Wyoming NR access question

deerkiller

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I’ve tried looking for the answers on my own but haven’t found much regarding private land and using access roads to get to public land. Basically all I’ve found is that if you are hunting private property, marked or not, you need permission from the land owner. I understand that. In Utah, if it’s not posted you can hunt there until contacted by the land owner and told to leave (there are other requirements that need to be met as well to be legal to hunt there in addition to the properly posted law, but that’s the biggest one you have to pass first) My questions are these:
1. If there isn’t a locked gate or sign on the road stating it’s closed to vehicle traffic, am I ok to use that road to access BLM, state and FS public lands to hunt on that the road passes through?
2. if the answer is ‘yes’, does that apply to all roads? Just state maintained roads? 2 tracks?
3. if the private land is owned by someone like “Union Pacific”, am I ok to hunt that without written permission? Basically I’m asking how strict the officers are on this law. I see shed hunters walk all over the place through checker board areas of private and public, and I know most of these guys don’t have written permission and No one really cares unless the ground is visibly posted.

I know there are walk in areas and HMAs with special seasons and restrictions regarding the property. And those areas are usually posted well and very clearly at all boundaries. I just don’t want to get into trouble or burn points on a tag, that I can’t use due to access problems. Thanks in advance.
 
1. You can use State, county or BLM roads to access public through private.
2. No to using 2 tracks on private.
3. You need permission to access all private land, including Union Pacific property unless they are enrolled in an HMA...

At least that is how I understand the rules. Good luck!
 
1. If there isn’t a locked gate or sign on the road stating it’s closed to vehicle traffic, am I ok to use that road to access BLM, state and FS public lands to hunt on that the road passes through? NO, You cannot trespass through private lands unless on an established state highway, county road or BLM/FS road.
3. if the private land is owned by someone like “Union Pacific”, am I ok to hunt that without written permission? Basically I’m asking how strict the officers are on this law. I see shed hunters walk all over the place through checker board areas of private and public, and I know most of these guys don’t have written permission and No one really cares unless the ground is visibly posted. Only lands enrolled in walk in areas, HMAs etc. are eligible for trespassing or hunting. In the railroad case some lands are in the Walk in areas, others are not. Consult the Walk in Area atlas usually available in July for the current year.
The best advice I can give you is look at OnX maps or a competitor and also look at the county website which shows public roads accessible. Wyoming is much, much stricter than Utah and the onus is upon the trespasser to know at all times where they are at. Best done with a GPS in hand with OnX if in doubt.
 
I will definitely use onX. How do I determine if some of these roads are state, fs or BLM access roads? OnX shows roads all over the place in these areas, and the whole state has 2 tracks that go everywhere
 
I would recommend that you reach out to the County Road and Bridge Department for the county your unit falls in they will have either Maps or GIS data that will show the publicly maintained roads in their jurisdiction. Some roads will be private even on public land either maintained by the landowner or an energy company and may or may not be marked as such. Most of the time the Road and Bridge folks are really helpful, they usually hunt or have family members that do so you might get a good tip to go with your county road map.
 
No. Its your responsibility to know where you are in wyoming and what roads are public in wyoming which is easy to know if it doesnt have a number its not public
 
Blackbear gave you good advice. The county Road and Bridge Dept can tell you which roads are public, county roads in their county.
Remember you are supposed to have written permission to access private lands, they do not have to be posted but most will have signs at gates to help with prosecution of criminal trespass.
Many roads start out as county roads then move to private and may still look the same.
Some of the checker board lands are open to hunters: https://publicland.org/awards/rock-springs-grazing-association/

Roads along the railroad are not public.
 
Go to the county assessors web site, use their on-line mapping tool or GIS system. In the county I am hunting this fall they tell you if the road a private access road. It might run through BLM and State land but if it was built to access private land, it’s a private road. No access.
also the game web site tells you the county road number when you click on a road. If not county road shows up, it could be a BLM road or private.
Go to the BLM and order the maps for the corresponding areas your hunting. They always have a number code to the roads that are open public BLM roads.
Or
Get an onX chip and good gps.

If you want to ruin a good experience and meet law enforcement, dont do your research and just do what you want.
 
Go to the county assessors web site, use their on-line mapping tool or GIS system. In the county I am hunting this fall they tell you if the road a private access road. It might run through BLM and State land but if it was built to access private land, it’s a private road. No access.
also the game web site tells you the county road number when you click on a road. If not county road shows up, it could be a BLM road or private.
Go to the BLM and order the maps for the corresponding areas your hunting. They always have a number code to the roads that are open public BLM roads.
Or
Get an onX chip and good gps.

If you want to ruin a good experience and meet law enforcement, dont do your research and just do what you want.
That is great advice and is correct, 90+% of the time. Boots on the ground or driving to confirm is a good idea as sometimes these roads are gated and closed, some even seasonally.
 
Read the disclaimer closely on county assessor sites and map pages. They will state that not all roads depicted are public roads. You need to contact the Road and Bridge Dept for correct answers, the Super. will answer your questions about specific roads, email them.
Remember to when out hunting, county roads will have various landowners along them, at spots where the land changes hands there will be a cattle guard across the road and some posted signs or no trespassing signs, they pertain to land along the road and not the road itself in most instances. Sometimes a CR can go private when it reaches private land .
 
If its a county road that goes through private and on to public then you can use it. Besides that they can pretty much lock you out.
 

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