If a gate was open.....
- Thread starter mtmuley
- Start date
Nameless Range
Well-known member
No, and if you were caught you could still deal with consequences.
Could be a F.S. Employee is up the road.
My brother was able to drive on closed forest service roads when the ranching outfit he was working for had leases for grazing in an area. Additionally some people with private inholdings may have easement access on F.S. Roads that are otherwise closed to the public.
Or some bastard broke the gate open and he is illegally tearing around on closed roads.
Could be a F.S. Employee is up the road.
My brother was able to drive on closed forest service roads when the ranching outfit he was working for had leases for grazing in an area. Additionally some people with private inholdings may have easement access on F.S. Roads that are otherwise closed to the public.
Or some bastard broke the gate open and he is illegally tearing around on closed roads.
FS emplotees are required to hang a sign on the gate and lock it behind them. I'm sure some dirtbag broke it open. It has happened before and I always call it in. I wiil call tomorrow. Today I am going to park in front of it and go bear hunting. mtmuley
Gerald Martin
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Good luck, but I wouldn't block the road or drive in on it myself. Turn it in and let the Forest Service handle it. You could get a ticket yourself for blocking the road if it's legit, or even worse someone could vandalize your rig if you block them in. It's not worth it.
SunRiverMan
New member
Maybe it is a disabled hunter with his special license. They can get a key for the gates.
Sunriver, yes they can but not at this time behind this particular gate. Hunters are also required to hang a sign and lock the gate when allowed access. Gerald, took your advice and moved my rig. Also got lucky and caught a FS LE officer on the phone. They are on the way up here to re-lock it. Gotta get after a bear. mtmuley
RobG
Well-known member
This is too weird you asking for advice on the internet while hunting
What sort of sign are these people supposed to hang? I don't think I've ever seen one.
TheJason
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No, I wouldn't drive through it and neither would I park in front of it.
I took my wife deer hunting at the Sybille WLA northeast of Laramie one year. Someone had gotten a gate open and there was a convoy of rigs driving through. We parked and hiked another direction. The boys in red were waiting at the gate for all of the folks that decided to drive in and were handing out pink slip souveniers.
I took my wife deer hunting at the Sybille WLA northeast of Laramie one year. Someone had gotten a gate open and there was a convoy of rigs driving through. We parked and hiked another direction. The boys in red were waiting at the gate for all of the folks that decided to drive in and were handing out pink slip souveniers.
VAspeedgoat
Well-known member
Got to this late, but good call by everyone. Too bad thet didn't catch the @$$ hole.
I've wondered about this too. A lot of the gates where we hunt say "please close the gate" but when you drive up to them they are already open. We usually camp in a spot just inside a gate on NF land. Sometimes the gate is sometimes open, sometimes closed when we get there.
So I usually leave them the way I found them.
So I usually leave them the way I found them.
James Riley
Banned
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That's the law of the west.
It's on the owner to decide how it should be. The assumption is he/she wants it the way you found it. It's also on the owner to deal with those who violate it. No harm calling it in if you feel something is amiss.
DIY HUNTER
Member
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I would walk in myself. I would shut gate though...maybe lock it if I could find open lock!!!!
RobertR
Member
First leave the gate as you found it, or what ever the crime scene is. Second report the incident of the open gate to FS and FWP.
Is the gate closed year around or seasonal like December 1 to May 15th. Was there fresh tracks from an atv or truck.
I think if FS or some other person with authority had access the gate would have been closed.
bottom line, legal or not people are getting fed up with road closures.
We have state land section where a road closure sign has been torn down at least a half dozen times. Yes it's the wrong thing to do but the rancher who has the state section thumbs his nose in the sportsman face by driving in and then bitches about noxious weeds.
Is the gate closed year around or seasonal like December 1 to May 15th. Was there fresh tracks from an atv or truck.
I think if FS or some other person with authority had access the gate would have been closed.
bottom line, legal or not people are getting fed up with road closures.
We have state land section where a road closure sign has been torn down at least a half dozen times. Yes it's the wrong thing to do but the rancher who has the state section thumbs his nose in the sportsman face by driving in and then bitches about noxious weeds.
Ben Long
Well-known member
My old man, some years ago, found an open USFS gate and drove behind it. (He was never too much about details of rules with these kinds of things.) After a day of hunting hard, he drove home only to find himself locked in. (The USFS guy had been working on another spur road and locked it on his way out.) This was some 25 miles from "town" of Clarkia, Idaho. A damn long walk after a day of elk hunting, even if it was all downhill. So I would be careful...
I pretty much knew the answer to what I was going to do, just wondered if anyone else has experienced this. I know the law of the West gate etiquette, but this was on USFS land. RobG, the area I was in is a handicap access area during the general big game season. 2 hunters a day are allowed to drive in behind the gate. They must leave a sign on the gate with their name and vehicle information. A great program, but I see tons of abuse. I also busted 2 motorcycle riders tearassing all over the mountain today. No bear, just ticks, but a good day anyway. mtmuley
