Joe, or anyone else...Wyoming BLM question

[bald9eagle]

Looking at the Wyoming Interactive map (is this new? I have just found it.) what can you tell me about the checkerboard BLM land? I'm not looking at anything specific but let's just use unit 124 as an example. The northern part is checkerboard and the southern part is mostly BLM with some checkerboard. What does a guy need to know about that?

I might plan on a 2017 hunt to Wyoming, Lord willing.

[Dr. Rx]

I still think you need a GPS chip for Wyoming just to make sure.. I use Kirshc's chip.. one of the sponsors .. worked great for me.
You don't want to be guessing or crossing units very easy to do in Wyoming..
Kris

[Indian Summer]

Here's my online source for BLM and other land ownership. I like it because it has unit boundaries on it as well.

http://www.mytopo.com/products/hunt-are ... m?state=WY

I think you already know which lands you can hunt... national forest, blm, etc. So to answer your question "what does a guy need to know about that" I'd say this.... you can access legally huntable land from a public road but you can't cross private to get there. You can cross from one section to another as long as they are adjacent as in side by side. If they are checker boarded you cannot cross corners where they meet. That's a really lengthy subject including details on how airspace above land is managed. But the bottom line is you cannot cross cattycorner. And that is even if you have the most accurate GPS chip on the market.

I guess I'll add that if you could cross corners you would have some of the best elk, deer, & antelope hunting in the country!

[bald9eagle]

So does essentially mean that there are thousands of acres of land that is landlocked? If so, wow.

[Indian Summer]

So does essentially mean that there are thousands of acres of land that is landlocked? If so, wow.

Exactly. If you have a few points I can set you up with a pretty decent private land hunt with access to some nice public behind it. Takes 3 points.

[bald9eagle]

I guess I need to start getting some points.

[Indian Summer]

The best way to get them is to apply for a general license. If you don't draw you get a point. But there's always a chance. They set 25% of licenses aside for the random drawing. Applicant who don't draw in the original drawing are entered into that. The random draw is just that... random. Meaning it is not based on points so all applicants have an equal chance of drawing a license.

[sasquatch]

how do you think it would work out if you was hunting a unit that bordered Idaho and you walked in or drove in as far as you could from the Idaho side then walked into the Wyoming side and hunted the forest? And if you killed what you may encounter walking/driving out and around through Idaho?

[bald9eagle]

I'm not sure what you are saying Blake. The way I see it is that there are thousands of acres of public land that has been made inaccessible to hunters because of the checkerboard. I don't really understand the reasoning behind the checker boarding of land.

[sasquatch]

im talking about large national forest lands that cross state lines. For instance one draw Im looking at, itd be easy to enter from the Idaho side and just walk back into the draw that heads east to west, but to stay in Wyoming the whole time you'd have to climb and top a steep mountain to descend down the other side to get into it. Hope this makes sense.

[bald9eagle]

Ahhh...Gotcha.

I guess you just have to tough it out...lol.

[Indian Summer]

It started out innocent enough.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_(land)

[cohunter14]

im talking about large national forest lands that cross state lines. For instance one draw Im looking at, itd be easy to enter from the Idaho side and just walk back into the draw that heads east to west, but to stay in Wyoming the whole time you'd have to climb and top a steep mountain to descend down the other side to get into it. Hope this makes sense.

Blake, I don't know if there is anything illegal with that or not. However, if it was me and I was doing that, I would be sure to let both Idaho and Wyoming game wardens know my plan of attack. This would allow them to let you know if they had any issue with it, but it would also give you some leeway. I wouldn't want to be the guy packing an elk back to my truck in Idaho with a Wyoming tag when the warden rolls up. I wouldn't even want to be the guy caught in Idaho with a weapon and no Idaho tag when the warden shows up. Could you potentially get a tag for the unit in Idaho that you would walk through? That would eliminate a lot of headaches and give you more hunting ground as well!

[Indian Summer]

Huh. Are people that afraid of law enforcement? That doesn't bother me one bit. The key is the location of the kill site. Just make sure you know your way back to that exact location and you have nothing to worry about. If there was ever a question that would be the first thing they would ask you.

I know a place up near Noxon Montana where lots of guys park in MT to hunt Idaho.

[sasquatch]

Yea I could but I don't think I would. Id just hunt everywhere else that is on the Wyoming side. Its no big deal its just something I noticed and thought about.

[Indian Summer]

I look at it the same as a safety zone. You can park your truck there and walk to where you can legally hunt. You just can't have a loaded firearm until you get beyond the safety zone. If it was a place worth hunting and I could get in there quicker and easier I'd be going that way for sure.

You could make a call if you want but I bet they'll tell you the same thing.

[bald9eagle]

I did something similar this past turkey season. I would park in Tennessee and hunt in Alabama. This year I'm getting a Tennessee license cause the birds seem to know where the state line is...lol