My wife and I have been doing some driving around our new home, and figuring out BLM, state, federal etc land to hunt. We have an archery only walkin area right down the street and were out yesterday "car scouting".
we came across some confusion! We found a place very clearly marked 3 ways (as in all signs within feet of each other):
1) Walk in hunting area, no motorized access beyond this point
2) Bicycle and foot traffic only
3) Private property no hunting
We were like, hmmmm, can we go there or not
Check the regs for the walk in area. Some are only open certain times and restrictions on access are posted online.
All walk in and HMAs are updated yearly so new areas and any changes will not be out until July.
If it's a walk in area only posted roads will be open.
Don't trespass if not sure, it will make the landowner mad and perhaps pull his access.
Welcome to Wyoming!!
What about "archery only walkin" that's also listed as open for turkey and other birds/small game? Does archery only refer to the deer/antelope and shotguns can be used for birds?
Check out which side of the post each sign is on. Your could be looking at a corner. They all could be true.
My wife and I have been doing some driving around our new home, and figuring out BLM, state, federal etc land to hunt. We have an archery only walkin area right down the street and were out yesterday "car scouting".
we came across some confusion! We found a place very clearly marked 3 ways (as in all signs within feet of each other):
1) Walk in hunting area, no motorized access beyond this point
2) Bicycle and foot traffic only
3) Private property no hunting
We were like, hmmmm, can we go there or not
Walk in Areas are private land that are leased for non motorized access to hunters. They have specific rules to abide by and are not treated as public land.
1- Parking is limited to parking areas shown in the walk in area map. People are not supposed to (but often do) park anywhere but those areas
2 - These areas are open on specific calendar days, and are not open year round.
3 - These areas are often open for specific animal species, so it may be open for grouse and waterfowl, but not rabbits, deer, elk etc
4 - Here is the link to Walk In Area Hunting. Choose your county, and then your walk in area by number and you will get a map and a table of open dates, open species etc.
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Public-Access/Walk-In-Hunting Good luck.
My wife and I have been doing some driving around our new home, and figuring out BLM, state, federal etc land to hunt. We have an archery only walkin area right down the street and were out yesterday "car scouting".
we came across some confusion! We found a place very clearly marked 3 ways (as in all signs within feet of each other):
1) Walk in hunting area, no motorized access beyond this point
2) Bicycle and foot traffic only
3) Private property no hunting
We were like, hmmmm, can we go there or not
Bob......welcome to Wyoming! You’all also find land listed as private and posted.....but, your gps says otherwise! The gps will stand up in court! memtb
If the GPS has an ONX chip it can be wrong and will not stand up in court. I personally know of lands demarked wrong on the ONx maps because our county GIS has it listed differently than it should.
For answers to questions on access for the walk in areas talk with your local GW. Most of our GWs are great folks and would rather help you be legal than write you up.
Also take the time to go to a season setting meeting in your area if you haven't missed them. Great time to talk with G&F folks about hunting areas near you.
Beware some landowners also post land private that is public.
Very popular thing here....especially if they lease to a outfitter selling hunts! memtb
Call the GW and ask about the archery walk in area.
Guess you don't want to mention which on it is one here, might be smart but they are all pretty well known with the info available online.
Bob, not all Walk In Areas are private land either. Quite a bit of it is State land as well. The individual or company who has the grazing/timber/mineral rights to that leased land will petition the Game & Fish to have it declared a Walk In Area. So that now a piece of land that was open to all hunting and fishing is now under the limitations of whichever restrictions that they came up with for that particular Walk In. Which is usually whatever the land leaser wants them to be. Lost a few state sections North of Laramie Peak to that. Only open to late in the season cow tags now.
The individual or company who has the grazing/timber/mineral rights to that leased land will petition the Game & Fish to have it declared a Walk In Area. So that now a piece of land that was open to all hunting and fishing is now under the limitations of whichever restrictions that they came up with for that particular Walk In.
So does that mean the people that has the lease has to walk in too since it is walk in only?
Beware some landowners also post land private that is public.
As do some guides.
We were in area 38, I had a guy drive up to us as we were loading a couple antelope in the truck. Tells us we are on private land and he is gonna call the sheriff. So I calmly told him I knew we were on public land, go ahead and call, we will wait right here. He mumbled something about having clients in the truck and then said he would follow us out and show us the posted sign.
