Ollin Magnetic Digiscoping System

Crossing National Park land

HuntCA

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Jun 13, 2017
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Is it permissible to transit NP land with a rifle (during season) to access National Forest land to hunt? This will be in CA.
 
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I have crossed NPS service lands on foot with a rifle in the past, but never in California. The blm lands behind the park were landlocked. I did it with a special permit from the local NPS office. It can be a great way to get away from other hunters. In this case, permission was granted to anyone with a tag that asked nicely, but people rarely asked. We were only allowed to use one trail in and out and we were not allowed any wheeled vehicles.
 
I asked about this and got the same answer. What was ironic is that you can walk the trail with a rifle, but not a bow.

You can hear the shot of a rifle far easier than an arrow being loosed.

If you'd get the hearing aids everyone has asked you too, you'd hear this as well.
 
I have 2 firsthand experiences with this.

I have land that borders a national park. It is common for us to have to retrieve deer on the NPS property that was first shot on our propertyWhen we have a deer down we have to notify the ranger and go in unarmed on foot to retrieve the deer.

There is also another part of the same National park that borders to public hunting land. The easiest way to get an animal out of the public land is by floating on a river through the national park. I asked the ranger if that would be legal. He said having a firearm would not be a problem but haveing possession of a dead animal would possibly be illegal.

Moral of the story is I would contact the park ranger and get his opinion.
 
Depends on the park. Good luck contacting NPS with a question... it's correct way to go about it but until you get connected with a law enforcement officer it will feel like you are asking someone at the gates of Disney land if you can bring a belt fed machine gun into the park.

:rolleyes:

Just gotta remember they are just doing their job and their typical daily conversations are real stupid.
 
I have 2 firsthand experiences with this.

I have land that borders a national park. It is common for us to have to retrieve deer on the NPS property that was first shot on our propertyWhen we have a deer down we have to notify the ranger and go in unarmed on foot to retrieve the deer.

There is also another part of the same National park that borders to public hunting land. The easiest way to get an animal out of the public land is by floating on a river through the national park. I asked the ranger if that would be legal. He said having a firearm would not be a problem but haveing possession of a dead animal would possibly be illegal.

Moral of the story is I would contact the park ranger and get his opinion.
Effigy Mounds?
 
I used to be a NPS employee and asked one of our Rangers acouple questions regarding this...
The first was if I could cross through the Park to access USFS and then pack the animal back out through the Park.
The second was if I could access through the Park on the way in and exit out the long way through USFS.
His response to both was basically that if he knew someone was doing that he'd find something to charge them with.
I agree with those who have already said the best answer is to contact the LEOs (not just any NPS employee) responsible for that specific area before testing your luck.
 
Thank you! I do have to chuckle a bit at this "What to Do If You Feel Threatened: If you feel threatened by someone with a firearm, please contact the nearest park ranger or park office for help." The fact that some people feel threatened at just the sight of a firearm is amusing. Giving deference to them is just silly.
The excerpt is directed at people camping in the national parks who think they can resolve disputes with other campers by flashing their piece. Call the ranger instead of digging out your own. Those campgrounds get very nutty!
 
I used to be a NPS employee and asked one of our Rangers acouple questions regarding this...
The first was if I could cross through the Park to access USFS and then pack the animal back out through the Park.
The second was if I could access through the Park on the way in and exit out the long way through USFS.
His response to both was basically that if he knew someone was doing that he'd find something to charge them with.
I agree with those who have already said the best answer is to contact the LEOs (not just any NPS employee) responsible for that specific area before testing your luck.
That is why some people dislike LEO’s. He’s not saying what you are doing is illegal but he doesn’t agree with it so he’s going to dig and dig until he finds something.
 
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