No more trail cameras allowed in Utah

[Marshhawk]

Didn't take long for this manure to begin.....

 

[Skeggs]

Technology cannot be successfully banned, restricted, or prevented. It just never works. And laws and regulations only work where their is mutual consent and agreement, and "work" is a relative term.
Think traffic laws.
We sort of obey them.
Sort of.
A majority is 101 people ruling over 100 people. Once that concept takes hold, good intentions and statements like "they ought to pass a law" start showing up everywhere a cause can be created.
Next thing you know, they'll want to ban guns....

 

[Flintlock]

I have signs on each gate and each house. When a camera no longer works, I put them up in an obvious place.

You can buy broken cameras for around $10 or so.

Well that solves a lot of prob

Thank you for this post! I was reluctant to post it myself knowing their would be hair raising on the back of those that use these gadgets. These modern gadgets, as you very well stated, "takes the hunt out of hunting".

Yep, I get a kick out of so many saying they really aren't that much good for anything but yet have to have them.

 

[Sidney Smith]

One could always state the cameras are there for security purposes and not for hunting. There's got to be a grey area there someplace.

 

[LME]

aint no way some commie politician is going to tell me i cant put up a security camera on my private property
a simpler way to fix the situation would be to make a safe zone around natural water scorces
1000 yards, no cameras or firearms in any direction would take of the concentration of cameras and hunters on public land

I have no problem with security cameras. I use them myself. I have a problem with using cameras to hunt an animal. You have the right idea, setting some sort of rules would be the way to go.

 

[Mantihunter]

I live and hunt in Utah. Almost all of our big game hunting is on public land, either BLM or Forest Service property. Our archery and muzzleloader seasons are in the late summer/early fall so I often hunt water holes or springs and have been regularly successful over the years. During that time, I've located several water holes that I use on a regular basis, depending on wind conditions and other factors. The past few years, I've seen multiple trail cams on all of them. The spring that I wanted to hunt near last fall had 3 cameras on it. Needless to say, no deer or elk had been using the water, only range cattle and sheep. I also own a piece of property in the mountains of Idaho where we'll build our retirement home this spring. It's in a gated community and hunting within the community is not allowed. Fortunately, I can walk 300 yards from the house, pass through a locked gate and be hunting on National Forest land. I have trail cameras on my lot, which is totally legal and I regularly get photos of deer, elk, bears, small game and the occasional moose on my property. It's fun seeing the animals on my lot. I can't hunt them and having the cameras doesn't give me an unfair advantage in locating game in the areas where I can hunt. I think the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has done the right thing in banning them on public land. Now, enforcing the law will be a whole different matter since we have so few conservation officers throughout the state. Short of pulling down and confiscating a camera that's been illegally placed on public land, I don't know how the law will be enforced.

 

[user 36911]

I never even considered using them. They're just another aid real hunters don't need.

 

[SPQR70AD]

one could argue trail cams are a little like cheating. giant bucks only move in the middle of the night. so some guys record that time and go out at night at the right time and shoot the buck

 

[retrieverman]

"The state’s wildlife department voted to restrict the use of trail cameras for hunting. The decision was made after the Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) conducted a survey and found that use of the devices for hunting purposes was opposed by the majority of respondents"

Sounds like Wildlife Dept. listened to the residents.

That‘s probably one of those surveys where they cherry picked the folks asked. I don’t trust ANYTHING the .gov crowd says anymore.

The banning of game cams in AZ and UT is nothing but political grandstanding and is in no way enforceable on private land.

If they try to ban them in TX and/or OK, I will become an outlaw, because at this stage in my hunting life, I get more enjoyment out of check cameras than I do actually hunting.

 

[Gunner]

That‘s probably one of those surveys where they cherry picked the folks asked. I don’t trust ANYTHING the .gov crowd says anymore.

The banning of game cams in AZ and UT is nothing but political grandstanding and is in no way enforceable on private land.

If they try to ban them in TX and/or OK, I will become an outlaw, because at this stage in my hunting life, I get more enjoyment out of check cameras than I do actually hunting.

Good point. For many, a picture of an animal is just as good as harvesting one

 

[Tennessee Muzzy]

Not so. They only tell you what is in the area where you have a camera. I just started using them and have not been any more successful than I was before.

The majority of sightings are at night and unless you are a jacklighter, you will not notice a difference.

I agree I have been and will continue to use trail camera they Don't guarantee you an animal they are interesting to see some of what is in your area and what is no longer there as time and season progresses what might come by today or mainly at night might not ever show up again. They are best from what I've seen to give you an idea if you have trespassing and poaching going on we put them on all access points around food plots I even put non working cams out for decoys a few have walked off but real camera has some pictures of the trash that got them. Had outbreak of lights in middle of night on different cameras I let word out to suspected people about getting multiple pictures and haven't seen anymore

 

[Tennessee Muzzy]

That‘s probably one of those surveys where they cherry picked the folks asked. I don’t trust ANYTHING the .gov crowd says anymore.

