Planning on going to WY for an antelope hunt. I have plenty of maps and there are plenty of roads. Many look like just dirt roads, i.e., not official county roads. To access some BLM lands you leave a county road and would have to go on one of these dirt roads for a section before getting to a BLM section. Would it be trespass to use the dirt road on 'private' ground to reach the BLM?
Trying not to trespass in WY for first timer
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MNbogboy
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You may only access public land both BLM and State via a public road such as state highway, official county road or in a lot of cases a BLM road if the BLM road starts on a state, county or federal road you may use it to cross private land.....You are considered trespassing if you cross private to reach BLM land on a private road.....Therefor there is a lot of BLM and State land in WY that is "landlocked" to its rightful owners which include you....A lot of ranchers used to allow access to these lands for free or a small trespass fee, but some large and unscrupulous outfitters have bought the rights from these ranchers so these ranchers no longer have the right to grant an average person the right to reach these parcels.....
The BLM roads are marked on the BLM maps, but in a lot of cases the roads fork so many times that it is hard to verify which one is the actual BLM road on the map.....Also there seems to be a lot of illegal posting of BLM lands and BLM roads (Also State land)....Report these when ever you find them....Make sure and don't guess....Also be aware that there are some out there that will tell you you are trespassing when in reality you may not be...They might even ask for cash in lieu of calling the warden....That is why good maps and a GPS are imperitive to hunting the BLM & State lands in Wyoming, especially when they are interspersed with private land...
Also keep in mind that corner to corner crossings are not allowed in WY and it is considered trespassing, even though there is no actual law against it....A GPS is not accurate enough to precisely locate the corner anyway....
Good luck in your research,
Randy
The BLM roads are marked on the BLM maps, but in a lot of cases the roads fork so many times that it is hard to verify which one is the actual BLM road on the map.....Also there seems to be a lot of illegal posting of BLM lands and BLM roads (Also State land)....Report these when ever you find them....Make sure and don't guess....Also be aware that there are some out there that will tell you you are trespassing when in reality you may not be...They might even ask for cash in lieu of calling the warden....That is why good maps and a GPS are imperitive to hunting the BLM & State lands in Wyoming, especially when they are interspersed with private land...
Also keep in mind that corner to corner crossings are not allowed in WY and it is considered trespassing, even though there is no actual law against it....A GPS is not accurate enough to precisely locate the corner anyway....
Good luck in your research,
Randy
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Yep. Anytime you're on private land for any reason you're trespassing.
TCKev
Well-Known Member
Right here on this site Len sells software you can put on a GPS that has BLM and Private land boundries that will show you at all times weather your on private or BLM land. Should have had that last year, ended up paying a trespass fee to a land owner, if I new of this software I could have prevented it.
Thanks everyone. I thought so but just wanted to double check. I will be sure to plan my hunt accordingly. Everyone seems to make it sound so easy to hunt on public land but I suppose some is more obvious than others. The product Len sells requires an SD card which my older GPS doesn't have, but I think I can get BLM boundary info from one of the other mapping softwares available.
MNbogboy
Well-Known Member
TCKev,
I am sorry to here you had to pay a trespass fee to a landowner....I hope he wasn't one of the crooked ones and you were on public land....
I am not sure of what software you are referring to, but recently I see there is a software for the some of the Garmin series GPS units that have the actual BLM maps and color coding downloadable via the sd card to the Garmins....I have a Lowrance H2Oc that with the addition of an LEI program I make my own maps and load them to a sd card..They advertised all public land...Wrong they have State, USFS and national parks even our local county back here in MN, but they failed to include the BLM....so I am still using the GPS coordinates to pinpoint exactly where I am.....I plan to buy a Garmin as soon as I can afford it with the addition of the Public lands maps....
I am in the middle of this coming falls hunt plans and already have a good set of maps printed up for the area I most likely will go and private land is fairly easy to keep track of there.....I print all the GPS coords on the corners of each enlarged scale map that I print....I always allow 100 foot buffer to the property line that way when I pass through only a 40 acre patch to reach a larger parcel I still have a 1000 foot area to pass through on.......(One stickler was last year in another area...We had only one spot where my son helped me climb a shear rock wall to get through....Spooky at best for my 58 year old frame...)
If there are BLM maps available for my color Lowrance I would sure like to know...
Good luck,
Randy
I am sorry to here you had to pay a trespass fee to a landowner....I hope he wasn't one of the crooked ones and you were on public land....
