Should cell cams be banned?

[EJFS]

Ban on public land, or at least Wilderness. Cell cams are certainly not on keeping with Wilderness character or ethics. There are rules against abandoning property and one could make a case that this could apply to trail cameras.

 

[dreadi]

No.

 

[BlacktailTracker]

Should we ban scopes and smokeless powder? Use whatever is legal or don’t use it… Joe

Seriously using a rifle that can shoot past 400 yards is a ridiculous advantage. I used one cell cam this year and all it did was show me that there are animals in the general area.

 

[eightyeight mag]

Pretty sure most people using cell cams on public land are just creepers hoping to catch an unsuspecting soul taking a deuce.
Sickos

 

[hibernation]

I'd be in favor of banning them, at least on public land and during hunting seasons. There's too many places where you could hang one on every wallow, sit in your truck before sunup, and immediately know which one the elk are coming off. I can only guess that some guides operate this way. I don't want to become the default hunting experience.

Even if it doesn't impact success rates, I sure think it impacts our public perception. People think we're out there getting real-time camera feed, using thermals and drones, it gets hard to defend/explain to the average nonhunter. With all the recent threats to hunting regulations via ballot initiative, it's worth considering how these kind of things sway public opinion.

 

[CJ19]

It has gotten beyond ridiculous with cell cams. All cams on public land need to come down during hunting season at a minimum.

 

[eightyeight mag]

Game department should put a $50 bounty on them.

 

[Skerhunter]

if this is true then why hasn't overall hunter success rates when up? Instead they have stayed steady since folks started tracking this data.

Because most people still suck at hunting!?!?

 

[180ls1]

The day is coming very soon where cell cams will actually be linked with satellite.

Yup, then AI tells you what it scores + pace/direction of travel...

 

[GoatPackr]

Yup, then AI tells you what it scores + pace/direction of travel...

Exactly. I don't have a problem with all that. Just not for use by people who hold a tag for that animal during open season days.
It's as fair chase as radio collars and tracking devices.

 

[BlacktailTracker]

Pretty sure most people using cell cams on public land are just creepers hoping to catch an unsuspecting soul taking a deuce.
Sickos

Really?!?
I don't believe that is true.

 

[Skerhunter]

I dabbled in cell cams for the first time this year, after taking a 5 year break from trail cams.

This is my take for whitetail hunting.

I think they are a great management tool (population/age). They are great for security to help catch trespassers realtime and to know when the cows are out.

Hunting wise it’s highly advantageous! It’s not that they guarantee success, but they can greatly increase your odds if used correctly. I would support a ban on them, especially as tech improves.

 

[FLHunter87]

How does a trail cam hurt? I really don't understand. It actually helps record data. If we can't use it, then game and fish should not be able to use them for research or any other matter as well. Is there any evidence more harvests are happening with and without trail cam? I really don't see the problem. People aren't going to run 20-30 cameras in wilderness areas. Maybe bigger outfitters might but the average person maybe 1 or 2 tops. Mind blowing to me people are upset about the use of trail cameras. Probably the same ones saying baiting should be banned, but then hunts over a food plot and act like that's not baiting.

 

[bigsky2]

I admittedly put out at least 20 non-transmitting game cameras in the mountains every year. I spend a lot of hours going to check them. I'm also big into wildlife photography and getting photos and videos of animals is just plain cool to me, even if its not for hunting purposes. That being said, I'd completely give up being able to use my trail cameras if it meant cell cams would be banned.

 

[Eship]

without giving it too much deep thought, I’m fine with it on private land, but would be fine with them banned on public land.

 

[menhaden_man]

Lots of stories of guys getting the text, seeing the buck they want in an area, and going out to shoot em. I think the fair chase argument is the major issue.

 

[hibernation]

How does a trail cam hurt? I really don't understand. It actually helps record data. If we can't use it, then game and fish should not be able to use them for research or any other matter as well. Is there any evidence more harvests are happening with and without trail cam? I really don't see the problem. People aren't going to run 20-30 cameras in wilderness areas. Maybe bigger outfitters might but the average person maybe 1 or 2 tops. Mind blowing to me people are upset about the use of trail cameras. Probably the same ones saying baiting should be banned, but then hunts over a food plot and act like that's not baiting.

The thread started on cellular trail cams specifically, which I honestly see as a fair chase issue. Getting live feed from a location is a pretty undeniable advantage. If it became the norm, I think hunting would be worse off. I feel the same way about drones and am glad that most western states got ahead of it and banned them for hunting use before it became an entrenched practice.

As far as regular trail cameras, I think people's perspective largely depends on where they're hunting. If you've hunted arid environments in the west, you've probably seen a water source or wallow that had multiple cameras hung all around it. It can get ridiculous in some areas. If you're primarily an eastern whitetail hunter, especially on private land, I get that you may feel differently.

Personally, I think it's fun to hang cameras and get pictures, but I would 100% be okay with a public land ban during hunting seasons. I don't use cellular cams.

 

[cnelk]

In Colorado, cell cams can’t be used during hunting season (public land)

Last fall, I know of a game warden that confiscated 13 cell cameras he found after hunting season started.

 

[ddd-shooter]

For me, it’s about sportsmanship and fair chase. I’ve said this before:

I think maybe we went too far when we allowed a device to be secured to a tree which uses infrared and motion sensing technology to imprint a digital photograph or video in 4k onto a digital storage device and then convert that via microchip into a file format which is then uploaded via 4 or 5g wireless internet to a server across the world to be instantly accessible via the supercomputer in your back pocket. All while it remains in the woods 24/7 as you go about your day. And this device is able to tell you time, temperature, moon phase and can also be integrated into an app which uses Artificial Intelligence to overlay each camera location onto an easily readable map which you can then use to extrapolate patterns of the critters you are hunting.


Honestly, I never thought the day would come where that would be fully accepted without any thought.

 

[LostArra]

As soon as prices come down on thermal drones the cell cams will be considered as primitive as knapped heads.

Yeah yeah I know they're banned for now. But so were crossbows in archery season at one time.

I have a couple of cell cams on my property just to see what's going on. I don't hunt this land. With the newest cam I realized it has a Live Stream feature so I can see the animals and where they are going right now. It does chew up the data.