We drove to the gate, he then pointed at the No Hunting sign and told us we were in big trouble. Land was still posted as public on the opposite side of the gate and there wasnt a No Hunting sign when we went in. I got out of my truck, digital camera in hand, took a pic of his tag, walked to the gate, took a pic of sign, then pulled sign off of post. Told him I was gonna call Game and Fish and report him. Dude punched it and took off.
I never did make the call, but still wish I had.
Call the GW and ask about the archery walk in area.
Guess you don't want to mention which on it is one here, might be smart but they are all pretty well known with the info available online.
the one in particular is right down the road from my house: Johnson 1, we also came across some others and it crossed our mind that Onx, G&F etc say "walk in, archery only" but list pheasant, rabbit, turkey etc, along with deer/antelope. wondering if the archery only is for deer/antelope (note I can see it making sense due to surrounding buildings.
I'll try to get ahold of a local GW!
Already seeing more deer on a casual couple mile walk with my wife than we saw in a few seasons back in NH!
Looks like it may very well be archery only for the birds too. Good question for that GW though. Make some local landowner friends and you'll get some great antelope access. It may work into deer and elk access too.
Glad to hear your seeing deer.
Hawk , was that on the Laramie side in 38? Might have been one of the Kennedy's. They think they own the whole country side and have been trying to get the state lands sold to them.
If the GPS has an ONX chip it can be wrong and will not stand up in court. I personally know of lands demarked wrong on the ONx maps because our county GIS has it listed differently than it should.
For answers to questions on access for the walk in areas talk with your local GW. Most of our GWs are great folks and would rather help you be legal than write you up.
Also take the time to go to a season setting meeting in your area if you haven't missed them. Great time to talk with G&F folks about hunting areas near you.
That is untrue. Trespassing violations are either validated or omitted by law enforcement using ONX. If they can use it to prosecute you, you can certainly use it in your defense.
If the GPS has an ONX chip it can be wrong and will not stand up in court. I personally know of lands demarked wrong on the ONx maps because our county GIS has it listed differently than it should.
For answers to questions on access for the walk in areas talk with your local GW. Most of our GWs are great folks and would rather help you be legal than write you up.
Also take the time to go to a season setting meeting in your area if you haven't missed them. Great time to talk with G&F folks about hunting areas near you.
That is untrue. Trespassing violations are either validated or omitted by law enforcement using ONX. If they can use it to prosecute you, you can certainly use it in your defense.
While you may want to use it in your defense, the ruling is going to be based on what's recorded at the County Clerk's office, not what some third party product is depicting. Sometimes the GIS data they glean from government providers is wrong too, so it gets displayed incorrectly in their product. That's why onXmaps has the disclaimers below.
(c) ALL CONTENT MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE IS MADE AVAILABLE FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR CONFIRMING THE ACCURACY OF ALL INFORMATION BEFORE TAKING OR OMITTING ANY ACTION. ALWAYS OBEY PROPERTY LINE POSTINGS AND USE COMMON SENSE IN VISUALLY VERIFYING BOUNDARIES, ROADS AND PATHS. DO NOT USE THE SERVICE FOR ANY PURPOSE REQUIRING PRECISE DIRECTION, DISTANCE OR LOCATION.
(d) THE CONTENT MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A LEGAL SURVEY. OWNERSHIP OF LAND, WHETHER PUBLIC OR PRIVATE, MAY CHANGE AT ANY TIME. TO OBTAIN THE DEFINITIVE DESCRIPTION OF REAL PROPERTY, CONSULT THE DEED OR OTHER OFFICIAL RECORD MAINTAINED BY THE APPLICABLE GOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY.
If the GPS has an ONX chip it can be wrong and will not stand up in court. I personally know of lands demarked wrong on the ONx maps because our county GIS has it listed differently than it should.
For answers to questions on access for the walk in areas talk with your local GW. Most of our GWs are great folks and would rather help you be legal than write you up.
Also take the time to go to a season setting meeting in your area if you haven't missed them. Great time to talk with G&F folks about hunting areas near you.
That is untrue. Trespassing violations are either validated or omitted by law enforcement using ONX. If they can use it to prosecute you, you can certainly use it in your defense.
Wrong, while OnX is an aid, it does not validate anything if there is real data to use. Last year I was involved with an incident where a 5 year old survey line was not properly shown on OnX. Walked with the rancher and hunter out to the new survey markers and they were more than 100 yards off what was projected on all the GPSs involved. Hunter was hoping a bend in the road touched BLM, and in OnX it showed he was good by more than the width of the road.
