Too much money to argue

[NeHunter13]

DFD?

Don't worry, I won't even bother, I have too little time, and way too little resources. It's frustrating to see this type of stuff.

We saw the security guard every day, we always slowed down to look, since he was always parked in a draw loaded with elk.

Just did some quick googling to learn more about these guys. Seems DFD is "Dan Farris Development". Names of the two Wilks brothers.

Who Gets to Own the West? (Published 2019)

A new group of billionaires is shaking up the landscape.

www.nytimes.com

 

[S.Clancy]

I may be out of line, but to me this needs more visibility. This post won't solve a damn thing, but it infuriates me.

Me and a couple buddies had some cow tags for this area and figured we'd make it a good week just chasing cows and having a good time. We did not realize the amount of elk on private ranches; whatever, we still had fun and plenty of God's Water (Busch Lattes).

The problem came when we tried to access a chunk of BLM that clearly had a couple public access points; one from the west, and one from the east. When we tried to access the land from the east, we were met with a large private drive sign. I had done a lot of scouting so we had other areas to go check out. But after no luck, I decided to call the county. I called the main office, and got the run around, got sent to multiple departments, then got the gal's voicemail that I needed to speak with, several phone calls and voicemails later, we got nothing. The land owners are well known in this area (maybe rhymes with MILKS), but when I looked at the imagery, I could not be more pissed. When you have enough money, and more staff and equipment than the county, you can relocate county roads so they don't cross public anymore.

View attachment 371906

You really wanna get pissed off, look what the did in 690.

 

[Bighorner]

Long story short there should be a written county easement on file, or atleast an old map with the road with section lines. A private part cant void/move a county road. I get they are rich and swing a big stick. I'm just saying from the point of view of the easement, moving the road is not a legit way to get rid of access.

 

[Trial153]

When you get bored buying political candidates for president you can always by more land to uck the public out of access. It’s an American pastime

 

[RS3579]

I might get some backlash for my post. The replies for this are all upset that the owner of all this land buys it and then posted it for no one to trespass. There was another thread about basically the opposite of the replies here. The replies on the other thread were if you own the land you have every right to post it because the owner pays the taxes. I personally can agree with both sides. Open all the land to the public, and if the owner does no taxes on the land. If the don’t, we’ll then they pay the taxes. I understand these owners are filthy rich so they’ll just pay.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

I think its the greed part that pisses people off more so than land ownership. If I buy 100 acres I'm using it for something. The said person buys a crap ton of acres for investment purposes, doesn't even use it, lives in another state, and then denies public access which had been allowed for decades by previous ownership.
I can't find a lot to agree with. Yes, they own the land and do with it what they want. I will not argue that point. Greed I can stand. He should invest in art, great resale, and doesn't interfere with public land.

It's well known most billionaires, for one reason or another, don't pay any taxes.

I wish I had billions. I would buy the land for y'all to use.

 

[Customweld]

I might get some backlash for my post. The replies for this are all upset that the owner of all this land buys it and then posted it for no one to trespass. There was another thread about basically the opposite of the replies here. The replies on the other thread were if you own the land you have every right to post it because the owner pays the taxes. I personally can agree with both sides. Open all the land to the public, and if the owner does no taxes on the land. If the don’t, we’ll then they pay the taxes. I understand these owners are filthy rich so they’ll just pay.

I certainly agree with private property rights. That’s part of what makes us what we are. A lot of these big chunks of ground were obtained through some shady land use deals and Rights of Way easements we’re not secured when they were sold to the next in line. Most rural counties have neither the manpower, money or expertise to navigate complicated access issues, so these guys throw some gates up and invite you to take them on.

 

[CWayne121]

How does one avoid this BS if they are planning an out of state hunt? Is there a way to know that this might happen beforehand?

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

How does one avoid this BS if they are planning an out of state hunt? Is there a way to know that this might happen beforehand?

The safest bet is to hunt from relatively secure accesses. IE state roads or highways near obviously public big chunks of NF etc. These problems seem to crop more on the fringes, trying to find a sweet little access or interesting small parcel. Not always the case, but more often than not.

If it has a checkerboard vibe... History is not on your side.


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[KineKilla]

I wish I had billions. I would buy the land for y'all to use.

