• 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

Ditching trail cameras?

BTaylor said:
I would say no to both questions. I know of guys that will putout dozens of cameras on public and then use an e-bike to to run them. I would venture to say that the majority of people hunting public ground dont have 5k+ to drop on a bike and trail cams. But I will ask again why do you feel you need those things? Why are so many intent on finding every easy button they can?
Click to expand...
The Ebike thing is touchy to me because it is power by something other than oneself so i feel that if they are allowed all powered bikes should be allowed and then well why not all powered vehicles so it opens a big can of worms.
 
BTaylor said:
Well that depends on who you ask. LOL Got a buddy that used to leave everything in the tree if he was going to hunt that stand the next morning. Would come out with just his headlight and phone. Pretty sure the phone got left a time or two.
Click to expand...

How did he find the tree again without his GPS, lol.
 
Another thing that just entered my mind as i watch the parkland shooting sentencing is. A cellular camera could be used to stalk someone and inflict harm to someone in the woods do to its instant nature of the picture.
 
Plebe said:
How did he find the tree again without his GPS, lol.
Click to expand...
Just lucky I guess. Although we grew up back in the era of compass possums. If you were going to hunt really deep, you'd catch a possum and shove in the pack. When you got down, you turn the possum loose and follow it out. Possums always go straight to the road so they can get run over.
 
If someone like this kid (parkland shooter) can do what he did than its not out of the questions that should be asked about cellular cameras on public land.
 
We're pretty fortunate to have the public lands we do. Those lands aren't solely reserved for hunting. Sometimes you have to step out of your hunter boots in these conversations.

I don't have a strong opinion for banning trail cameras, but I can respect the argument that nature should be as natural as possible in preserved wilds.

Now there's folks like @Topdog hunting in spots that treasure hunters would never find. Nobody hears the trees that fall there. Cameras there basically don't exist.

But there's people who set cameras on main trails or just off or in scenic spots people are likely to end up, and they leave them there year round. Is a trail camera such an eyesore?

I don't know, but I do know trail cameras don't grow on trees.

My kid spends enough time on technology every day, when I bring him to the woods he doesn't need to see that spilling over into rare bastions of wilderness.

I feel the same about pre-set paracord and ladder stands and log ground blinds and other trash left in the woods.

But, putting my hunter boots on, I'm glad hunters are able to use these woods too. Limiting hunter manipulation of the wilderness to a set timeframe surrounding the hunting season seems a good balance.

Yet, we've probably all seen that there isn't a great deal of respect to those rules of governance, what with all the stands and crap we discover as we hike our forestlands.

Anyway, as I said, I'm not for banning trail cams, but wouldn't be any skin off my back if they were banned.

It gets a bit edgy when folks start talking about "their rights" on land that is part of a historic conservation plan. Respect the land, respect others. If we are smart about it, there's less to polarize folks over issues concerning the public we have.
 
Apex7 said:
I use them but no Wi-Fi cameras. I have taken some nice bucks mostly because I had pictures of the bucks and it made me hunt harder. Just knowing they were in the area along with sign they left behind kept me going. It gave me confidence to stay after it . The results speak for them self.View attachment 68213
Click to expand...
That’s a bad boy! What’s his inside spread?
 
Plebe said:
We're pretty fortunate to have the public lands we do. Those lands aren't solely reserved for hunting. Sometimes you have to step out of your hunter boots in these conversations.

I don't have a strong opinion for banning trail cameras, but I can respect the argument that nature should be as natural as possible in preserved wilds.

Now there's folks like @Topdog hunting in spots that treasure hunters would never find. Nobody hears the trees that fall there. Cameras there basically don't exist.

But there's people who set cameras on main trails or just off or in scenic spots people are likely to end up, and they leave them there year round. Is a trail camera such an eyesore?

I don't know, but I do know trail cameras don't grow on trees.

My kid spends enough time on technology every day, when I bring him to the woods he doesn't need to see that spilling over into rare bastions of wilderness.

I feel the same about pre-set paracord and ladder stands and log ground blinds and other trash left in the woods.

But, putting my hunter boots on, I'm glad hunters are able to use these woods too. Limiting hunter manipulation of the wilderness to a set timeframe surrounding the hunting season seems a good balance.

Yet, we've probably all seen that there isn't a great deal of respect to those rules of governance, what with all the stands and crap we discover as we hike our forestlands.

Anyway, as I said, I'm not for banning trail cams, but wouldn't be any skin off my back if they were banned.

It gets a bit edgy when folks start talking about "their rights" on land that is part of a historic conservation plan. Respect the land, respect others. If we are smart about it, there's less to polarize folks over issues concerning the public we have.
Click to expand...
I couldn’t agree more, this is spot on… cameras on public land is giving some folks the same mentality as leaving stands all over the woods, claiming that ground as their own, drives me crazy, when I’m in the woods that’s what I want to see, unaltered forest.
 
One of my go-to lines is that the price we pay to hunt on public land, is having to share that public land with others. Part of sharing public land, is sharing it with people who use it differently than I do. If I want to go canoeing on a lake with a public boat launch, I'm a jerk if I try to prevent others from waterskiing, because they might interfere with my peaceful canoe experience.

