Is Corner Crossing Okay Now?

Talk about a sticky situation. . . corner crossing namely. The latest happening in the now famous case of 4 Missouri men who moved from one section of public land to another by corner crossing comes in the form of an Amicus brief filed by BHA. The brief references cases from as far back as the 1880s and claims precedent that what the four hunters did was not a crime. 

On the other end of the spectrum the plaintiff’s in the civil case filed their own amicus brief making the case that precedent has not been set, but rather individual states set property law. Agriculture is a tough business and from the perspective of the ranchers adding more people recreating very close to their borders is challenging to say the least. 

Wyofile has done an excellent job laying out the details of the case in their ongoing series so I won’t rehash what they have done well. This case has now been in the public eye for months and as such the upcoming civil trial, that we have talked about at length, as well as the referenced journalism from Wyofile, has done a good job talking about the many details and developments in this case. 

With every development the sides involved will continue to dig their heels in. It is human nature to fight for preservation, whether it be a way of life or otherwise. With that in mind it is tough to see this settling outside of court, but rather going all the way through a trial by jury with the promise of a precedent setting verdict on the line. 

I primarily hunt public land and thoroughly enjoy the experience. I have lived all over the great state of Wyoming hunting and have worked through the struggle bus of issues for hunting public land when there are large tracts that have very small corridors of travel. Or even worse, when there were corners touching but I didn’t care to cross due to the simple reality that I wasn’t sure if there was a clear law stating whether or not it was legal. With that in mind, I hope that we now have clear answers, and access to land for recreation opens up across the West. 

Get ready for a wild summer as this will be a VERY talked about case for MANY years to come in hunting circles. The reach of its outcome will impact many of us in a big way!

What side of the fence are you on? 

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