Chopper Hunts Into Landlocked Public Land

[Wrench]

Washington had LOTS of checkerboard properties. They did land swaps with timber companies to provide large tracts of huntable land.

I like lots of smaller pieces because some will rarely be hunted vs lig tracts....but it made for hassle free access

 

[StupidLightweight]

I think you guys might be sulprised at how few parcels of land locked land are possible/legal to fly into and on top of that how few of those would actually be worth it. A helicopter or a plane is not as much of an easy button as most think.

You may be right about land quality, but you’d be surprised at how many acres are landlocked and accessible. According to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Wyoming has 4.16 million acres of landlocked land.

To provide a size comparison, Yellowstone is just over 2.2 million acres.

Unlocking Public Lands | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

www.trcp.org

 

[HOT ROD]

The problem is the since of entitlement on both sides.... Rancher thinks the state land or blm belongs to him because he leases and I have heard quite a few of them say it.. Sum hunters cant stand the fact that the rancher has all the private land that he cant access its just like the NR wilderness law here in Wyoming NR cant stand the fact they have no access to it.. Hunting public land weather by corner crossing or flying into done properly isn't breaking the law....

 

[StupidLightweight]

The problem is the since of entitlement on both sides....

You can't be serious. Both sides? Legally accessing public land—no matter how you do it—does not give one a sense of entitlement.

A sense of entitlement is stealing a legally-harvested elk from hunters because you feel a chunk of public land is solely yours. No matter how strongly some ranchers believe this, grazing leases and proximity to private land does not equate to ownership. It never has, and it never will.

As for the Wyoming NR wilderness hunting law, which is completely off topic, I have no doubt that will fall when a well-funded test case hits federal courts. That law is downright silly. A nonresident can hike, fish, and scale alpine mountains without a guide, but the moment they have a deer or elk tag, they need a helping hand to keep them safe? I can't even type that without laughing!

 

[sniper61]

Decades ago if you drew a goat tag on one "square butte" in Montana , their was a local pilot that would fly you in over the ranchers.

 

[rogerdoger]

In Montana I think they just changed the laws around it, or tried, I think you can land a helicopter in landlocked areas but it has to be next to an established road and you have to wait for 24 hours to hunt. Randy Newberg was talking about it as he did this a few years back

If you can’t find an outfitter you can probably find a pilot and DIY it.

 

[def90]

There are no FAA regulations that would prevent you from landing a helicopter wherever you may want other than "FAA regulations require that helicopter landings be conducted without hazard to people or property on the surface". You then have to look at who operates the land where you would like to land.

This generally applies to USFS land "Landing a helicopter on federal forest land is generally prohibited unless it's for an emergency, an officially designated landing site, or approved government business, with specific rules applying to different areas like wilderness or national parks. For general use, landing is not allowed without authorization, and specific permits or cooperative agreements are required, especially for commercial activities or during emergencies".

BLM administered lands carries these caveats "Landing a helicopter on BLM land generally requires a Special Recreation Permit (SRP) and must be consistent with land use plans. While landing is not explicitly banned on all BLM land, it is crucial to secure a permit before flying in, especially for commercial or organized activities, due to safety, environmental, and land-use regulations. Operators must also comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations and consider specific environmental restrictions, such as those in designated wilderness areas where aircraft landings are prohibited. "