The Wilkes have given the same excuse here in MT for not allowing hunting. I think if there is public land within a landowners boundaries than the public should have access to that land, either by a walking path or road depending on the distance. The largest elk herd in the state resides on Wilkes land which surrounds a few thousand acres of public land that also holds the elk. It is nothing to see a few hundred bulls on their place from the county road. When CWD gets there it won't be pretty.
