Supreme Court Hands Missouri Corner Crossers Their Final Win

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition to review the corner crossing issue, effectively upholding a lower court decision thatlegalized the practice in six western states.

The March ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals made it legal to access sections of public ground previously considered “corner locked” within Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

This means that in those states you can legally “corner cross,” which is the act of crossing from one block of public land to another at the points where the blocks meet. Corner crossers do not set foot on private land, but until now, it’s been unclear whether the action is legal under federal law.

After his loss in the 10th Circuit, the plaintiff, Fred Eshelman, owner of Iron Bar Holdings, filed a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. He wanted SCOTUS to review the 10th Circuit’s decision and, if he got his way, strike it down.

On September 17, 2025, the legal team for the “Missouri Four” filed their own brief with SCOTUS.

“We filed a brief with the Supreme Court explaining that it does not need to review the Tenth Circuit’s careful and correct decision that landowners may not eliminate public access to public land. The Tenth Circuit’s commonsense conclusion doesn’t need to take up space on the Supreme Court’s limited docket. But if the Supreme Court chooses to review this case, we are ready for that fight,” Ryan Semerad told MeatEater.

Semerad is the attorney for Bradly Cape, Phillip Yeomans, John Slowensky, and Zachary Smith, the Missouri hunters at the center of this case.

While the justices did not explain why they refused to hear the case, they obviously agreed with Semerad and his team on some level. As of October 20, SCOTUS declined to hear Eshelman’s appeal.

“The Supreme Court’s action affirms a principle hunters and anglers have long understood: corner crossing is not a crime,” said Devin O’Dea, Western Policy & Conservation Manager for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers in apress release. “Access to 3.5 million acres of public lands has been secured because four hunters from Missouri took a leap of faith across a corner, and the Wyoming Chapter of BHA stood up in their defense. It’s a victory worth celebrating, and a key domino in the fight for public land access across the West.”

This decision leaves the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling intact. So, corner crossing remains legal. However, Semerad cautions the hunting public to use the narrowest legal description of corner crossing, should you choose to exercise this right in the 10th Circuit’s jurisdiction. Only cross at corners, only on foot, and make it clear that you are going from point “A” to point “B.”

Corner crossing bills have been considered at the state level both inside and outside the 10th Circuit, setting a good example by following that narrow letter of the law. Acting like the Missouri hunters did is our best chance of seeing positive legislation in the future.

Note: The feature image does not depict a corner crossing, it’s just a good old-fashioned fence crossing.

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