A few thoughts regarding road hunting

Railroad right of ways and access to them would depend on if the railroad owns the land or has an easement, i would imagine most rails are owned by the company and the land would be in private ownership.

RR right of ways are owned by the rail companies.........most road crossings are marked with no trespassing signs.....signage or not, it is illegal to trespass onto RR property.
 
Exactly. IA, MN, SD and many others it has been common practice for ever. And for the most part almost all don't give a rip. Just the few squeaky wheels. ND I believe "Unless changed" If not posted you can walk road ditches, and also land. Not posting meant don't bother me, just go. Posted meant, stop and ask. And 99.9% of them let me when I asked. Those laws may have changed. Yes check local regs.
 
Road ditches in ND adjacent to state and federal highways and adjacent to non-posted land are open to hunting.
 
The whole railroad access issues to hunters became much more restricted after 9-11. Many railroad (active and abandoned) right of ways were actively hunted with out issue long ago.

Now many of these same locations are posted closed to hunting or even legislated as closed.

They just do not want anyone without credentials on areas with tracks.

States should lease abandoned track beds for hunting (walk in access).
 
I could knock on doors in South Dakota, and I could get permission, and I wouldn't pay a dime.One guy has a descent chance at getting permission, in the west.
 
Road ditches in ND adjacent to state and federal highways and adjacent to non-posted land are open to hunting.

That's what I remember. But also you could go on the entire parcel back then. They did have a "No Bending Grass" law, and "Stay Out Of Standing Crop" law. Which was no driving in CRP, or grass. And no walking in standing crops. But no clue if that has changed. It has been over 10 years since that law/season/lic change, and I have been back. It just don't appeal to me now, when I get my 3 birds close to home every time I hunt. Much cheaper. I will go out to fish again I suspect, just to float Oahe. It is not as if I can't fill my belly in MN with fresh walleye or sunnies LOL.
 
Private land in ND is open to hunting unless posted. You do not need permission to hunt crop land or grasslands if the land is not posted. This is similar to the laws in MN for woods in the north country.

You can not enter unharvested crop land in ND without permission. You cannot drive off trail / road for hunting upland game in ND. You can drive off trail / road for waterfowl hunting (essentially making it easier to move decoys).

90% of my pheasant hunting is in MN. I average two birds per day hunting in MN ... unfortunately for me, my favorite areas are 2 - 3 hour drive from my home. Most day trips this year have been more time driving than walking. I certainly live closer to grouse woods and we have taken turkeys just 15 minutes from my house (metro Twin Cities).
 
Railroad lines are private property, so any intrusion would therefore be trespassing. Whether that is enforced or not it would still be trespassing.
 
When my dad was growing up - he would walk the railroad tracks and shoot pheasants with a .22. He would bring them home and his mother would can them. I digress.
 
Speaking of digression and railroad tracks.... When I lived in Brookings I was awakened about 2:00 in the morning thinking the world was coming to an end. Some hopped up kid had thrown a switch and caused the train to derail in town. The city salt shed was behind our backyard and that is the only thing that saved 2 cars from wiping us out. The only poor people killed were on the train, but the earth literally shook when the cars came down the embankment. The noise was horrific. The only real disaster I have been close too. After, trying to help and being run off I went back to bed. The FBI woke me up for questioning the next morning. Took them 4 days to catch the punk.
 
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