Two Texas billionaires could throw a wrench in your hunting plans when the season opens next week.
The Wilks brothers own thousands of acres near a popular hunting area behind Bogus Basin and they've just installed a new gate that could restrict access to that public land.
Driving to that public hunting ground involves a scary trip ...With huge drop offs ...And a one lane dirt road.
But hunters love it.
"This is really popular. This is unit 39. It's the closest unit to the Treasure Valley." says Brian Brooks, Executive Director of the Idaho Wildlife Foundation.
And for hunters...Forest Service road 374 isn't as scary as this... A bright orange gate that went up in the last few weeks.
"Shutting it off just before hunting season would catch a lot of people off guard," says Brooks,"My guess is you wouldn't go through the trouble of paying someone to install a nice and sturdy gate if you didn't plant to shut the gate."
Right now, the gate is open but to show you how serious they seem to be about keeping people off their property, look at this, a virtual moat dug next to the side of the road to keep people out."
Brooks says he recently encountered armed guards at the gate hired by DF Development which is owned by the Texas billionaires
"I asked them when it'll be shut off and at that moment installing a new padlock, they said access would be shut off sometime this week. "
We called local representatives for DF to ask what they plan to do with the gate, and they refused to comment.
But it's clear by the sign that the Wilks brothers feel they own the road.
And pity the hunter who braves the drive up, only to find their passage to public lands, blocked.
The Boise National Forest says there are other ways to get to the public land, but it may be a much longer trip to get there.
The Boise National Forest says it is efforting a meeting with DF Development this week to come to an agreement on keeping the road open to the public.
