Wyoming WIA/HMA Question

Question about public lands which fall within the boundaries of a WIA or HMA. The area I'm looking at for antelope this fall has a large WIA, checkerboard BLM and private. A county road cuts through the middle of the WIA. The rules for this WIA state no firearm hunting for the first 3 weeks of season. Is this applicable even for the BLM, which can be accessed via county road, within the WIA? How about camping on same lands?

I have hunted WIAs in Wyoming before with success, but they were comprised almost entirely of private land.

If the BLM is within the WIA then no. The boundary should be on the online map and show if the BLM is included. Just look for a section that is not included in the boundary . The rules for the WIA will state what is allowed and when, camping etc.. It just depends on the boundary and it should be shown on the hunt planner map.

LCH said:

Question about public lands which fall within the boundaries of a WIA or HMA. The area I'm looking at for antelope this fall has a large WIA, checkerboard BLM and private. A county road cuts through the middle of the WIA. The rules for this WIA state no firearm hunting for the first 3 weeks of season. Is this applicable even for the BLM, which can be accessed via county road, within the WIA? How about camping on same lands?

I have hunted WIAs in Wyoming before with success, but they were comprised almost entirely of private land.

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That is a good question. I would suggest contacting the HMA coordinator for the area you're referring to. If you cant get in touch with the right person, shoot me a PM and I can give you contact information for 2 of the HMA coordinators that I've worked with a lot.

I had this exact question for a friend of mine who works for WYG&F. He asked the regional access coordinator. If you can access BLM land via public road, HMA and WIA restrictions don't apply. An example would be the BLM land in the Mule Creek PAA in Albany County which can be accessed via Fetterman Road. In most (maybe all) cases, State land use in an HMA or WIA is subject to the same rules as the HMA or WIA. You should still contact the regional access coordinator, as Buzz suggested.

Good question as I was wondering the same. Regulations out west are kinda confusing for us Midwestern guys.

The former access coordinator for Laramie area does say the BLM should be accessible since it has road access. He says BLM usually does not enroll it's lands unless they do not have public access. If the road goes through it , it is open to public access. Thanks JTM307 for looking into it and sharing.

My dealing on HMA last year was if it is accessible BLM or state ground included the rules did not count. This was striaght from the wardens mouth. Not sure on walk in..

treedagain said:

My dealing on HMA last year was if it is accessible BLM or state ground included the rules did not count. This was striaght from the wardens mouth. Not sure on walk in..

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That's not entirely true...there are exclusions to what you just said. Pinto Creek HMA (Mariah Ranch owned by the OSLI) is one that I can speak of specifically that you need permission to access for hunting even though a county road touches State land.

I would be cautious of making blanket statements in regard to when and where you need permission in regard to HMA's...

IMO/E, its best to ask specifically about the HMA or WIA you're wanting to access.

The HMA/WIA programs are too good to see squandered by misinformation, if in doubt ASK first. Even better, just get your crap together and get the permission slips you need and it makes all this discussion irrelevant.

That's one of my biggest pet peeve's, no matter how much you try to make these programs rock solid, some toolbag is always looking for a loophole or think they're special. I'm all about being able to access public lands, you wont meet anyone who is more passionate about that, but in this case, just get the permission slips. If you're not willing to do that, then verify with the access coordinator about the specific public land in question.

Don't take anyone's word for it, or wrongly assume that just because a county road touches the public, in particular State, that you have default legal access...you may not.

Many times an HMA with otherwise accessible BLM land will grant unlimited permission slips. One may as well get one. And by the way... don't forget to donate to the AccessYes program. We who hunt the eastern side of the state depend a lot on it for hunting opportunities.

jtm307 said:

And by the way... don't forget to donate to the AccessYes program. We who hunt the eastern side of the state depend a lot on it for hunting opportunities.

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In particular RESIDENTS...you get a cheap license, the least you can do is throw another $20+ into accessyes. I contribute at least $100 a year.

WYBHA also makes an annual contribution of $500-$650 each year. Its a great program and provides a lot of people with places to hunt and fish.

BuzzH said:

In particular RESIDENTS...you get a cheap license, the least you can do is throw another $20+ into accessyes. I contribute at least $100 a year.

WYBHA also makes an annual contribution of $500-$650 each year. Its a great program and provides a lot of people with places to hunt and fish.

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WYBHA sounds like they need a couple auction tags; all proceeds to accessyes.

I talked to Jason, Access Yes coordinator out of Laramie, and he stated that there was actually a mistake on the website. The WIA is open to antelope firearms hunting for the full season, the later start date for firearms hunting is for Type 6 elk hunters only. He said he would update the website accordingly.

I also asked about camping on accessible BLM within this particular WIA, and he said that was legal as well.