First Antelope Hunt - Public Road Questions

[Elite7]

Guys,

I will be headed to Wyoming for my first antelope hunt this fall. I am trying to go through all avaliable information that I can find regarding public roads. I have bought the onxmap chip for my GPS, but I dont want to trust this entirely. The most helpful website/ department that I have found is the County GIS maps. Could you guys verify that the roads labeled as private roads will be off limits of me? It seems odd that google earth and the Wyoming Game and Fish unit map are labeling these roads on their maps if they are private driveways. I would appreciate any insight or information that may help me stay legal and hopefully find some overlooked public access points.

http://www.co.albany.wy.us/map/

Thanks!

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Each county is the correct place to go to in order to find out what roads are maintained with taxpayer money and are open to the general public. A lot of the counties have maps right on their websites that you can look at and print out so you can use that along with your GPS/chip when you're out there. The GPS/chip does no good as far as telling you where you can drive legally other than on main state highways. Just because a road has a name on the map doesn't mean that it's open to public travel and many people get caught up in that thinking they are. It is best to have a map that shows all the legal roads, rather than just main highways so you can cover plenty of the legal spots that may be touched by a county road. That map of Albany County in your link appears to show all the county roads in red and if you have an overlay to show the public lands in the county to know if/where those roads touch public land you're set to go. After reading the comment below by Buzz I zoomed in quite a bit and it then actually has all the owner information when you click on a location, as well as showing the overall land in that area under that ownership with the perimeter of the property showing with a blue line.

 

[BuzzH]

That Albany county map, does not show all the legally accessible roads...or they haven't updated or completed the map.

 

[Old Doe Shooter]

Not all public roads that border public land are ACCESS roads in Wyoming. That means you can not get on public land simply because the road goes past it. You need to be VERY careful as to how you get to State, BLM, or Federal land. Also "Land Swaps" are common so a great map may be out of date and check with GW or G or Forest Service people. Good Luck

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Your best bet is to use a combination of the county, calling the game wardens for that unit, and trying to get a hold of the department of transportation for that county that does all the plowing. Typically if the county maintains the road then it's public access, so basically you just ask them how far up they plow in the winter, any public off the side of that road up to that point you can legally access.

Definitely check the Game Warden though, I did all this research with the county up near Casper last season only to find out that it was BS and that the wardens had had huge issues with a landowner going back a decade and they told me exactly where to park (actually told me to drive off the road onto the BLM 50 feet off a road on the shoulder for 200 around a section corner to stay on public. Typically they are the ones writing you a trespassing ticket so it's nice to check with them.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Not all public roads that border public land are ACCESS roads in Wyoming. That means you can not get on public land simply because the road goes past it. You need to be VERY careful as to how you get to State, BLM, or Federal land. Also "Land Swaps" are common so a great map may be out of date and check with GW or G or Forest Service people. Good Luck

Don't know what you mean by that comment because it's certainly incorrect! If it's a public road and borders public land with no private land between the two you can pull off legally so as not to create a traffic hazard to access the land whether there is a fence you have to cross or not. wllm1313 was right on the button with his comments about access in his second sentence.

 

[Elite7]

Guys,

I appreciate everyones input! I am planning on calling the Game Warden and Wildlife Biologist. I am trying to get a list of all of my important questions before I make the phone call. I plan to ask the Game Warden about any questionable access points/ roads. I will also try to find a way to overlay the GIS map with a map of avaliable public land. I will have to try to figure out if I can have a Satellite Image/ GIS Map/ Public Land overlay and a Topographical/ GIS Map/ Public Land overlay into my Garmin 650.

Thanks!

 

[Muskeez]

I tried to send you a PM but the system says you are not accepting them? Anyway, you didn't mention what unit you are in so I will just give you a word of caution on one particular road. If you find a N-S road with a "T" intersection that goes East from it, and on the corner are multiple mailboxes, do not go East of that corner. The road looks like a public road and is not marked as private, but somehow it is and I have been told that people driving on it will get tickets without even leaving their vehicles. There is a piece of state ground on the north side of that private road but do not risk it, unless you want to make a donation to the state. Best wishes on your first antelope hunt. You will enjoy it! Be sure to take knee pads and leather gloves!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Elite7 in addition to a list of questions I would call with a map in front of you, one with township and range. The game wardens and biologist will be using the standard FS BLM maps and if you have a specific question about how far up a road you can go they will likely give you a township and range and say stop there.

