Posted: 12/30/2013 10:22:17 AM EDT
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Question: Say I want to do several days with my full load-out gear...including weapons....Under 4 nights.....Where could I do this legally, without being bothered or hassled over terrain that I could navigate one way. ie. I got dropped off in one location and then be picked up in another location....where I wouldn't see a fence or a posted sign? I am kinda speaking like a State or Federal owned land/park/forest.
I am NOT talking about just camping in my buddies 100 acre farm BUT real unlimited terrain as far as the eye can see. Firearms and misc. "military" gear would be a must carry item(s). |
| Look up designated "wilderness areas" in the Rocky mountains and western US. I remember doing 50 mile backpacking trips in the Boy Scouts for a week and never seeing another person. Stay out of the parks, everyone is there on vacation and will freak out about a "lone gunman" wandering around the area. |
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Kind of a vague question, but pick a place in your home state where you can make it work.
Stay away from Fed/state parks. Know where private land boundaries start. Get an idea for hunting seasons in that area. I don't know what "full load-out" means. Twelve miles a day traveling heavy will break you off. The key would be to pick a route that you could do 10-12 miles a day, staying relatively close to cell areas, and have a couple pick up points just in case. It truly wouldn't be that hard to find a 35-40 mile stretch of state land out west that you could bump around. |
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I've driven across the Mojave in four long days driving 8 hours or so a day ... and crossed pavement once (Kelbaker Road) and typically see four to six trucks across those days.
Up north I spent four days driving west to east into Death Valley and saw two trucks once we hit the tourist areas near Death Valley itself. South along the Chocolate Mountain range is the Bradshaw trail which is an easy 200 miles long. North of that the old Desert Training Center spreads across a few hundred thousand acres. There use to be a good area near Goldstone but that got closed down after 9-11. Joshua Tree and Anza Borrego are huge but tend to attract lots of campers. All public lands with nobody on them 99.9% of the time. No pavement, no cell phone service, nothing but death and danger. 
Beware that the federal government has some restricted preserve areas where firearms are forbidden. But they tend to be smaller slices of the larger parks. |
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If your going cross country, 4 days isn't that many miles- Taladega national forrest her ein AL would work. I'd through a 22 conversion kit in the AR and forgo camo just to avoid unwanted attention if seen. I suspect long hikes with a rifle would require a hunting liscense. Assuming you plan not to claim this is paramilitary trainign if stopped.
Me, I'd seperate the tactical/weapons training from the forced march training. |
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If your going cross country, 4 days isn't that many miles- Taladega national forrest her ein AL would work. I'd through a 22 conversion kit in the AR and forgo camo just to avoid unwanted attention if seen. I suspect long hikes with a rifle would require a hunting liscense. Assuming you plan not to claim this is paramilitary trainign if stopped. Me, I'd seperate the tactical/weapons training from the forced march training. Or you could claim you are training for a remote Elk hunt you are going on next year. Tell them your camp-site is 40 miles from the nearest roadway and you have to hike in with everything you'll live on for a week... so you are training to make sure you will be able to do that... |
| Unless you're planning to do weapons *training* (other than toting them), you could simulate the weight and bulk with household items. E.g. a rifle sling on a 2x4 and some boxes of nails in your mag pouches. If authorities want an explanation tell them you're thinking about joining the Guard and wanted to see if you could hack a cross country march. |
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Kind of a vague question, but pick a place in your home state where you can make it work. Not possible in most states east of the Mississippi, I dare say not possible in any of them due to lack of large enough federal/state lands (and those few that do have them - most of them have some laws that might make carrying the firearms a no-go). 
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Not possible in most states east of the Mississippi, I dare say not possible in any of them due to lack of large enough federal/state lands (and those few that do have them - most of them have some laws that might make carrying the firearms a no-go).
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Kind of a vague question, but pick a place in your home state where you can make it work. Not possible in most states east of the Mississippi, I dare say not possible in any of them due to lack of large enough federal/state lands (and those few that do have them - most of them have some laws that might make carrying the firearms a no-go).
Many places east of the Mississippi. Some of that "terrain as far as the eye can see" might be held privately and off-limits to actual travel on, but lots of privately held open lands and public lands that stretch vast expanses; certainly enough to handle a multi-day hike with "full load-out". You may have to somewhat "circle" an area to get the distance wanted but it's very doable. Map of federal lands: 
As you can see there are several long chains of federal land east of the MS... and many of those are in very gun-friendly states, including lots of Hoosier National Forest land in Indiana (very pro-2A). |
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Many places east of the Mississippi. Some of that "terrain as far as the eye can see" might be held privately and off-limits to actual travel on, but lots of privately held open lands and public lands that stretch vast expanses; certainly enough to handle a multi-day hike with "full load-out". You may have to somewhat "circle" an area to get the distance wanted but it's very doable. ). Quoted:
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Kind of a vague question, but pick a place in your home state where you can make it work. Not possible in most states east of the Mississippi, I dare say not possible in any of them due to lack of large enough federal/state lands (and those few that do have them - most of them have some laws that might make carrying the firearms a no-go).
