Tag Archives: hunting blm

Bwana Bubba’s Thoughts – Landlocked Public Land

Landlocked Public Land – A Good Trade or Bad Trade?

When plans of a great hunt goes bad after doing your in depth homework on a hunting unit and finding it is too much work to make it fun and give up.  The great State of Oregon, as well as other western states in CONUS has a great amount of public land, whether it is National Forest, State Lands, and Bureau of Land Management lands.  Those that spend a great deal of their off time in the field hunting, fishing, hiking or whatever else takes them in to the field have found that there is a great deal landlocked public land that is very difficult to access.

In my younger days, with my hunting partners we challenged the access every year.  Having worked with paper maps in my early stages of my hunting life, too figure out how to get into the public lands was very time consuming.  Early on we would find the touching points and jump the line, though Wyoming was the first to make that illegal to do so.  Unless the government changes the use of satellites’, I will trust the modern day GPS or mobile device and my mapping software 100% as many paper maps and some mapping software are not accurate with all the changes going on.  How many still have 20+ year old National Forest maps and Rams maps?   Funny I just threw way in my recycle container all of my paper maps from the last 40 years…  That included the map of a certain hunt unit in Oregon that had more than 200 elk harvest from the circle of acquaintances’ over the years.
The other day after posting an old article about a land trade that was in the making back some years ago, I took some heavy hits from a rancher.  I understand where he was coming from and his comments were well said.  My feeling still did not wavier on the subject of that particular B.L.M. and private land trade, to free up B.L.M. that was encompassed with the private lands.  Reading the government/private land proposal, I personally and others that opposed it, knew that much of the public land would still only be used few and the private sector would still get the better deal.  The majority felt the only road into the new setup would be control by the private sector…  That would have been by a very big organization and not the ranchers.

This BLM which you can access, could have been lost to the public...
This BLM which you can access, could have been lost to the public…

 

As I am writing this article, I venture up in the hills outside of Molalla, Oregon looking for Blacktails to do a photo op.  I wanted to work around some old haunts in the upper area; low and behold I find that some of the BLM has been swapped out to a private timber company.  Weyerhaeuser property touches some of the property and the companies warning signs were in full view.  One has to love the BLM No Shooting Signs on posted on the BLM, and no residential structures in the area.  I feel it is an attempt to keep hunters from even going on the BLM, since there is private and timber company properties close by.

If the public (outdoor enthusiast) would look at computer or mobile device with mapping software such as the best being onXmaps HUNT , you’re going to be very surprise to see how much public land that is tied up and almost impossible to have access to.   The ranchers, farmers, and landowners have the access and it basically like an extension to their own land.  With money one can find a way in, such as being dropped in by a helicopter, parachute or even an ultralight…  You have to weigh the cost and still know you’re going to have to come back out the public landlocked land, without setting foot on private.

In this paragraph I am attaching number pictures of BLM land that the private land makes it basically landlocked.  There is a BLM Right-Away, yet the public can’t use it.  The land has caretakers or ranch hands that besides using it for their personnel use, act as if they own it, since the owner is not living on the property.   There are always two sides to the story of course, giving access to the public on the Right-Away and the public take advantage of it using the private land as well as the public land.  I do know that opposite side of the river in this attached map, the Right-Away is open for about 4 miles.  For the most part the public does adhere to the only using the public land.

The BLM Rd. on the east side is closed and locked. River crossing or 11 mile walk...
The BLM Rd. on the east side is closed and locked. River crossing or 11 mile walk…
BLM Rd. is accessible to the road closure, which is about 4 miles.
BLM Rd. is accessible to the road closure, which is about 4 miles.

 

There was a major poaching problem as far as I am concerned in 2016 prior to the opening hunt for Oregon with local Natives being able to have access year round to hunt when it necessary to do so based on treaties, even if they are trespassing.  It would not have been so bad if they had not cut the heads off and only took the backstraps only on the elk and deer they took on private land.  In this case the Right-Away is problem since they can drive and kill on both the public and private lands…   We have to remember that the land owners are not landlocked.  They can have easements with the B.L.M., in many cases they have the lease on public land.

Some of the greatest Mule Deer and Rocky Mtn. Elk hunting area...
Some of the greatest Mule Deer and Rocky Mtn. Elk hunting area…

 

Many years ago I had open access to a parcel of land in eastern Oregon, what a great deal it was for archery deer and elk hunting.   Most of the time in the gang, there were 4 of us.  In those days working in the sporting goods business, to buy a 4 way rifle which was an inexpensive way to give a gratuity to a rancher.   Many years later after the rancher sold-out, I went into the back country with my Garmin GPS and onXmaps HUNT software loaded on the GPS, low and behold much of the land that we travel through his fences to get to where all Federal lands (BLM/NF).    To access this land all one had to do was travel on another access point on federal lands.

If I was a private land owner; I would want all my lands in one parcel overall, as long as it has a good water source.  Saying this there are the ranchers that have the summer range and the winter range and that is important to them, and rightly so. The public should never lose access to public land in any state, and we (public) should never give up or lose the river or water rights to private, unless private land is already deeded with their water source and have the land to the navigational line in the sand so to speak.  The B.L.M., should never be allowed to take away land and the ranchers lose their water, a necessary commodity of life to a ranch.  The trades need to be even as they can, so both the public and the private benefit from the trade.

