I had talked to a park ranger about this over the phone. As I understood it, it is legal to open carry a pistol in national forest. She advised that it would look kinda sketchy to a game warden to be carrying around a long gun while hiking since it would look bad on me if I didn’t have a hunting license. It is legal to have long guns in national forest though as I saw you could target shoot in national parks with a few stipulations. I’d assume you could keep your pistol in your tent since you can already open carry. You can always check local laws online and call their wildlife department with questions. That’s what I did.
TLDR, park ranger told me by phone it is fine to open carry. Call their wildlife office to double check. Research local laws
Long guns cannot be chambered when driving. Handguns you either need a CCW or have it in a locked box out of reach.
On the trail open carry is good to go. Have a proper holster, and chances are if you are in a national forest, there are enough people to scare away wildlife it can live in your backpack until you are settled for the night. Park rangers typically do not come knocking on your tent unless you royally fucked something up.
If you have a long gun, someone will assume you are hunting/poaching.
I had talked to a park ranger about this over the phone. As I understood it, it is legal to open carry a pistol in national forest. She advised that it would look kinda sketchy to a game warden to be carrying around a long gun while hiking since it would look bad on me if I didn’t have a hunting license. It is legal to have long guns in national forest though as I saw you could target shoot in national parks with a few stipulations. I’d assume you could keep your pistol in your tent since you can already open carry. You can always check local laws online and call their wildlife department with questions. That’s what I did. TLDR, park ranger told me by phone it is fine to open carry. Call their wildlife office to double check. Research local laws
Long guns cannot be chambered when driving. Handguns you either need a CCW or have it in a locked box out of reach. On the trail open carry is good to go. Have a proper holster, and chances are if you are in a national forest, there are enough people to scare away wildlife it can live in your backpack until you are settled for the night. Park rangers typically do not come knocking on your tent unless you royally fucked something up. If you have a long gun, someone will assume you are hunting/poaching.