If you don’t like using cameras, then don’t use them. We need another hunting regulation like we need an annual colonoscopy.
There are lots of things that are legal, that I won’t use. Bait. Trail cameras. Inline Muzzleloaders with or without optics. Running with dogs.
Some of those things are legal in some jurisdictions. Some are illegal in some jurisdictions. The justification is invariably “fair chase.” But if the application of “fair chase” varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, then it is not based on ethics.
I agree that cameras should not be allowed on public land, or should be “fair game” if left on public land. Same goes for anything else that anyone leaves on public land.
But I don’t really care to try to draw the line on this one because I don’t care if Bob uses a trail camera, bait, and a laser-guided missile to kill a deer. If Bob feels like a great hunter for that, then who am I to judge? In my mind, Bob has nothing to brag about, but I can’t say that what he has done is wrong.
Nothing that Bob does will change how I will hunt. And I prefer as few hunting regulations as possible. I want the hunting regulations to actually reflect ethics. Universal things like “you must make all reasonable efforts to recover potentially wounded game.”
If it was up to me there would be one deer hunting season from October 1 to December 31. No special archery season. No muzzleloader season. Just a deer hunting season. Game wardens could spend their time enforcing regulations based on ethics and bag limits. And if Bob wants to use all the technology at his disposal to kill a deer, then he can. And if Jim wants to use a spear to kill a deer, then he can. And if Joe wants to use something more “normal” in the middle, then he can.
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