Exactly, OnX relies on county records and I know for a fact that some lands listed are not correct by OnX. I also know that county websites, GIS, can have inaccuracies also.
Beware some landowners also post land private that is public.
I've seen it in Ms./Ga/Id/ & Fl. was discussing land showing ''public land'' on FL. game fish website with a Warden 3 weeks ago - fresh posted no trespassing signs for miles up the river . I'm going to make a stink about it real soon - they're going to have to sort this out .
Yep, landowners are starting to complain that GPS are showing hunters where all the public land is,they can't get away with having their own personal public land now if it has access.
Hawk , was that on the Laramie side in 38? Might have been one of the Kennedy's. They think they own the whole country side and have been trying to get the state lands sold to them.
North of Cheyenne. North end of I believe Horse Creek Road.
You guys have been a ton of help, thanks!
So I will keep this going here. I now have onX and it's interesting driving around seeing what's public/private and what public is hard to get to.
Quick "how" question (I hope!). OnX gives me the private owners, but often it's an out of the area address, or a LLC with a tax address that isn't at the land itself.
What is the best way to reach out to these owners? Email, phone, US mail....
What about a "ranch", knock on the door, or other approach?
I prefer to call first then offer to go by and meet face to face.
County tax office or GIS website will have the info then google then name that it gives you. Sometimes it's a cattle company or LLC like stated. Google enough pages and somewhere the corporate filling will come up with names or just google the address, the owners name may come up that way.
I make my calls mid morning or in evening after dark, early enough though ranchers get to bed early if not calving right now.
I found an owners name by finding a pic of a branding online that had a name.
Bob, not all Walk In Areas are private land either. Quite a bit of it is State land as well. The individual or company who has the grazing/timber/mineral rights to that leased land will petition the Game & Fish to have it declared a Walk In Area. So that now a piece of land that was open to all hunting and fishing is now under the limitations of whichever restrictions that they came up with for that particular Walk In. Which is usually whatever the land leaser wants them to be. Lost a few state sections North of Laramie Peak to that. Only open to late in the season cow tags now.
I am probably in trouble then because I usually treat the state land included in the walk in area as regular state land (except I don't drive in). I assumed it was included to make the mapping simpler and have all public land in one big blob. I did not realize they wanted to limit access and control species on the state land too. Good thing I only use walk in areas for ducks!
You guys have been a ton of help, thanks!
So I will keep this going here. I now have onX and it's interesting driving around seeing what's public/private and what public is hard to get to.
Quick "how" question (I hope!). OnX gives me the private owners, but often it's an out of the area address, or a LLC with a tax address that isn't at the land itself.
What is the best way to reach out to these owners? Email, phone, US mail....
What about a "ranch", knock on the door, or other approach?
Knock on the door, and bring some whiskey, beer or pie. Usually, when I get permission from someone (I don't ask much, I do not know hardly any ranchers) I make sure they get some good Perkins pies for thanksgiving etc. If you are going to stop and visit, have some small bottles of whiskey or something. If it turns positive, offer it as a gift.
Coyotejunki, if the lease holder is on the land for the purposes of the lease, the Walk-In restrictions don't apply to them. IF they are on the land for the purpose of hunting or fishing, they are supposed to come under the same restrictions that the public are held to.
Oakster, almost had my delicates in a vice over this, as that's what I believed also.
Have spoken with 2 different Game Wardens and 1 county Sheriff about the use of On-Xmaps. All three said that's what they use as a determining factor in the field. If the GPS WITH On-XMaps is used, and it's up to date, shows as good they wont write a violation. If they know for a fact that the Software is wrong they will just tell you to leave. Get belligerent and they'll cite and fine you.
My experience so far...
Sorry to jump this back to the top, but more exploring my wife and I do the more questions we run into! Just want to make sure we don't get in any trouble.
We have found a 5000+ acre "state of WY" piece that is non-motorized and we've "wandered" it multiple times now, We stumbled onto a fence in the middle of it. OnX says the fence is well within the boundary, as in over a mile from either boundary We also have "chained" BLM and state land together, when combined with a large walkin, makes closer to 12,000+ acres of antelope and deer hunting.
Of course this brings a few questions:
- BLM land with a gate, says "keep gate closed" but there's a 2 track going through the gate, I THINK we can drive the 2 track and we just have to close the gate behind us.
