Not Settled Yet: Wyoming Hunter Access Issues Will Likely Repeat In 2026

Hunter access continued to be a hot topic in 2025, and it was a significant outdoor legal issue last year, creating tension between ranchers and hunters, that will likely reverberate into this year.

While a years-long legal battle over corner-crossing ended in hunters’ favor, some hunters decided that the only way to reach isolated public land was by helicopter.

Meanwhile, despite years of grim news about the state of Wyoming’s mule deer population, some tenacious, lucky hunters managed to shoot monster bucks in 2025.

The Corner-Crossing War Finally Ends

In Wyoming and across much of the West, “checkerboarded” public and private land parcels have been a headache for hunters.

In some of the best big game habitat, the land is divided between square parcels of public land and private property.

For years, hunters had trouble distinguishing whether it was legal to “corner-hop” where public and private parcels met remained an open question that nobody seemed able to answer.

The Iron Bar Holdings LLC ranch and its owner, Fred Eshelman, decided to take the matter to court. In 2021, Eshelman pressed trespassing charges against four out-of-state hunters who used a ladder-like device to cross a public/private corner on ranch property in Carbon County.

A jury found the hunters not guilty of the criminal charges. But Iron Bar and Eshelman took the matter to civil court.

After lower courts ruled in favor of the hunters, they tried to get a hearing on the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court. But in October, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, effectively settling the matter and setting the precedent that corner-crossing is legal.

Whirling Rotors Start A New Chapter

While corner-crossing seemed settled, many hunters noted that there are still millions of acres of “landlocked” public ground in Wyoming in the West.

Meaning, isolated sections of public land completely surrounded by private property, making them inaccessible, even by hopping corners.

David Faubion of Sheridan and some fellow hunters decided that wasn’t going to stop them.

They decided to charter a helicopter to fly them into some of those isolated areas.

They were hunting elk in one such area in the southern Bighorn this fall.

They claim a rancher from one of the surrounding properties, apparently disgruntled by them being there, attempted to steal the head and antlers from one of the elk they’d shot.   

It’s not the first time that ranchers have gotten cranky with them, they said. But as the hunters see it, they’re not doing anything illegal, and they plan to keep using the chopper service.

A rancher who owns property adjoining one of the areas they flew into declined to comment on the record but told Cowboy State Daily that “there’s more to the story” about how helicopter hunting affects ranching.

The Gray Ghost Hits The Dirt

While ongoing friction persisted between hunting access and private property rights, some Wyoming hunters had dream deer seasons.

Lori Dickinson of Rock Springs wasn’t expecting much when she went out on public land with an over-the-counter deer tag; she was just happy to have an opportunity to go hunting with her husband and a family friend near Bondurant.

As they were riding in their friend’s UTV, her husband happened to glance back at just the right moment to spot a gigantic buck that hunters in the area had dubbed “the Gray Ghost” because he was so elusive.

The wise old buck was trying to pull a time-honored trick among deer — wait until the hunters pass by, then sneak across the road behind him.

Thanks to her husband’s perfectly timed backward glance, Dickinson had the Gray Ghost on the ground a few minutes later.

Preliminary measurements of the antlers include a spread of 33 ¼ inches and an overall gross score of 201 1/8 inches. 

That’s according to the Boone and Crockett (B&C) trophy big game measuring system. It’s based on taking measurements of length and girth at several points along the antlers. 

Spread refers to the point of maximum width between the two main antlers. 

For the uninitiated, any Wyoming mule deer with either a 30-inch spread, or an overall score of 200 inches or more would be considered a true giant. A buck with both is the stuff of hunters’ fever dreams. 

“It was as if God and the Universe let it happen,” Dickinson told Cowboy State Daily.

Family Of Five Bags Five Big Bucks

Unita County residents Ryan and Jannette Hansen — along with their sons Tanner, 17, Brock, 15 and Parker, 13 — likewise weren’t expecting any miracles when they went deer hunting this fall.

Like Dickinson, they were just happy and grateful to go spend time outdoors with their loved ones.

However, over the course of the hunting season, all five of the family members each shot a huge mule deer buck.

That might at first seem like an incredible stroke of luck. And Ryan Hansen told Cowboy State Daily that there was some luck involved.

However, what it really boiled down to was the family scouting things out, he said. Prior to the hunting season, they took numerous trips to the hunting area.

They hiked all over the place, observing deer’s movements, and picking out which bucks they wanted to go after once the hunting season started.

“It wasn’t just a case of, ‘Hey, let’s go drive down the road and see if we can shoot a deer,’” he said.

“We really put in the work ahead of time. We put in the effort, and we were rewarded and blessed for our efforts,” Ryan added.

The takeaway lesson was, putting in the work to scout ahead of time can pay off big time for hunters, he said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.