The banning of game cams in AZ and UT is nothing but political grandstanding and is in no way enforceable on private land.

If they try to ban them in TX and/or OK, I will become an outlaw, because at this stage in my hunting life, I get more enjoyment out of check cameras than I do actually hunting.

Same here

 

[user 36911]

Good point. For many, a picture of an animal is just as good as harvesting one

The picture doesn't taste very good.

 

[SDSmlf]

The picture doesn't taste very good.

The picture is easier to carry out of the woods.

 

[Crockford]

I have a neighborhood that joins my property on one side. The lots are about an 1/2 acre. I walked the property line a few weeks ago and 5 of the houses had cellular game cameras pointed to corn piles in their back yards. The only trees/woods is my property. I have cameras that take cards you have to read. Before deer season started I had 5 really nice bucks on my place. I plant a lot of food plots for the wildlife and never hunt on my property because I have land to hunt elsewhere. All 5 bucks were shot opening weekend by my neighbors. Their backyards are only about 50 yards deep to the edge of my property. The cellular cameras alert them when the deer comes to their corn pile in the middle of the night. All they do is open their back doors and shoot them with crossbows. I don't have a problem with the card cameras but the good ol'boys around here are using the cellular ones to kill the mature old bucks at night. The cellular cameras have taken the place of spotlighting deer .

 

[Tennessee Muzzy]

The picture is easier to carry out of the woods.

Many times y

I have a neighborhood that joins my property on one side. The lots are about an 1/2 acre. I walked the property line a few weeks ago and 5 of the houses had cellular game cameras pointed to corn piles in their back yards. The only trees/woods is my property. I have cameras that take cards you have to read. Before deer season started I had 5 really nice bucks on my place. I plant a lot of food plots for the wildlife and never hunt on my property because I have land to hunt elsewhere. All 5 bucks were shot opening weekend by my neighbors. Their backyards are only about 50 yards deep to the edge of my property. The cellular cameras alert them when the deer comes to their corn pile in the middle of the night. All they do is open their back doors and shoot them with crossbows. I don't have a problem with the card cameras but the good ol'boys around here are using the cellular ones to kill the mature old bucks at night. The cellular cameras have taken the place of spotlighting deer .

Is baiting legal there ? If not don't be bashful turn them in or start hunting there and kill them yourself and with friends take there Disneyland hunts away

 

[painter]

I have a neighborhood that joins my property on one side. The lots are about an 1/2 acre. I walked the property line a few weeks ago and 5 of the houses had cellular game cameras pointed to corn piles in their back yards. The only trees/woods is my property. I have cameras that take cards you have to read. Before deer season started I had 5 really nice bucks on my place. I plant a lot of food plots for the wildlife and never hunt on my property because I have land to hunt elsewhere. All 5 bucks were shot opening weekend by my neighbors. Their backyards are only about 50 yards deep to the edge of my property. The cellular cameras alert them when the deer comes to their corn pile in the middle of the night. All they do is open their back doors and shoot them with crossbows. I don't have a problem with the card cameras but the good ol'boys around here are using the cellular ones to kill the mature old bucks at night. The cellular cameras have taken the place of spotlighting deer .

In NH that would be called poaching. Is it not where you live?

 

[Crockford]

Yes, you can hunt over bait in Alabama if you buy a bait license. It is illegal to shoot at night unless hog or predator hunting. Lots of guys are going out hog/ predator hunting at night with night scopes shooting deer not hogs. I live outside the city limits and the neighborhood is not in the city limits so they can actually fire a firearm in their yards. The houses are pretty close together so Firearms would alert and piss off their neighbors, so they are shooting them with bows. I have found several dead deer on my property with arrow wounds and have found random arrows that were not mine or my boys in the woods boarding the neighborhood. I don't own the deer and can't keep them from going into their yards and if they have a hunting license there is no law against them shooting one on their 1/2 acre lot during legal shooting time. It is illegal to retrieve a deer on someone else's property without permission and it would take a really well placed shot to keep a deer in their backyard after a shot. It is very frustrating to say the least.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Its not just about taking game and night hunting is illegal. Without the camera I would never have been able to enjoy this action.

 

[William Lincoln]

Real-time game cameras on public land,is not fair if used to spot game
for hunting. If used for other purposes Ok maybe. But hunting should
require skill, effort and fairness to the animal being hunted. Technology
is removing sportsmanship.