I am not sure of what software you are referring to, but recently I see there is a software for the some of the Garmin series GPS units that have the actual BLM maps and color coding downloadable via the sd card to the Garmins....I have a Lowrance H2Oc that with the addition of an LEI program I make my own maps and load them to a sd card..They advertised all public land...Wrong they have State, USFS and national parks even our local county back here in MN, but they failed to include the BLM....so I am still using the GPS coordinates to pinpoint exactly where I am.....I plan to buy a Garmin as soon as I can afford it with the addition of the Public lands maps....
I am in the middle of this coming falls hunt plans and already have a good set of maps printed up for the area I most likely will go and private land is fairly easy to keep track of there.....I print all the GPS coords on the corners of each enlarged scale map that I print....I always allow 100 foot buffer to the property line that way when I pass through only a 40 acre patch to reach a larger parcel I still have a 1000 foot area to pass through on.......(One stickler was last year in another area...We had only one spot where my son helped me climb a shear rock wall to get through....Spooky at best for my 58 year old frame...)
If there are BLM maps available for my color Lowrance I would sure like to know...
Good luck,
Randy
MNbogboy
Well-Known Member
setter,
Map Trails (maptrails.com) sells a CD for most of the western states that has all the State and BLM lands.....Also it has a running GPS coordinates option that pinpoints you very close to any actual property lines...It is an invaluable tool for planning your hunt..I paid around 50 or 60 dollars for it 4 years ago...but I heard the price has gone up some..but believe me it is worth it...You can print any color map on it at any scale....My in field hunting maps usually 7 miles x 8 miles on 8-1/2 x 11 paper....I keep them in a plastic page protector in a 3 ring binder..When afield they fit nicely in my pack...If the terrain is rugged I scale them in closer.....I use a pen and place any important waypoints right on the map which are transferred from the Map Trails program.....So far everything in three different areas of WY has been very accurate....
If I may ask, what part of WY are you planning on hunting?...
I hope this helps,
Randy
Map Trails (maptrails.com) sells a CD for most of the western states that has all the State and BLM lands.....Also it has a running GPS coordinates option that pinpoints you very close to any actual property lines...It is an invaluable tool for planning your hunt..I paid around 50 or 60 dollars for it 4 years ago...but I heard the price has gone up some..but believe me it is worth it...You can print any color map on it at any scale....My in field hunting maps usually 7 miles x 8 miles on 8-1/2 x 11 paper....I keep them in a plastic page protector in a 3 ring binder..When afield they fit nicely in my pack...If the terrain is rugged I scale them in closer.....I use a pen and place any important waypoints right on the map which are transferred from the Map Trails program.....So far everything in three different areas of WY has been very accurate....
If I may ask, what part of WY are you planning on hunting?...
I hope this helps,
Randy
Get the maps from the BLM for the areas you are going to hunt. I would also call the local BLM office before heading out and ask if there have been any changes to the map you have. A lot of times, land owners will swap parcels (especially state land trusts), so the maps may have changed a little. The local offices are usually a good source of information, including access easements that might exist for getting to some areas.
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Those are all good ideas. Thanks.
If you are interested in the Garmin Land Ownership Topo Maps for your GPS here is the link to the LRH Gear Shop.
In the next week I am also adding a new map. It will be available only for MT and will have the owner names of all private property along with ranch boundaries. So if you are hunting the Johnson Ranch and its 23,560 acres, you'll be able to tell where the Johnson's neighbors' land starts.
If you are interested in the Garmin Land Ownership Topo Maps for your GPS here is the link to the LRH Gear Shop.
In the next week I am also adding a new map. It will be available only for MT and will have the owner names of all private property along with ranch boundaries. So if you are hunting the Johnson Ranch and its 23,560 acres, you'll be able to tell where the Johnson's neighbors' land starts.
TCKev
Well-Known Member
It cost me a $100.00 dollars, not saying he was crooked or not but I think and my buddy thinks he was over exagerating his boundries. If we go back to that same area for Lopes I will have the GPS software Len is selling on here.
Around my neck of the woods when someone is caught tresspassing they pay a fine to a Game warden . I would never pay a dime to a land owner I would apologize to him for entering his property and pay the price to the law officer / warden . Is it legal in wy to pay the land owner a tresspassing fee .
Bigbuck
TCKev
Well-Known Member
bigbuck yes it is I called the Game&Fish when I got home to discuss the situation and he told me the trespass fee as long as I didn't feel I was bullied was fine. But without him being there he couldn't say if he was being liberal or not with his property lines. I was fine paying and I got a trophy as far as I'm concerned. A buddy taped and it was 82.25" so I'm satisfied.
