PleaseDear
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Wyo-Corner Jumping Legal
- Thread starter PleaseDear
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Utah400Elk
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Robb:
The Wyoming game and fish are more than a little squirrelly and not to be trusted in most corner jumping circumstances. IMO.
A few years ago I talked with the U.S. Forest Service Special Agent about Elk Mountain and the legality of landing a helicopter or plane on the public land on top of the mountain. The guided elk hunts are over $10,000 but you could hire a helicopter from Fort Collins for about $2,500. He had formerly been the Wyoming Game and Fish officer for Elk Mountain. He told me that in many areas, the game warden is given the privilege to hunt choice private property in given units. Specifically he said that the Game Wardens were allowed to hunt the ranches around Elk Mountain if they were "extra vigilant" in keep "trespassers" out. He stated it was a conflict of interest and he never accepted the access but that most wardens did. He felt this was the main reason for the corner jumping laws. I don't think this court case will stop the Game Wardens from arresting people on public land. He went on to say that if you were caught on public land on Elk Mountain you would be arrested on the spot. All your gear would be taken and you would go to jail. He stated that later you might get off but your season would end the day you were arrested. He also said the Game and Fish WOULD seek revocation of your hunting privileges no matter what the outcome of the court case. It would be very interesting to see if they did this in this case.
The Wyoming game and fish are more than a little squirrelly and not to be trusted in most corner jumping circumstances. IMO.
A few years ago I talked with the U.S. Forest Service Special Agent about Elk Mountain and the legality of landing a helicopter or plane on the public land on top of the mountain. The guided elk hunts are over $10,000 but you could hire a helicopter from Fort Collins for about $2,500. He had formerly been the Wyoming Game and Fish officer for Elk Mountain. He told me that in many areas, the game warden is given the privilege to hunt choice private property in given units. Specifically he said that the Game Wardens were allowed to hunt the ranches around Elk Mountain if they were "extra vigilant" in keep "trespassers" out. He stated it was a conflict of interest and he never accepted the access but that most wardens did. He felt this was the main reason for the corner jumping laws. I don't think this court case will stop the Game Wardens from arresting people on public land. He went on to say that if you were caught on public land on Elk Mountain you would be arrested on the spot. All your gear would be taken and you would go to jail. He stated that later you might get off but your season would end the day you were arrested. He also said the Game and Fish WOULD seek revocation of your hunting privileges no matter what the outcome of the court case. It would be very interesting to see if they did this in this case.
There is nothing in the Wyoming statutes that makes corner jumping illegal. The authorities BS everyone just like this F&G Warden and nobody wants to press the issue because of the cash outlay it would take, even though with a Judge who is not beholding to the rancher or authorities would, or should, dismiss the ticket every time like was done in the case the article speaks about, regardless of what year it happened!
mevertsen
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I came across this in the 2011 hunting guide for Wyoming pretty interesting.
"To legally hunt public lands,
there must be public access to them via a public road.
There are some public land parcels that have no public
access. To hunt these public lands, a hunter must
obtain permission from the owner of the adjacent
private land, even if there is only a small distance of
private land between a public road and public lands."
Later,
Marcial
"To legally hunt public lands,
there must be public access to them via a public road.
There are some public land parcels that have no public
access. To hunt these public lands, a hunter must
obtain permission from the owner of the adjacent
private land, even if there is only a small distance of
private land between a public road and public lands."
Later,
Marcial
ICMDEER
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This is and has been a big issue. From everything I know, most game wardens will not enforce corner jumping. But the county sheriffs I know will indeed enforce the corner jumping as illegal. So it is a criminal trespass rather than a G&F violation.
I can't recommend corner jumping. And there are quite a few places I'd like to use it. Some corners even have a brass cap in place so I could not go wrong. But I called the sheriff and he said I would be cited for criminal trespass if I got caught.
I can't recommend corner jumping. And there are quite a few places I'd like to use it. Some corners even have a brass cap in place so I could not go wrong. But I called the sheriff and he said I would be cited for criminal trespass if I got caught.
PleaseDear
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I've lived in Idaho MOST of my life. For a couple of years, I was in Wyoming (I've been an ag-banker for years.). The government is VERY interested in giving (at least certain) landowners control over ANYTHING they can fence. It's not a place that is geared toward the common man. My customers (those ranchers) definitely had the ear of the F&G & other state agencies.
Within the shadows, go quietly.
Within the shadows, go quietly.
velvetmonster
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If this bill passes the confusion ends. I hope it does!
VM
VM
>http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2011/Introduced/HB0171.pdf
>
Was this a bill introduced earlier this year? I don't recall seeing it and Gay is one of my rep's. He's the biggest republican advocate for sportsman's rights in the WY legislature. I've heard some of our repub ranchislators don't like him. If the bill was introduced last winter or will be at some point in the future, where the hell is/was the SFW.
>
Was this a bill introduced earlier this year? I don't recall seeing it and Gay is one of my rep's. He's the biggest republican advocate for sportsman's rights in the WY legislature. I've heard some of our repub ranchislators don't like him. If the bill was introduced last winter or will be at some point in the future, where the hell is/was the SFW.
SMOKESTICK
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Triple BB,
This was Representative Steve Harshman's bill. He asked WY SFW to help with it but didn't make the bill available until to late in the session. Rep. Harshman promised to do this at the meeting last year in Casper where the land exchange was discussed. As I stated (under the same titled post under the Wyoming section), Wyoming sportsmen need to contact their legislator(s); specifically, Rep. Harshman, Chairman McOmie, Chairman Burns, etc. This law will only pass if sportsmen throw all of their support behind it.
This was Representative Steve Harshman's bill. He asked WY SFW to help with it but didn't make the bill available until to late in the session. Rep. Harshman promised to do this at the meeting last year in Casper where the land exchange was discussed. As I stated (under the same titled post under the Wyoming section), Wyoming sportsmen need to contact their legislator(s); specifically, Rep. Harshman, Chairman McOmie, Chairman Burns, etc. This law will only pass if sportsmen throw all of their support behind it.
That sounds to me like a reasonable request as a major step to increase public access by Lord knows how many acres! It has been stated by Bob that WYSFW considers public access to be one of the major issues in Wyoming. With just a stroke of the pen it would open up a lot of OUR land that should have never been closed in the first place. If they could get that passed, I would join their organization as a nonresident in a heartbeat!
