What makes it “public” ??

FlushingSetters1724

FlushingSetters1724

Active member
I found a newly posted Walk-In area that looks too good to be true.. it’s listed on OnX & the SD Public Land Atlas. When I hunted it today my dog lost his mind, went on a flier, and jumped hundreds of birds.. likely the most I’ve ever seen. The spot had huge piles of what looked like beans as if they were feeding the birds? I’ve never seen anything like it.. All around it “No Hunting” signs were posted, but not at the spot itself. Something felt off about being there.. so my question is, does OnX and the Public Hunting Atlas make a spot public, or could it be incorrectly posted? I didn’t see any signs for it being a walk-in area.
 
If the spot wasnt posted with signs as walk in or another form of SD public, i would guess you were on someones private land and are lucky you werent caught. Always make sure there are signs. Its possible someone stole the signs i guess, but i wouldnt go there
 
If it's in the public hunting atlas, and also OnX, it's pretty strange for it to not have any signs. But I do come across WIA's and CREP spots from time to time that have had the signs removed, or just pushed over so they're laying down in the grass and not very visible. Every time I've seen that, I just assume that some jerkoff did it so fewer people would hunt the spot.
 
When I was here in November it wasn’t posted, now it is.. I figured they just hadn’t put signs up, but when I saw the piles of food I started to wonder. Unfortunately the owner of the land doesn’t appear to live close by otherwise I’d knock on the door and ask.
 
FlushingSetters1724 said:
I found a newly posted Walk-In area that looks too good to be true.. it’s listed on OnX & the SD Public Land Atlas. When I hunted it today my dog lost his mind, went on a flier, and jumped hundreds of birds.. likely the most I’ve ever seen. The spot had huge piles of what looked like beans as if they were feeding the birds? I’ve never seen anything like it.. All around it “No Hunting” signs were posted, but not at the spot itself. Something felt off about being there.. so my question is, does OnX and the Public Hunting Atlas make a spot public, or could it be incorrectly posted? I didn’t see any signs for it being a walk-in area.
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Send me the coordinates or pin and I will verify this for you.
 
You coulda trespassing, but I'm not pointing fingers. I've seen this before and been confused. Here's what it comes down to, OnX is wrong many times, and if you run into a questionable situation, still check it but understand it is the least reliable. Did you check the state atlas paper or digital version? Owners can back out of their WIA contract at any time in most states. If there are no physical signs on WIA or CREP I assume the contract ended. If it looks really good like you're saying I'd call the warden or others and ask about it.
 
Bob Peters said:
You coulda trespassing, but I'm not pointing fingers. I've seen this before and been confused. Here's what it comes down to, OnX is wrong many times, and if you run into a questionable situation, still check it but understand it is the least reliable. Did you check the state atlas paper or digital version? Owners can back out of their WIA contract at any time in most states. If there are no physical signs on WIA or CREP I assume the contract ended. If it looks really good like you're saying I'd call the warden or others and ask about it.
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Digital version..
 
FlushingSetters1724 said:
When I was here in November it wasn’t posted, now it is.. I figured they just hadn’t put signs up, but when I saw the piles of food I started to wonder. Unfortunately the owner of the land doesn’t appear to live close by otherwise I’d knock on the door and ask.
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Ah, i think that may change things. I think the game wardens get the walk in signed up, if someone decided to sign theres up in the past couple weeks, and theres snow/frost in the ground, i doubt they do signs this year. I would call the game warden in that area. It was probably awesome because no one else hunted it yet
 
long time ago I hunted some newly acquired private land by DU and pheasants forever. Sandwiched in between public and private I had access too. Had family that played a role in the sale. No signs or nothing. It was awesome. Game warden stopped me one day and asked who owned it haha. Still a decent spot but super thick and gets hit hard.
 
I’ve also seen land that was marked as a new WMA on onX. Even had a new parking lot made in it. But it was completely covered in pretty intimidating no trespassing signs. Sometimes things can get weird. Especially with newer land acquisitions or if things are in limbo. I would definitely be more cautious about a WIA that wasn’t marked.
 
I'm curious about the piles of beans. Was it possibly a spill or does it seem intentional? I know a lot of whitetail guys are planting soybean food plots as the deer like it and can't wipe it out as quickly as corn.
 
I was in this situation earlier this year in Nebraska. Not used to hunting public but I knew something was wrong 50 yards into walk. Anyway, the landowner pulled up and was very understanding as he has Nebraska Public Hunting Atlas on his seat. His quarter wasn't in the program even though it was in Atlas and by the looks of property it hadn't been in sometime. I now make sure to check out properties in the daylight.
 
Flip side. There are (historically speaking) signed WMAs and WPAs that are not mapped. Had a couple in MN and one in ND that took years to find there way on the map.
 
BRITTMAN said:
Flip side. There are (historically speaking) signed WMAs and WPAs that are not mapped. Had a couple in MN and one in ND that took years to find there way on the map.
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I seen this too. Electronic maps often suffer from extreme lag. I know one case where hunters got a ticket because they went off OnX, but OnX was wrong, and they ain't gonna pay your ticket or clear your record. The best research tool is whatever GIS maping system that the government uses. I hunted a spot this year owned by a small non government group, one not well known. I had confirmation from them its open to public hunting. Had a guy creep in and park right next to my truck. Made me nervous although I knew I was good. He spied on me for 10 minutes and left. Probably a nosy neighbor.
 
5-6 years ago there were several parcels owned by DU that were WIA but unsigned; somehow we knew it was WIA…OnX, maybe? we had some good hunting…it was sold a year or 2 later…
 
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