Oklahoma trespass laws regarding hunting and access got a major work over in the late 90’s or early 2000’s I think it was.
Prior to that work over the ODW regs said (paraphrasing here to some extent):
If the land wasn’t posted or otherwise occupied, permission was not required for access.
Meaning if it was open rangeland or out of state owners that didn’t maintain fences, occupy the land or use it for a working farm or ranch it was open ground.
The question about what is considered occupied or maintained became one of those grey areas that Ok GW’s had to interpret basically on their own as the definition as written by the legislature was poorly written.
We always consulted ours in Kay and Grant counties as the same GW worked both.
I won’t go into the long details as all of that is mute now with the overhaul of Oklahoma trespass laws.
Shooting from, on or across a road has always been illegal as it should be.
What was interesting about the discussions going on regarding the change in laws was some of the proposals that certain lobbyists were putting out there.
A sportsman’s political group I used to belong to sponsored a wild game feast for the Ok legislature at the Hern Family Farm facility in OKC so I attended to listen in.
Some were advocating the Purple paint method some states were using to mark areas where hunting was not allowed.
I think Kansas uses that, but anyway, someone else quickly shot that down as anti hunting activist were painting every piece of property they could find and it became a mess for states that use it.
There were other proposals, but the legislators finished up what we have currently.
The trapping regs are still a total mess that needs more cleanup work. They have improved a little in recent years but not enough.
Prior to that work over the ODW regs said (paraphrasing here to some extent):
If the land wasn’t posted or otherwise occupied, permission was not required for access.
Meaning if it was open rangeland or out of state owners that didn’t maintain fences, occupy the land or use it for a working farm or ranch it was open ground.
The question about what is considered occupied or maintained became one of those grey areas that Ok GW’s had to interpret basically on their own as the definition as written by the legislature was poorly written.
We always consulted ours in Kay and Grant counties as the same GW worked both.
I won’t go into the long details as all of that is mute now with the overhaul of Oklahoma trespass laws.
Shooting from, on or across a road has always been illegal as it should be.
What was interesting about the discussions going on regarding the change in laws was some of the proposals that certain lobbyists were putting out there.
A sportsman’s political group I used to belong to sponsored a wild game feast for the Ok legislature at the Hern Family Farm facility in OKC so I attended to listen in.
Some were advocating the Purple paint method some states were using to mark areas where hunting was not allowed.
I think Kansas uses that, but anyway, someone else quickly shot that down as anti hunting activist were painting every piece of property they could find and it became a mess for states that use it.
There were other proposals, but the legislators finished up what we have currently.
The trapping regs are still a total mess that needs more cleanup work. They have improved a little in recent years but not enough.
