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Judge rules Missouri hunters didn't trespass when "corner-crossing" over private land

Brad Cape opened a celebratory bottle of bourbon on Friday when he got word from his attorney.

Cape's three hunting partners — Philip Yeomans, John Slowensky and Zach Smith — also felt a weight lifted from their shoulders.

A federal judge ruled that the four Missouri residents didn't trespass when they corner-crossed through the airspace over private land in Wyoming during their 2020 and 2021 hunting trips, sparking a civil lawsuit that had the group facing more than $7 million in alleged damages.

A year after the hunters were declared not guilty in Wyoming criminal court, Chief U.