How to Find Public Hunting Land on a Map
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Most public hunting in the U.S. is on land run by a handful of agencies, and each one has its own rules and its own maps. Here is which land is usually open, which isn’t, and which map tells you where the lines are.
Federal land
National forests and grasslands
National forests are generally open to hunting under your state’s laws and seasons, except where an area is closed, such as campgrounds and other developed sites, or by a forest order. The forest visitor map shows the national forest boundary and the private land inside it, and the motor vehicle use map shows which roads and trails you may drive to get there.
BLM public land
Land managed by the Bureau of Land Management is also generally open to hunting under state law. BLM land is often a patchwork with private and state land, so a land-status map matters more here than anywhere.
National wildlife refuges
Refuges are open to hunting only where the Fish and Wildlife Service has opened them, under each refuge’s own rules and hunt map. See how refuge hunt maps work.
National parks
Hunting is generally not allowed in national parks. Some national preserves and recreation areas allow it where the law that created them does. Check the unit’s own page before assuming either way.
State land
Every state has its own public hunting land: wildlife management areas, state game lands, state forests and sometimes walk-in programs on private land. Each state’s wildlife agency publishes the rules and the maps, and they differ a lot from state to state, including what you may drive on and when blaze orange is required. Hunting regulations are also set by unit or zone in most states; our hunting unit pages link to each state’s unit maps.
Reading the lines
- Inholdings. Private land inside a national forest or refuge boundary is still private. Good maps shade public land, not just draw the outer boundary.
- Landlocked public land. A public parcel with no public road or trail to it may be legal to hunt but impossible to reach without crossing private land, which needs permission.
- Map dates. Land changes hands. Check the date on the map and the agency’s current version.
- Signs govern. A map is a guide. Posted boundaries and closures on the ground are the rule.
Getting the maps
Cartahaven has free agency maps for each state, ready to download to your phone: for example Montana national forest maps, Colorado BLM maps and Oregon wildlife refuge maps. Each state page lists all of them.
Agency maps published as GeoPDFs show your GPS position in a map app that reads them, with no cell signal, which is how you tell which side of a boundary you are on in the woods. Download them before you go.
This is a general overview, not legal advice. Your state’s hunting regulations and the land manager’s rules decide where you may hunt.