The non-resident Wilderness law…serious question…

[Straight Arrow]

Of course most Wyoming residents don’t hunt wilderness, with the high cost of living and low pay they can’t afford to keep stock , it’s strictly a playground for the wealthy guided suckers from back east, the outfitters will kick out residents from their core hunting areas where their camps are by utilizing good ol boy peer pressure and politics if they dare to encroach where they make their coins from the suckers.

That's not really true.

Does this prejudice cross any Constitutional rights boundaries?

Short answer is NO. It's a regulatory issue similar to the federal land access per federal land regulations versus hunting federal land in a given state per that state regulatory authority.

 

[Mallardsx2]

The worse part about the wilderness law is that a lot of the "Wilderness" is easily accessible for EVERYONE.

They make it sound like its so far removed that you need a professional guide with horses to reach it..........

A guy can drive to the boundary of a lot of it.

 

[JAG]

Let's say a non-resident wants to glass from a ridge located in Designated Wilderness that faces a 'non-wilderness' drainage with elk. He has a rifle and optics.

Would he get ticketed? I found several terrain features with this set-up.

 

[Bob-WY]

The Wilderness law is silly, exempting just big game hunting, but all other access is fine. Sure you need strong back/legs, or horses plus camping equipment for most of it, but nothing special there.

However it's night/day from corner crossing, it's a clear law, there's no grey area like corner crossing where the argument is essentially that you are on both private/public at the same time, so which one wins. Wilderness is crystal clear, to get a court case to beat it you can't challenge it, you have to challenge if they are allowed to do that, which they are.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Let's say a non-resident wants to glass from a ridge located in Designated Wilderness that faces a 'non-wilderness' drainage with elk. He has a rifle and optics.

Would he get ticketed? I found several terrain features with this set-up.

You go scouting and employing this silly "work around" strategy ... while the rest of us go get our elk, without trickery.

 

[RobertD]

@texwest44 , I like the way you think! Did we meet in Huntsville??

Brilliant

 

[JAG]

Just curious, does anyone know when are we going to be able to start building points for Grizzly?

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

So I find it odd that non residents are so angry about this when they are not allowed to hunt in most of the MT moose sheep goat areas at all - wilderness or not.. they cannot even apply for a permit in most units.

Exactly, WY could just redraw the unit boundaries to coincide with Wilderness boundaries and then set a 0 allocation for NR in those units.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Just curious, does anyone know when are we going to be able to start building points for Grizzly?

Right now ... for Alaska. Don't hold your breath for the lower 48.

 

[antlerradar]

Exactly, WY could just redraw the unit boundaries to coincide with Wilderness boundaries and then set a 0 allocation for NR in those units.

That would cut the reason for the law off at the knees.

 

[TheHeadTurkey]

Does anyone know the origin/history of the "no nonresident hunting allowed in wilderness areas without a guide or a resident" law in Wyoming?

 

[Caseknife]

Many want what they can't have not knowing if it is any better, they just want it.

Exactly, just like when you tell a 2 year old, "don't touch that".

 

[Nick_CO]

4) Covering tracks and making plausible alibis. This is some serious loose endage right here. Everyone can see your out of state plates - do you rent? People in rural America recognize locals, especially wardens. How do you avert their scrutiny?

I knew a guy that had fake Wyoming license plates that he snapped over the top of his plates after having his wiper blades and gas cap removed at a WY wilderness trailhead, presumably because he had CO plates and a bunch of fly fishing stickers. I always wondered if a displaying fictitious plates charge would stick if you never actually drove the vehicle with them on, only when parked?

@wllm1313 makes a good point. Some states have units completely off limits to non residents. I live pretty close to unit 4 in New Mexico and I would love to have my .0001% chance of drawing that if it was open to non res applicants.

 

[Thx1138]

Does anyone know the origin/history of the "no nonresident hunting allowed in wilderness areas without a guide or a resident" law in Wyoming?

Up until 1973 all big game hunting except antelope on Federal lands required a non resident to hire a guide. Wyoming has a 100+ years history of being a deep hunting tradition state and taking NR hunters on horseback into wilderness areas. The state then changed the law to only require guides in designated wilderness areas in the mid to late 1970s and we’ve had essentially the same law in the books since then. The law was challenged in the courts in 1985 and the Wyoming Supreme Court upheld the guide law so it hasn’t been challenged much since then. https://law.justia.com/cases/wyoming/supreme-court/1986/121527.html

 

[cur dog]

It's a shame that Wyoming wastes any money and manpower trying to enforce such a bozo rule.

 

[TNHUNTER]

It's a shame that Wyoming wastes any money and manpower trying to enforce such a bozo rule.

New to the forum but curious what other "bozo" rules you guys see in WY. Very aware of the corner crossing and a totally different conversation obviously...

 

[Archer86]

It's a shame that Wyoming wastes any money and manpower trying to enforce such a bozo rule.

It's a shame that wyoming has to waste money enforcing the laws on bozos willing to break them.

The law has been on the books for a long time just because you don't agree with a law doesn't mean it's OK to break it. I don't agree with it but I had to deal with for alot of years as a non resident and I am finally going to benefit from it or see if there is a benefit this year. It's not a grey area like corner crossing

 

[Jdp010]

...
The law has been on the books for a long time just because you don't agree with a law doesn't mean it's OK to break it....

100%. People that violate clear, long-standing laws are A-holes.

Rosa Parks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[cur dog]

It's a shame that wyoming has to waste money enforcing the laws on bozos willing to break them.

The law has been on the books for a long time just because you don't agree with a law doesn't mean it's OK to break it. I don't agree with it but I had to deal with for alot of years as a non resident and I am finally going to benefit from it or see if there is a benefit this year. It's not a grey area like corner crossing

Who said anything about breaking rules?

 

[Archer86]

100%. People that violate clear, long-standing laws are A-holes.

Rosa Parks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Not even comparable example. Not even a little. That civil rights vs a hunting law