I spent 9 years on the edges of the BWCA and one of the main conflicts was between the "silent sport mafia" - hikers, canoeists, dogsledders, etc. - jealously protecting their pristine wilderness experience from any sort of intrusion, to the extent that a snowmobile trail outside of the BWCA was shut down because the engines could be heard inside the wilderness, and a contemplated cell tower was cancelled because it would be visible from inside the wilderness. As much as I love these activities, I thought this level of jealousy was bonkers, selfish, and unfair to people who wanted to play outside differently than they did. I see this debate as similar.

I, personally, don't use trail cameras on public land. Mostly because I'd expect somebody would steal them, or steal my SD card, or otherwise mess with them. But if they're legal where I hunt, my fellow sportsmen have as much moral right to hang them, as I do to eschew them. The possibility that somebody might photograph me, while distasteful, is a non-issue - on public land I'm "in public"; the CCTV footage at the gas station or ATM or whatever might include me, so might a trail cam in public woods.

I'd also consider them as analogous to tree stands - 'public land, public stand' - so that if I had an SD card reader I'd have no moral qualms in reading the SD card, as long as I put it back without deleting anything.

Extending that analogy, I'd be fine with them being regulated like tree stands or traps on public land; you can't put them out before so many days before the season and have to take them out so many days after the season. Maybe it's fair to require they be tagged with the owner's name and DNR number, maybe their location registered with the DNR. Stands, traps, and the like without the tags, or outside of those dates, are considered abandoned property or litter and are subject to removal and other punitive enforcement action. But I don't think they should be banned outright.

The 'fair chase' argument resonates with me, but, again, this is public land, and the public at large has a right to recreate on it as they see fit. The state should set a minimum level of legal hunting practice, which we as ethical hunters should exceed as our consciences dictate. I'm not entirely convinced that using trail cams on public land is in conflict with fair chase, and I'm not entirely convinced that the government should ban them on these grounds.
 
Any one else doing the national Arizona Challenge this year? Absolutely no game cameras? Get back to the basics and fundamentals of hunting before marketing and technology ruined the hobby. I pulled my 1 non wireless cam and decided I will try the Arizona Challenge for 2022-2023 season. Really focus on woodsmans ship rather than relying on a wireless live picture like a choadwalla.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Aeds151 said:
Any one else doing the national Arizona Challenge this year? Absolutely no game cameras? Get back to the basics and fundamentals of hunting before marketing and technology ruined the hobby. I pulled my 1 non wireless cam and decided I will try the Arizona Challenge for 2022-2023 season. Really focus on woodsmans ship rather than relying on a wireless live picture like a choadwalla.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I think it would be cool if we could get a group of us who chose not to use them this year. Then report back throughout the season on our thoughts about it. Are you doing this by choice or do u live in Arizona?
 
Aeds151 said:
Any one else doing the national Arizona Challenge this year? Absolutely no game cameras? Get back to the basics and fundamentals of hunting before marketing and technology ruined the hobby. I pulled my 1 non wireless cam and decided I will try the Arizona Challenge for 2022-2023 season. Really focus on woodsmans ship rather than relying on a wireless live picture like a choadwalla.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I hunt a military base that doesn't allow them so I do this challenge every year at least some of the places I hunt.
 
If we ban cameras then why stop there? I say go big or go home. Let’s outlaw compound bows, waterproof clothes, mechanical broadheads, rangefinders, binoculars, havalon knives, pen and paper for recording hunt notes, and any technology that gives us an unfair advantage. Let’s rely on true woodsmanship and just use a sharp stick and mud on every part of our body not covered by a loin cloth for camo.
Obviously joking.. but it is interesting to see where everybody draws their line in the sand with technology and cameras.
 
KYHunter said:
If we ban cameras then why stop there? I say go big or go home. Let’s outlaw compound bows, waterproof clothes, mechanical broadheads, rangefinders, binoculars, havalon knives, pen and paper for recording hunt notes, and any technology that gives us an unfair advantage. Let’s rely on true woodsmanship and just use a sharp stick and mud on every part of our body not covered by a loin cloth for camo.
Obviously joking.. but it is interesting to see where everybody draws their line in the sand with technology and cameras.
Click to expand...
I use trail cams but I also stated above that I'd love to see them banned or just banned during the season. I do like to know what's around. I own a cell trail cam but don't think I'd ever use it for hunting purposes as I don't like the real time data for hunting but it has all but alleviated my trespassing problem at my house as I was able to catch people in the act and the local deputies were then willing to do something about it.
 
Gator said:
I use trail cams but I also stated above that I'd love to see them banned or just banned during the season. I do like to know what's around. I own a cell trail cam but don't think I'd ever use it for hunting purposes as I don't like the real time data for hunting but it has all but alleviated my trespassing problem at my house as I was able to catch people in the act and the local deputies were then willing to do something about it.
Click to expand...
Prime example of why I would never support a ban on private land.
 
KYHunter said:
If we ban cameras then why stop there? I say go big or go home. Let’s outlaw compound bows, waterproof clothes, mechanical broadheads, rangefinders, binoculars, havalon knives, pen and paper for recording hunt notes, and any technology that gives us an unfair advantage. Let’s rely on true woodsmanship and just use a sharp stick and mud on every part of our body not covered by a loin cloth for camo.
Obviously joking.. but it is interesting to see where everybody draws their line in the sand with technology and cameras.
Click to expand...
Going back to that technology era brings back in to play herding game over bluffs or cliffs and collecting meat at the bottom. Efficiency ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top