Dguidry can probably help out on this...
So the deer lease holders next to our lease gated off a natural bayou at the beginning of their properly line. This is a natural bayou that is listed on the office of state lands as "state claimed". The gate actually blocks access to part of our property via the natural bayou. Is there any way this is legal?

I don't know about your area , but same thing happened here and trinity river authority wrote some hefty fines to landowner . Might call your local water authority .

H Finn

Ask them to voluntarily grant you access first . If they refuse there are many options but none will be easy or quick.

damn people find another place to hunt and stop trying to move yourself into others lands.I hate mine off and that's the law on the small ditches and bayous as long as we own land on both sides!!

natural bayou and navigatable waters is two completely differant things in legaleze. lol

that sonris map that shows state land has plenty of errors on it, it is to be used as a guide, not as the law.

if you do have right to a easement, they will have to grant you acess. it may take alot of effort to prove your standing to get that acess.

i know we have a bayou gated off on my lease. if you don't, the typical levee rats will rape it blind. poachers are bad enough, but the bass fisherman are by far the loudest cryers, even though the bayou is too shallow to run their glitterboats.

probly the best thing to do is go talk to the people and work something out and go from there.

Navigable in fact is not always navigable in law. Many things are to be considered in determining navigability rights. I believe Louisiana uses a 3 out of 5 criteria that must be met for a waterway to navigable by law.

If the water is navicable they are restriced from doing so here in Fla. However you may be different. I can tell you I'd get my shit together and then cut it right in the middle and hunt the area.

Is the gate a navigation hazard? Or is it just blocking a ditch? The landowners in my area got into a mess of crap years ago when they Gated a canal and some guy later hit it running at night.

Is it a gate or plastics drums blocking it? U can get over drums all day long, just have to hit it like a levee and slide right over.

if you own the property and its not a navigable water way, you can gate.

a small cut off of a pipeline or bayou is not navigable water

In SC DHEC determines what waters are considered navigable and no GW can make the determination.

Department of Health & environmental control