Bwana Bubba…

Bwana Bubba’s – How Not To Trespass!

To Trespass Knowingly or Not To Trespass with Technology!

Without getting carried away with the past, I will say that in the day, in Oregon when the Bhagwan & his Cult ruled some 60,000 acres outside of Antelope, Oregon, that also had some 60,000 acres of B.L.M. within the boundary, with a vast majority of it being landlocked, I ran the line to hunt for the big Mule Deer and Rocky Mtn. Elk that roamed the land.  Later it was taken over by the Washington Family, who donated the land to Young Life.   The Bhagwan was pretty easy if you stayed on the B.L.M. via a public road access.   Young Life in the first year allowed access via Current Creek on the Big Muddy Rd.   That did not last long when the Management of the Young Life on the Big Muddy found there was real money with the hunting of big game.

In 2002 I was stopped on B.L.M. on the Northeast Sector of the Grizzly Elk Hunt Unit in Oregon by Young Life Patrollers.   They demanded our Licenses, which in Oregon if on private you’re going to have to give it to them.   I told them we were on B.L.M. and I wasn’t going to give them anything.   They were packing handguns and demanded the licenses of all three of us.  I said are you going to shoot us if we don’t and they said” are you going to shoot us”, I said funny our rifles are on the Quads some 100 yards down the B.L.M. Road.  Standstill for a while and the other hunter (Young Life Donor & Doctor) who was with us gave up this license first, then without any more battle of words we all gave the Olsen Brothers our licenses.   Their words when they finally got their old technology GPS’s (old technology GPS didn’t work well in pockets) out of their front pockets and found a signal said the following “we are on B.L.M.” “Ah! We still know you were TRESPASSING!”  Let it be known that they had to cross B.L.M. to get to one small parcel in the middle of B.L.M.

When we go out of the B.L.M. via the same trail we took in via B.L.M., an O.S.P. Game Officer was waiting for us on the Hwy 218 road access.  He asked the following “did you guys have an incident while hunting” I said of course we did, but we were on B.L.M. and showed him the maps that we had, which were made up of old technology and Garmin GPS to outline all of the B.L.M. and had it color coded, with our tracks going in and out.  We were carrying the first Topo mapping Garmin GPS that had come out in 2000.   We all thought it was over with the proof that we were legal.   Well 9 months later we get ticketed for Criminal Trespassing.  The same O.S.P. (Oregon State Police) Game Officer from Bend, Oregon drove over to issue the tickets to us in Oregon City, Oregon.  I asked him why, since I had an O.S.P. Game Officer as a neighbor and the Senior O.S.P. Game Officer some 4 houses away.  His comment “was he had to do it, as Craig I., said he saw you Trespassing”.  Then the next comment was “you know you’ll get off on the Trespassing” and I said yes, but we have to hire 3 lawyers!

What the heck i will share the past. Remember only horses for human foot traffic in the area. Private Land Owners can change the demographics for all with the B.L.M...
What the heck i will share the past. Remember only horses for human foot traffic in the area. Private Land Owners can change the demographics for all with the B.L.M…

In conclusion:  The DA of Wasco County didn’t want anything to do with it, as we had the evidence that we were innocent of Trespassing on Young Life.

Comments made by the others hunting BLM, old combat veterans “why didn’t you have a firefight Frank?”  It was in jest, but reality we were held at bay with handguns, which should have been kidnapping!

The above story now leads into why a hunters or outdoor people should have a Garmin GPS and onXmaps HUNT  Mapping Software.  The technology that I used back then took a great deal of time and resources to get it done.  Now it takes about 15 minutes to have the advance technology on your computer and your GPS to be 100% sure of where your hunting.

Many of my hunters have waited 10 to 20 years to draw a premium tag to hunt deer, elk and especially pronghorn.   I don’t put the sheep or goats in the picture as it might never happen and at least in the State of Oregon, the ODFW Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will help you in locations of goats and sheep.   Funny though that many sheep and goats work between private and public land!

The mapping software can be used as a tool to find the private land owners when you see a herd of maybe a 100 Pronghorn in the Alfalfa and most likely get permission to hunt for free!

Many figure they don’t need this type of equipment that paper maps will work just fine for them!

I have given an example of government paper map in the below picture and a picture from onXmaps HUNT so you can compare the difference.

Normal View at National Forest

This is what Brett thought he was hunting with National Forest cross fences and coming in from the 160 road working north.

Hunt onXmaps - Deer

What Brett ended up on was one of the south corner triangle pieces below the Ochoco Creek Rd. with no corner fences.   There were no signs either on the land and it was all open timber.   Brett was ticketed with a word from the Game Officer he could pay restitution of up to $6250.00 (FOR REAL) to the landowner.  Brett offered to put of No Trespassing Signs, the landowner took the signs from Brett and he went to court.   He did show the Judge in that particular county a Government Map, which helped a little, but still paid a fine to the court.

I am now informed that landowners do not have to post their lands.  So in areas such as National Forest that has private mingle within and no fences, it is your responsibility to know the private (At least Oregon).

onXmaps HUNT has maps for almost every state in CONUS and the great state of Alaska has a map.

I recommend this product with utmost confidence that you’ll have memorial and successful hunts and trips without hassle.

#huntsmarter #teamhunt #onxmaps #bwanabubbaadventurers

Knowing is everything!   Bwana Bubba