Questions about "locked" gate near private land

[Richie]

Haha yes the good ol master key. I took over my grandfather fabrication business in 2009. When I first started working with him, one of the first things he showed me were three of these hanging on the wall in the corner of the shop and was like if my friends come by and ask to borrow the master key grab one of these.

[n2horns]

I think on Massdrop there is a lock pick set if you want to enter by way of the night ninja.

[cactusjack]

be careful with your master key. I have been reading the lists of violators who lose their hunting privileges and there was at least one who cut a lock on a gate. 5 year break.

[sherman]

I think on Massdrop there is a lock pick set if you want to enter by way of the night ninja.

Just an fyi these are considered burglary tools and you could find yourself in deep if caught with a set of them

[ThomC]

Call your nearest G&F office and ask the Landowner Relations dept. They will either know or investigate.

[TonyC]

Yeah, I suppose when in doubt, the "right" thing to do is call G&F to learn about the access to that specific area.

[Whitesheep]

The dummy lock is used by ranchers and others quite a bit. I learned long ago to verify the padlock was actually locked.

 

On an Elk hunt a couple of years back my group found ourselves on the NF side of a locked gate in my friend's truck. Had a heck of a time finding a way out because access to the NF was locked even though there was public land on both sides of the gate. One side NF the other a public street. We were on public land the entire time. Had we been in my truck I would have cut the chain as I always carry a master key, my friend doesn't.

 

It is understandable why people lock these gates. If you had to put up with the trash and bad behavior near your property you would probably do the same if not worse. As usual, the few ruin it for the many.

[mbiewer]

Found this in the regs.....

 

J. The Commission may grant permission to lock or oblit- erate a gate or close a road or trail that provides legally available access to state lands for licensed hunters and fishermen if access to such lands is provided by a reason- able alternate route. Under R12-4-610, the Director may grant a permit to a state land lessee to temporarily lock a gate or close an existing road that provides access to state lands if the taking of wildlife will cause unreasonable inter- ference during a critical livestock or commercial operation. This permit shall not exceed 30 days. Applications for permits for more than 30 days shall be submitted to the Commission for approval. If a permit is issued to tempo- rarily close a road or gate, a copy of the permit shall be posted at the point of the closure during the period of the closure.

 

Just curious if anyone has seen these permits posted out the field before?

Need to print this and take it back up to 20c. There's a land locked section of state trust.

 

On one trip up, me and the girlfriend stopped into the Kirkland steakhouse. Old timer/owner of the place was friendly as can be, until I asked who I should talk to about going through properties to gain access.... Basically told me to pound salt.

 

On the eve of the deer hunt, we were set up in camp, and had a fellow hunter stop by. Said he used to live in Yarnell, and had the fortune of staying in town on this hunt. (Don't blame him, weather report was about 20 degrees colder than predicted). Said he stopped into the ranch office (there's one outfit, that pretty much owns most of the grazing/ranch land that surrounds the area). The fellow hunter said the cordial request wasn't met with a warm reception. When he tried to explain that he didn't have any interest in disturbing the ranch/cattle/peace was just hoping to gain access to the state trust behind it...the ranch rep "that was his family's private hunting area, and if he didn't like it, buy the ranch and do what he wanted with it after that".

[kazpilot25]

Those land locked "public lands" are such a load of bull. Something needs to be done to allow us all access to that supposedly public land.

[audsley]

Mbiewer,

 

Welcome to the world of public lands access frustration.

 

At least the ranch representative in this story was honest about motivations. Only a few of them are. Most will instead cite damage inflicted by hunters as justification despite Game & Fish's willingness to investigate vandalism reports and help find compensation. AGFD established a landowner/lessee program a quarter century ago to reward landowners and lessees who allowed access across their property to public lands. While I know it's done some good, I believe it's also been abused in some cases, and many landowners and grazing lessees aren't interested. Some are wealthy from other enterprises and don't need the money, labor or materials AGFD and sportsmen are willing to put into their ranching operation in exchange for keeping gates open. They'd rather keep their gates closed and control large amounts of public land.

 

Everyone should remember that this controversy is about access across private land to reach public land. It is not about hunting on anyone's private land.

[Str8Shot]

IMO every square inch of Landlocked Public Land should be closed to legal hunting until easements and access is granted .... Public lands leased for grazing or any other purpose should not become an extension of any one or small group of individuals private stomping grounds .. Just my 2 cents

[.270]

What they should do is trade the checkerboard private for the checkerboard public so the landowner has all his land in one continuous tract, same with public. Checkerboard is very divisive. Lark

[Red Sparky]

What they should do is trade the checkerboard private for the checkerboard public so the landowner has all his land in one continuous tract, same with public. Checkerboard is very divisive. Lark

They have done some of that over here in NM, specifically unit 9. The results were ranchers got the prime rib where the public land hunters just got to gnaw on the rib.

[.270]

At least they got something. With checkerboard it's virtually all considered private land. Lark

[mbiewer]

Audsley,

 

That is exactly the case, well for both. When me and the girlfriend went for "icy cold refreshments"... (ok, she didn't want to pee behind a bush, so I said if we could grab a beer, she could pee with a flusher... im a gentleman after all) The owner of the Kirkland steakhouse is about 73, and ranches on the side. He was a tough old bird. The steakhouse was up for sale and he was anxious to sell the bar/restaurant/motel so he could go back to ranching full time. But in talking to him, he explained how previous hunters had trashed the ranches, and vicinity. About the trash bags and the ill effects on cattle. and that none of the ranchers would even consider allowing access through their property.

 

On the other hand... the "richer than Scrooge McDuck" scenario is true. It is one outfit, Maughan Ranches llc (http://www.maughanranches.com/index.html). The website says they own rights to 512,00 acres in central az. With 8 of the 15 ranches located inside unit 20c. They don't have any interests in outside funding or additional resources to help wildlife enthusiasts.