 

[1_pointer]

Don't know what you mean by that comment because it's certainly incorrect! If it's a public road and borders public land with no private land between the two you can pull off legally so as not to create a traffic hazard to access the land whether there is a fence you have to cross or not. wllm1313 was right on the button with his comments about access in his second sentence.

Except an interstate, right?

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Except an interstate, right?

Yep! :hump:

 

[treedagain]

Not all interstate freeways are enforced.....i have hunted from them in idaho,wyo,kansas,neb,mont,ut,south dakota with no issues and in more than instance had state troopers pull over and tell me to pull as far off the road as possible as well as other places to check... In one case when i pulled 2 far off helped me get my truck back on the road because of the amount of snow from the plow while i was hunting. Just be careful and do know if they want they can give you a ticket. In some places there are pull offs made to allow safe parking

 

[BuzzH]

There is no law that says you cant park off the Interstate and access public lands. I wouldn't park on the pavement, but if you can get off the pavement and there is no safety concern, I would be shocked if anybody was ticketed for it. I travel I-80, I-25, I-90 all the time and have seen this done countless times.

It happens all the time, and I have talked to NOBODY that has ever been given a ticket for it.

I've done it, and will do it again...all day long.

It can be a productive, if you aren't scared.



The awesome part is that this piece of BLM, where I shot this buck, is surrounded by private that is controlled/owned by an outfitter. They made an underpass for this landowner that the public cant use, that runs through a large block of this BLM.

I'm a huge advocate of access to MY public lands...I wont be deterred by safely parking along a public roadway.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Not all interstate freeways are enforced.....i have hunted from them in idaho,wyo,kansas,neb,mont,ut,south dakota with no issues and in more than instance had state troopers pull over and tell me to pull as far off the road as possible as well as other places to check... In one case when i pulled 2 far off helped me get my truck back on the road because of the amount of snow from the plow while i was hunting. Just be careful and do know if they want they can give you a ticket. In some places there are pull offs made to allow safe parking

No argument there and if you can get away with it more power to you! It's just like the speed laws aren't enforced many times and you might drive the same stretch doing 80+MPH in a 70 zone and never get stopped, but then you might get a ticket on that same stretch only doing 75MPH. Some states like LA & PA have it right out in black and white on their websites that it's illegal and enforced like I posted on the other thread regarding this that got into a big pissiing match when I tried to answer a NR question regarding legal access to public property and I'm not going to be a part of another one. Do whatever you want, but know that the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission prefers that all states enforce it the same way so there is uniformity on them and that's why the biggest share of states have signs up at various intervals that tell the public that stopping is for emergencies only. For BuzzH to make a blanket statement like he did that there is no law against it is absolutely false because there is in the majority of states. PS: Love those "gripngrin" photos he always puts up thinking that will make everything he says true!

 

[BuzzH]

Topgun, if its illegal in Wyoming, then post the statute...otherwise zip it.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Topgun, if its illegal in Wyoming, then post the statute...otherwise zip it.

Zip it yourself because you made a blanket statement and did not just refer to Wyoming or Montana. I'm correct whether you like it or not regarding many of the states like I referred to. We already established that there may not be specific statutes regarding this in some states and Wyoming and Montana may be two of them. Hey, you forgot to put up another photo, LOL! PS: Your reading comprehension sucks and if it was anyone other than myself posting you wouldn't even have entered this discussion! PPS: I hope you're ready to pay the fine if one of our NR guys listens to you and gets a ticket for parking to go hunting antelope along I-90 where there is a ton of public land with lots of goats along that Interstate between Gillette and Buffalo! I'm done and I hope you are too!

 

[BuzzH]

I'm done

That's the only "fact" you brought to the discussion...got one thing right at least. Done before you started.

Just for you, 3 pronghorns in 2 days for a couple good friends of mine...guess where we parked?

 

[treedagain]

I happen to like the "gripngrin" ....they do show that he is successful in his trips regardless of where he parks. I wish more people would post random pics in their posts..just because they can.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

I happen to like the "gripngrin" ....they do show that he is successful in his trips regardless of where he parks. I wish more people would post random pics in their posts..just because they can.

No problem at all with photos when you use them for the designed purpose instead of to be a smartzzz like a certain member does a good share of the time and will never say he's wrong about anything! I hope if anyone listens to this "no problem where you park to get to the public lands BS" and gets a ticket out on the Interstate system that they demand that our "know it all" member pay it!