A federal court’s ruling in favor of four out-of-state elk hunters who “corner crossed” to access public land in Carbon County could have implications for the controversial practice of crossing corners at property boundaries across Wyoming and the West.
Federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals judges David Ebel, Timothy Tymkovich and Nancy Louise Moritz unanimously upheld a 2023 ruling from Wyoming U.S. District Judges Scott Skavdahl, siding with the hunters.
Is The Supreme Court Next?
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver issued a 49-page decision Tuesday, written by Tymkovich, concluding that the hunters did not trespass on Iron Bar Holdings, LLC, ranch property in September of 2021.
That seems to settle the matter. Not only in the case of the hunters vs. the Iron Bar Holdings, LCC ranch – but also for corner-crossing public land users across Wyoming and neighboring states also in the 10th Circuit Court’s jurisdiction.
However, there’s still a chance that Iron Bar Holdings and its owner, Fred Eshelman of North Carolina, could appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, attorney Ryan Semerad, who represented the hunters, told Cowboy State Daily.
Huge Implications
In many parts of Wyoming, mixed square parcels of public and private land are laid out in a checkerboard pattern. Corner-crossing – sometimes also called “corner jumping” involves crossing the pinpoint where two corners of public land parcels meet.
Hunters, anglers and others use it to move between otherwise isolated sections of public land.
The federal court’s decision has huge implications, insofar as it could affirm that corner-crossing is legal, Wyoming rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie told Cowboy State Daily.
“Say the Wyoming Legislature wants to ban corner crossing. They can’t now, under federal law,” she said.
“I think sportsmen across Wyoming and across the country should celebrate,” Provenza added.
She has long been an advocate for legalizing corner crossing. During the just-concluded 2025 legislative session, she introduced an unsuccessful bill to legalize corner crossing in Wyoming.
Semerad agreed that the decision implies the legality of corner crossing and “it does so in a much more dramatic fashion than any of the previous rulings.
He noted that from the beginning, he’s argued that federal law – which forbids denying the public access to federal land – took precedent over state laws to the contrary.
The unanimous decision by the 10th Circuit Court judges affirms that argument, he said.
Iron Bar and Eshelman could try calling for another hearing before the 10thCircuit Court, he said. But given that the judges’ decision was unanimous, they would have slim chances of winning.
The only other recourse would be to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court, he said.
Provenza said she also sees that as a possibility, but is confident that the Supreme Court would uphold the 10th Circuit Court’s decision.
Four Hunters And A Ladder
The Missouri residents, Bradly Cape, Zachary Smith, Phillip Yoemens and John Slowensky, used a ladder-like device to clamber over metal posts and a chain that Iron Bar employees had set on the pinpoint corner where ranch property and public land meet in a checkerboard pattern.
Proponents of corner crossing argue that its sometimes the only way for the public to get to vast expanses of federal land in Wyoming and elsewhere that are otherwise cut off from public access.
Opponents claim that the practice violates private airspace, disrupts landowners’ ability to fully enjoy their property, and can drive down property values.
Goes Back To 2020
The Iron Bar Ranch corner crossing case has dragged on for years, leaving open the question of whether corner crossing is legal everywhere, or should be regarded as trespassing.
The hunters first corner-crossed between two sections of Bureau of Land Management land adjacent to the Iron Bar Ranch in 2020, according to the court’s decision.
“Iron Bar had erected signposts over the United States Geological Survey marker denoting the corner of Sections,” Tymkovich wrote.
“The Hunters could not fit between the signposts and under the chain to corner cross, but they were undeterred by this odd barricade: ‘one by one, each grabbed one of the steel posts and swung around it, planting their feet only,’” according the decision.
When the hunters returned in 2021, they brought “a steel A-frame ladder to avoid even touching Iron Bar’s signposts,” according to the decision.
Iron Bar Holdings and Eshelman filed criminal trespassing charges against the hunters.
A Carbon County jury later found them innocent of those charges.
Property Rights Debate
Iron Bar Holdings and Eshelman subsequently filed a civil lawsuit against the hunters, claiming they had violated the ranch’s air space when the crossed the corner, and in doing so damaged the value of the ranch by several million dollars.
That touched off a lengthy series of hearings and appeals, with courts ruling in favor of the hunters.
In their latest decision, the federal appellate judges acknowledged that landowners should have some control over airspace at their property boundaries.
“Without it, property owners could not control the airspace over their property — meaning neighbors’ trees could overgrow, eaves could overhang, drones could hover, and the government could build an overpass or fire artillery barrages over your house — all without injunctive recourse or compensation,” according to the decision.
1885 Law Still Holds True, Court Says
However, there’s no evidence that the hunters actually set foot on the ranch’s private property, so their actions were legal, the judges decided.
The case affirms the validity of the 1885 The Unlawful Inclosures Act (UIA), which outlawed obstructing settlement and transit through public lands.
“The western checkerboard and UIA reflect a storied period of our history. Whatever the UIA’s merits today, it—and the case law interpreting it—remain good federal law,” Tymkovich wrote in the decision.
“So the district court was correct to hold that the hunters could corner-cross as long as they did not physically touch Iron Bar’s land,” he added.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
