Federal Court Sides with Hunters in Corner Crossing Case

Most hunters are familiar with this case. In 2021, four hunters were cited in Wyoming for “corner crossing”. Corner crossing is when sections of public land come together at a corner of private land. There are millions of acres of public land that is limited to access because of this reason. These four men, along with many individuals, have fought to drop their charges and make corner crossing legal. On Tuesday, March 18th, significant progress was made in accomplishing that task.

Federal Court Ruling

On Tuesday, March 18th, 2025, the four hunters that were cited for corner crossing received a favorable ruling from the federal court regarding their citations. The Federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals judges (David Ebel, Timothy Tymkovich and Nancy Louise Moritz) unanimously upheld the ruling from 2023, which sided with the hunters.

“Say the Wyoming Legislature wants to ban corner crossing. They can’t now, under federal law.”

— Karlee Provenza, D-

Fred Eshelman, who owns the Iron Bar Holdings, LLC ranch where the lawsuit took place has two options at this point. He can accept the decision by the federal court, or he can take it to the Supreme Court. That process would be extensive, including taking many years and costing a significant amount of money. Provenza stated that although the Supreme Court is an option, she is confident that they will uphold the decision of the 10th Circuit court.

Impact for Hunters

This decision by the federal courts on Tuesday could have

a long-lasting impact for not only Wyoming, but for many states across the country. This may force the hand of many lawmakers and legislatures to make corner crossing legal. The implications of this could open up many more hunting and fishing opportunities for the public. As stated above, there are millions of acres of public land that has historically been off limits to public land hunters. This change could change the landscape for hunting as we currently know it.

In the image to the right, you will see a screen shot from OnX Maps. The yellow shaded areas are BLM, or publicly owned land. The non-shaded areas are private lands. If corner crossing is made legal, all of the areas in yellow would become legal to hunt.

Are you in favor of this ruling, and do you feel like the courts should side with these hunters regarding corner crossing? If you’re against this, what concerns do you have?