- Walkin area connecting two legs of a "U" shaped BLM, my understanding is BLM I can follow 2 tracks and park anywhere, but walkin I have to park only where they say
- That walkin is labled to only be only 8/15 to 3/1. This is more of a question for OnX maybe, but on my phone the walkin isn't shown, but on the computer it is
We are really excited about this chunk of land, more land that we can learn and cover for this fall!
During today's scout, we glassed a bedded mulie doe tucked into the rocks, we actually got to 15 yards from it using terrain and rocks. Was really fun
- BLM land with a gate, says "keep gate closed" but there's a 2 track going through the gate, I THINK we can drive the 2 track and we just have to close the gate behind us. Correct. That is most likely an allotment gate but if it is BLM surface on both sides of the gate, you're golden to keep driving through. Close the gate behind you though if it asks you to.
- Walkin area connecting two legs of a "U" shaped BLM, my understanding is BLM I can follow 2 tracks and park anywhere, but walkin I have to park only where they say I don't know much about walk in areas, as I hunt almost entirely BLM/FS/state and walk in areas are normally private. The landowner can say to park only in designated areas where you can pull off the side of the road about anywhere on public surface. There may be some seasonal closures on BLM/FS/state surface, normally due to the WGFD wanting people to stay out of crucial winter range and/or fawning/calving areas, but they're normally in the spring and winter. These are normally road and vehicle closures....and you're free to walk around the area.
- That walkin is labled to only be only 8/15 to 3/1. This is more of a question for OnX maybe, but on my phone the walkin isn't shown, but on the computer it is Can't help you here. Sorry. I've found some incorrect maps on OnX. Is the mapping program on one older than the other? Some of OnX's stuff just shows private vs public land ownership, where their "hunting" series shows unit boundaries and walk in areas, etc.. Maybe that's the deal....Best to contact the landowner of the walk in and ask.
Walk in areas will have designated parking areas and marked roads open for travel.
Follow what is shown online on the WG&F website.
Get to know your local GW. here in Wyoming most of them are great folks that want to help you be legal and not just write you up. They will answer any questions you have.
This is fun, but frustrating (if that makes sense), fun having so much land to explore, frustrating as I don't want to do the wrong thing, so couple more:
1) Large Walkin, the road, which has an easement for public use, wanders between BLM, state and walkin/private. got it OnX keeps me honest (and double checked with maps). On the walkin, the FG map of it has a single "parking" marked, it's WAY at the other end (probably 3 miles from the entry), but there are several "pull off roads" that have "road closed" signs, clearly I can't drive down them on the walk in, fair enough, but is it ok to park there and walk in? No fences or anything else.
2) Fences, not private ones, I get that, no jumping private fences. But what about state/BLM fences? I found a fairly good sized, but weird shaped BLM and I was out walking it. Dead center of it is a large state piece, fenced all the way around, it's 100% inside BLM land. I followed the fence for a good portion of it, no gates. So to hunt that state land, what are my options:
a) Jump the fence (4 strand barbwire, just a bit to high to "straddle over")
b) Find a spot where you can squeeze under or through the strands
c) Don't go in (which seems weird as its public land)
Several people have said "make friends with GF for the area", great idea, how? I'd hate to "run into one" while doing something wrong and then ask, how do you meet them?
What is the best way to reach out to these owners? Email, phone, US mail....
What about a "ranch", knock on the door, or other approach?
I spent a long weekend around Gillette stopping and asking for permission to hunt antelope. I had several offers to hunt private land but it was all guided in the $2300-$2700 range. I did locate one ranch, and one ranch only, that offered hunting for a $50 per day trespass fee. All the rest said NO. We ended up hunting public land. Several eluded to coming back after the first week of the season and then ask, implying there was a better chance or rate possibly being available.
Since then I've developed a friendship with a local Game Warden and although he has made suggestions on who to contact I'm still hunting public land.
One of the best ways to get to know them is going to the public meetings about hunting seasons.
Call your GW and talk with him about the area you're looking into.
The state land may be fenced off for grazing purposes. If it's not enrolled in a walk in or HMA you can just go over or under the fence. I'm betting there is a gate somewhere though.
The parking on a walk in is tricky. Some will be designated parking areas only and some will allow use of roads marked with white arrows.
I would go down to your district office or local office and talk with the GW or Access Yes coordinator for you area.. Call the office and ask when the GW is in or talk with them about when you can go by for a face to face.
You will definitely have better chances at gaining access after opening week.