be exact for defense purposes. That's why I would not take the chance if the corner wasn't already marked because it would be a real can of worms for both parties to prove or disprove they were or weren't trespassing if you got a ticket and went to court on it.

 

[Washington Hunter]

If there was no monument at the property corner, the landowner has no better idea of where the actual corner is than the guy using a gps unit. I don't see how they can write a ticket for trespassing when the actual location of both the property corner and the property line is unknown.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

If there was no monument at the property corner, the landowner has no better idea of where the actual corner is than the guy using a gps unit. I don't see how they can write a ticket for trespassing when the actual location of both the property corner and the property line is unknown.

That's exactly what the last sentence of my post referred to. Don't you think if it came to not knowing where the corner is that the property owner and ticket writer would have the upper hand if it came down to a court case and you are a NR trying to win over a tax paying landowner? No way I would chance that in that scenario when most GPS units are off the amount I stated. I agree with your premise, but the courts probably would not because of what I mentioned.

 

[BuzzH]

Even as good as most GPS units are now, they are not designed to be closer than about 10-15 feet due to the Feds not wanting them to be exact for defense purposes.

This hasn't been true for a long, long time. The selective variability on GPS signals was eliminated a long time ago.

In the past, the accuracy was way worse than 10-15 feet when the signals were still being "scrambled"...

As to corner crossing, I would do it in a heartbeat and never even worry about it. The only time I've heard of it being a problem in Wyoming is when someone takes a short cut rather than cross at the actual corner.

The case in Albany County was ruled on by Robert Castor.


GREEN RIVER - Douglas hunter Bill Kearney always suspected it wasn't illegal to corner jump over private land while hunting. Now he has a state opinion backing up his contention.

The Douglas sportsmen was acquitted of trespass charges in April after he used a Global Positioning System (GPS) device to step from one parcel of public land to another while hunting in Albany County in September 2003. The practice is known as corner jumping or corner crossing.

The case prompted the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to seek a State Attorney General opinion reviewing the agency's long-standing assumption that corner jumping is illegal.

The AG opinion released by the department said corner jumping from one parcel of public land to another in order to hunt on the other public parcel does not violate Game and Fish regulations.

The opinion said corner jumping does not violate agency rules because, to be convicted, the rules require a person must hunt or intend to hunt on private property without permission. Corner jumping, however, may be a criminal trespass under state law, the opinion said.

"I'm just delighted with (the opinion) and think it's great … it was certainly worth spending the money and challenging this in court," Kearney said.

"A real positive aspect of the opinion is with the increasing pressure from hunters and sportsmen and rockhounds and whoever … it's a good thing that could result in public access to large tracts of public lands," he said.

 

[Tom]

What about creek bottom access to public land in Wyoming, is that still illegal in Wyoming?

My understanding is that creek bottom access to public land in New Mexico is legal.

 

[BuzzH]

Tom,

Wyoming doesnt have a stream access law, so I would say no its not legal.

It is legal to FLOAT to a piece of BLM or State land that touches the river though.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Thanks for that clarification on accuracy BuzzH. I did a quick search and found that what was termed Selective Availability was turned off by the Department of Defense in May of 2000, which significantly improved the accuracy of civilian GPS receivers from errors in meters to errors now in feet.