-
The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
-
We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules
Trail Cam Bans
- Thread starter BenG
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2019
- Messages
- 1,373
Hypothetically, legally, a piece of public could have 500 little plastic electronic boxes on a particular acre. So if the powers that be said we’ll let you do some scouting but get them out of there for in-season, that doesn’t seem crazy.
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2022
- Messages
- 4,274
Also, I'm not a fan of banning in general but as a relatively disinterested onlooker, I can see that is where it is headed. From the state and law enforcement's perspective cameras are just turning into a flash point for trouble. Not everyone falls into this category for sure, but there are folks who equate putting up a camera and getting a deer's picture with having dibs on that spot, very much like hanging a stand. Then they get very territorial and defensive about someone "moving in on my spot/buck" and that is where the trouble begins. Or you have instances where one guy puts one out, another guy tampers with it or steals it and then it is back and forth until eventually someone gets hurt and law enforcement gets involved.
I don't use cameras much since I think they hurt more than they help me. If I want to hunt a particular spot and go in and there is a camera, I still hunt the spot. It just changes the way I categorize the spot. It might go from a spot I would only shoot a buck to an any legal deer spot since I know that spot has already been pressured.
It would not surprise me one bit if in ten years they are illegal on all public land in all 50 states.
I don't use cameras much since I think they hurt more than they help me. If I want to hunt a particular spot and go in and there is a camera, I still hunt the spot. It just changes the way I categorize the spot. It might go from a spot I would only shoot a buck to an any legal deer spot since I know that spot has already been pressured.
It would not surprise me one bit if in ten years they are illegal on all public land in all 50 states.
Last edited:
I would not in the least be bothered by a 100% ban on public land. Also wouldnt go to a public meeting and argue for it either.
Ban on public. Stands, cameras, tacks, candy wrappers, any and all trash. I go out there to get away from human presence. Other than trapping, carry in, carry out. Golden rule. I don't care what you do on private land.
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2020
- Messages
- 1,968
But if they do away with all that, how will you know where not to hunt?
I'm sure it'll all still be everywhere. All the mupheres do whatever they want anyway.
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2019
- Messages
- 6,277
This wouldn't matter much here. DNR only patrols water craft (particularly on popular lakes), trout fishermen because they can drive around and see them half the time, and WMA with lottery duck blinds. DNR never steps into the woods unless they are called to go somewhere and they deem it required and they feel like it. I never see their vehicles where anyone deer hunts. The only good thing is that if you saw a camera on public then you could turn them in and maybe DNR would come take it down. I wouldn't take down an illegal camera myself because the cam owner might see you on another camera and end up shooting you or vandalizing your vehicle.
As a general rule of thumb (at the risk of getting political) I'm usually against giving any government entity more power to tell us what to do (especially with public domain/resources).
Unless a certain activity is causing a measurable negative impact on the environment, wildlife, or hurting other people I'm of the mindset it should be fair game. I currently of the opinion that game cameras fall in the category of fair game, however I can be convinced otherwise with empirical evidence.
That being said I completely understand the mindset that bad actors can cause game cameras to be a flash point for confrontation. There's always some idiot out there trying to ruin a good thing. However, I would also argue that there is probably a sizable overlap between said individuals and the kind of folk that won't follow the rules if a ban were to be placed anyways. In essence a ban only punishes the people who follow the rules while enabling bad actors to continue being bad actors.
Unless a certain activity is causing a measurable negative impact on the environment, wildlife, or hurting other people I'm of the mindset it should be fair game. I currently of the opinion that game cameras fall in the category of fair game, however I can be convinced otherwise with empirical evidence.
That being said I completely understand the mindset that bad actors can cause game cameras to be a flash point for confrontation. There's always some idiot out there trying to ruin a good thing. However, I would also argue that there is probably a sizable overlap between said individuals and the kind of folk that won't follow the rules if a ban were to be placed anyways. In essence a ban only punishes the people who follow the rules while enabling bad actors to continue being bad actors.
Every decision the game commission makes is hugely about money. In every state that is currently holding out against allowing crossbows, it's simply a matter of time till they cave. The amount of license sales they bring is staggering. The first question a head of the commission would ask is if we banned cameras, how many would quit hunting over it. If even a tiny amount of sales are lost the answer is no.
I just spoke for quite a while with the head biologist of turkey research in the NE PA region. He was working the bear check station and checked my bear in. He told me behind closed doors all the biologists across the state are recommending to the commission the complete ban of hen turkey hunting in the fall to get the population back up. The pushback from the commissioners is how many people theyll tick off if they do so. It's always about money
I just spoke for quite a while with the head biologist of turkey research in the NE PA region. He was working the bear check station and checked my bear in. He told me behind closed doors all the biologists across the state are recommending to the commission the complete ban of hen turkey hunting in the fall to get the population back up. The pushback from the commissioners is how many people theyll tick off if they do so. It's always about money
I’m completely against banning on private land. on private I’m looking for more than just deer. There are predators of all kinds, humans of all kinds, farmers who rent the land, tenants from the guest house…all kinds of things to monitor. If I can have a Ring or Nest cam or any commercially available security system, I can put up trail cams of any kind on the land I live on. Period.
On public land I’m right where @BTaylor is. Tough to advocate for or against. I wouldn’t use them on public either way, unless they were cheapies that I was using to peg a certain deer or movement pattern. But as I’ve said in other threads, unless you’re using wifi cams and can get to the tree right freaking now, the Intel quickly runs stale on public, but hot sign is always hot sign.
On public land I’m right where @BTaylor is. Tough to advocate for or against. I wouldn’t use them on public either way, unless they were cheapies that I was using to peg a certain deer or movement pattern. But as I’ve said in other threads, unless you’re using wifi cams and can get to the tree right freaking now, the Intel quickly runs stale on public, but hot sign is always hot sign.
I don't think you should be able to leave anything on state land, ever.
Imagine how much smaller and more discreet the manufacturers would start making them if they were widely banned though! Like how we can't bait or put out minerals anywhere within 3 hours around here and every sporting goods store has two aisles of the crap.
My favorite is the giant pallets labeled "Deer Corn" that completely vanish in the weeks before the season at Walmart