Post by Rock Chuck on Apr 16, 2005 9:26:31 GMT -5
I know that most of you will never hunt this far west, but I thought I'd tell you about our public land situation just for general interest.
Idaho covers 83K sq miles, 80% of which is public. We only have about 1.3 million people so things aren't too crowded. We have vast tracts of Nat. Forest and BLM land, all of which is open for hunting. I live kind of at the edge between desert and forest. South of me, ranging from here clear to southern Mexico, is sagebrush land. Starting about 60 miles north of me, we have forest land that extends to northern Canada. We have several nearby mtn ranges with peaks exceeding 12K.
Idaho has some unusual laws pertaining to trespass. We have huge amounts of private rangeland that can't be distinguished from public land. There is no way to tell which you're on. So, the state came up with a novel approach. Cultivated and irrigated private land requires permission. Private rangeland, however, must be properly posted or it's open to hunting without permission. Hunting regulations specifically state what kind of posting is required.
Our waterways are similarly hunter friendly. Idaho has a recreational easement on all navigable waters, navigable being more or less defined as any water big enough to float a belly boat. The easement extends not to the water's edge but to the normal high water mark. That means that during low water in the fall, all dryland up to the high water mark is open for hunting, building blinds, etc. Blinds in this area become public property, first come, first served.
There a a few ranches that charge to hunt, but with all the public land available, they don't get too much business.
Dick
Idaho covers 83K sq miles, 80% of which is public. We only have about 1.3 million people so things aren't too crowded. We have vast tracts of Nat. Forest and BLM land, all of which is open for hunting. I live kind of at the edge between desert and forest. South of me, ranging from here clear to southern Mexico, is sagebrush land. Starting about 60 miles north of me, we have forest land that extends to northern Canada. We have several nearby mtn ranges with peaks exceeding 12K.
Idaho has some unusual laws pertaining to trespass. We have huge amounts of private rangeland that can't be distinguished from public land. There is no way to tell which you're on. So, the state came up with a novel approach. Cultivated and irrigated private land requires permission. Private rangeland, however, must be properly posted or it's open to hunting without permission. Hunting regulations specifically state what kind of posting is required.
Our waterways are similarly hunter friendly. Idaho has a recreational easement on all navigable waters, navigable being more or less defined as any water big enough to float a belly boat. The easement extends not to the water's edge but to the normal high water mark. That means that during low water in the fall, all dryland up to the high water mark is open for hunting, building blinds, etc. Blinds in this area become public property, first come, first served.
There a a few ranches that charge to hunt, but with all the public land available, they don't get too much business.
Dick