Many places east of the Mississippi. Some of that "terrain as far as the eye can see" might be held privately and off-limits to actual travel on, but lots of privately held open lands and public lands that stretch vast expanses; certainly enough to handle a multi-day hike with "full load-out". You may have to somewhat "circle" an area to get the distance wanted but it's very doable. ). It's not doable if it's privately held - and in most cases in the east coast you're looking at lots of owners to try to get permission from. For example those bit swaths along Appalachia? A mixture of many private owners and much federal ownership (i.e. NO GUNS). Along the East Coast IMHO the best bet is Northern Maine, most of the large tracts are owned by timber companies (at least there will be fewer land owners to get permission from before the trip). |
| Out west is the correct answer. Pack whatever you want, wear whatever you want. If by the slimmest of chances you are flagged down by someone, coyote hunting is legal 365 in Utah without a tag and with any weapon. This sort of thing really isn't uncommon, I see guys hiking around with chest rigs at times, jogging with gear or weighted vests, shooting long range or run&gun, all out in the hinterlands around the state. |
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It's not doable if it's privately held - and in most cases in the east coast you're looking at lots of owners to try to get permission from. For example those bit swaths along Appalachia? A mixture of many private owners and much federal ownership (i.e. NO GUNS). Along the East Coast IMHO the best bet is Northern Maine, most of the large tracts are owned by timber companies (at least there will be fewer land owners to get permission from before the trip). What I meant by that was there are lots of places that you can see unimproved terrain as far as the eye can see but some would be privately held and you may not be able to actually travel on it in any direction you choose. For example, I'm going to use what I know best. The Hoosier National Forest is surrounded by a lot of unimproved private property so if you want the real "in the middle of nowhere" feeling you can still get it in the HNF. But your actual travel path would be dictated by where the HNF property goes. You can still travel many, many miles without seeing a single fence or No Trespassing sign, but just know that if you go of course you may end up on private property even though it looks just the same as the forest property. I understand what the OP is asking for and IMHO, his best option is to do whatever it takes to stay as close to his AO as possible. Going out west for a "gear-test" will not teach him anything about how his body and knowledge will fare in his locale. Also, why do you say "(i.e. NO GUNS)" to the federal ownership part? You can carry on National Forest property in many states. A lot of the red areas on those maps are National Forest properties. Are you saying "no guns" because some of the land may be private? Ideally you would never cross onto private property, just stay inside the NF property. And even if you do cross onto private property, many states with largish red areas are very gun friendly and likely don't even regulate the carrying of firearms on private property... I'm just trying to put it in perspective that "out west" isn't the only place to do what the OP wants to do. It may be the easiest, but it will also be the most costly and least beneficial for the OP. |
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Or you could claim you are training for a remote Elk hunt you are going on next year. Tell them your camp-site is 40 miles from the nearest roadway and you have to hike in with everything you'll live on for a week... so you are training to make sure you will be able to do that... Quoted:
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If your going cross country, 4 days isn't that many miles- Taladega national forrest her ein AL would work. I'd through a 22 conversion kit in the AR and forgo camo just to avoid unwanted attention if seen. I suspect long hikes with a rifle would require a hunting liscense. Assuming you plan not to claim this is paramilitary trainign if stopped. Me, I'd seperate the tactical/weapons training from the forced march training. Or you could claim you are training for a remote Elk hunt you are going on next year. Tell them your camp-site is 40 miles from the nearest roadway and you have to hike in with everything you'll live on for a week... so you are training to make sure you will be able to do that... Absolutely, but I saw "full load out" and "Military type gear" and imagined a black rifle with LBE/tec vest. I would be careful carrying a deer type rifle in or arround deer season, without a deer liscense or the firearm being legal for hunting. Maybe in the middle of the summer or spring, no big deal. Game Warden: "Son, come down from that treestand and let me see that AR-15- it looks like a .223 and a 30 shot mag" Me "I'm conducting military style training from my elevated LP/OP, I'm not hunting" Having said that, I was pulled over by an alaska state trooper carrying a loaded .45/70 walking down the road a mile outside fo town. I told him I wasn't hunting, was an engineer, and was walking back to the lodging. He had me unload the gun and gave me a ride (maybe as a test.) My boss all but swears I hang a steak arround my neck when I'm up there so I can shoot one in "self defense". |
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Unless you're planning to do weapons *training* (other than toting them), you could simulate the weight and bulk with household items. E.g. a rifle sling on a 2x4 and some boxes of nails in your mag pouches. If authorities want an explanation tell them you're thinking about joining the Guard and wanted to see if you could hack a cross country march.
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Quoted:
Unless you're planning to do weapons *training* (other than toting them), you could simulate the weight and bulk with household items. E.g. a rifle sling on a 2x4 and some boxes of nails in your mag pouches. If authorities want an explanation tell them you're thinking about joining the Guard and wanted to see if you could hack a cross country march. This. I filled a 4 foot long piece of 2-inch pvc pipe with concrete to simulate the weight of my M1A. If I know someone's looking at me as I walk, I just do lifting exercises with it. |
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When I was going to re-enlist I put a trash bag with sand in it in an old orange backpack and took my curl weight bar and put
a 5 lbs weight on each end. I would have a coworker drop me off up the highway when we got off from work at varying distances. This would force me to cover the miles to get back to my vehicle. |