Bet ya wouldn't....people don't become billionaires by buying stuff and allowing people to use it for free. Nor do they stay billionaires if they do.



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[bozeman]

I hope this comes across the right way, but as soon as I buy land, ‘no trespassing’ signs go up. People abuse and misuse land all day/every day. They are investing, so they are ‘using’ the land for something. May be not what others would use it for. In a lot of cases it’s a portfolio diversity strategy. Keep in mind not every hunts elk………

 

[wind gypsy]

It's well known most billionaires, for one reason or another, don't pay any taxes.

Preposterous statement.

 

[Montana Slim]

I hope this comes across the right way, but as soon as I buy land, ‘no trespassing’ signs go up. People abuse and misuse land all day/every day. They are investing, so they are ‘using’ the land for something. May be not what others would use it for. In a lot of cases it’s a portfolio diversity strategy. Keep in mind not every hunts elk………

The issue isn't closing their purchased land... it's jacking access to public with f*ckery. It happens a lot more than people might think

 

[ILoveBusch]

I might get some backlash for my post. The replies for this are all upset that the owner of all this land buys it and then posted it for no one to trespass. There was another thread about basically the opposite of the replies here. The replies on the other thread were if you own the land you have every right to post it because the owner pays the taxes. I personally can agree with both sides. Open all the land to the public, and if the owner does no taxes on the land. If the don’t, we’ll then they pay the taxes. I understand these owners are filthy rich so they’ll just pay.

To me this isn't about private property rights. The situation I'm describing is where a public road is/was moved and the road now has a private drive sign so that there is not public access to public land. It's 100% their right to buy land and keep people off of their land. It's when they keep people off public land that drives me crazy. Most people, myself included, go out to enjoy my time in woods with friends, the last thing I wanna do is push the issue with some billionaire's ego.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Bet ya wouldn't....people don't become billionaires by buying stuff and allowing people to use it for free. Nor do they stay billionaires if they do.



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It's a hypothetical. I get you don't become nor stay by being nice.
BUT...If I could yes I would.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Here in Colorado, one of the areas I hunt is public with a road through it to a private ranch. The rancher apparently built the road, so you can walk next to it, but not on it, nor drive on it. Game warden has confirmed he would ticket people using the road. You can walk into the area no problems though. I wonder if this is a similar issue where you are.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

To me this isn't about private property rights. The situation I'm describing is where a public road is/was moved and the road now has a private drive sign so that there is not public access to public land. It's 100% their right to buy land and keep people off of their land. It's when they keep people off public land that drives me crazy. Most people, myself included, go out to enjoy my time in woods with friends, the last thing I wanna do is push the issue with some billionaire's ego.

Agree.
Or posting do not trespass on BLM b/c they have cattle grazing on the BLM. My son harvested a WTD buck on BLM. Caretaker came out and told us we were on private property. No we are not. Showed him the GPS coordinate on onX which clearly showed we and he were on BLM. He went on his merry way. Bummer as it was my son's first buck but at least he learned how to handle a landowner in polite respectful manner.

 

[ILoveBusch]

The issue isn't closing their purchased land... it's jacking access to public with f*ckery. It happens a lot more than people might think

Right, and to me the biggest issue is: how will this stop? No individual will take it on & I'm sure the local government doesn't have the resources, or ambition. Unfortunately it's too easy as hunters to just move on to the next spot and give that a try.

 

[Customweld]

Right, and to me the biggest issue is: how will this stop? No individual will take it on & I'm sure the local government doesn't have the resources, or ambition. Unfortunately it's too easy as hunters to just move on to the next spot and give that a try.

It won’t stop. No Gov’t agency has the funding or appetite to take them on. Idaho Wildlife Federation was working on it for a while, but I’m not sure that they still are. It’s exhausting and expensive pouring over old title surveys and looking for easements.

 

[mtwarden]

we had a few landowners in SE Montana (that also happened to be outfitters); when a couple of large tracts of BLM was "discovered" by public land hunters, petitioned the county to have the roads closed.

sadly no one was watching this process and the county closed the roads, ending the public access to these tracts

to BLM's credit, on one tract they actually punched their own road in (through BLM) into this tract saving the access

I would go to the county and see if they had permission to change the county road, good chance they didn't and with some pressure might make them reinstate the original road