Az Ban Trail Cams?

[COEngineer]

Sounds pretty far-fetched. Is this some political expediency? Just to get around the moratorium?

 

[winmag]

I guess this is what you do when the viability of your guiding business relies on putting out trail cameras on every water source in the unit. Cracks me up.

 

[tradermike]

One of the arguments against is people are in the woods all day checking cameras. There will be more people and for longer in the woods without cameras. There is no winning here and we haven't even brought up that its almost impossible to enforce.

Impossible to enforce?
Make trail cams illegal and they become pre-hung targets for myself and others that don't like them.....

 

[COEngineer]

Impossible to enforce?
Make trail cams illegal and they become pre-hung targets for myself and others that don't like them.....

Unless you want to break the law yourself, this is not an answer. For example, just because it's illegal to drive on a closed road doesn't mean I can shoot any truck I see on said road.

Maybe you were using hyperbole to make the point that you don't like trail cams. I don't like them on public land either, but the fact that there is one LEO for every umpteen thousand acres of national forest means there is very little enforcement of any rules, much less rules for trail cams.

Now, taking them down (if/when/where they are illegal) and turning them into the nearest LEO's office I would wholly support.

BTW, if you are going to shoot them, make sure of your backstop (and make sure you are far enough away that you cannot be identified in the pictures being taken by the other trail cam that is probably watching the trail cam you are shooting).

 

[Muley_Stalker]

All the game deserve fair chase hunting.

 

[tradermike]

Unless you want to break the law yourself, this is not an answer. For example, just because it's illegal to drive on a closed road doesn't mean I can shoot any truck I see on said road.

Maybe you were using hyperbole to make the point that you don't like trail cams. I don't like them on public land either, but the fact that there is one LEO for every umpteen thousand acres of national forest means there is very little enforcement of any rules, much less rules for trail cams.

Now, taking them down (if/when/where they are illegal) and turning them into the nearest LEO's office I would wholly support.

BTW, if you are going to shoot them, make sure of your backstop (and make sure you are far enough away that you cannot be identified in the pictures being taken by the other trail cam that is probably watching the trail cam you are shooting).

I get your point though it makes me wonder if a person that had hung a trail cam illegally would then attempt to draw attention to that fact by making an issue of said cam being shot or otherwise destroyed. My guess is "no"...
I don't generally carry bolt cutters in the back country and I believe most cams have security cables to prevent theft. So taking them down and turning them in wouldn't likely be realistic.
I am always sure of my backstop and thank you for the reminder that there may be more than one "target" available!

 

[Blackcats06]

I get your point though it makes me wonder if a person that had hung a trail cam illegally would then attempt to draw attention to that fact by making an issue of said cam being shot or otherwise destroyed. My guess is "no"...
I don't generally carry bolt cutters in the back country and I believe most cams have security cables to prevent theft. So taking them down and turning them in wouldn't likely be realistic.
I am always sure of my backstop and thank you for the reminder that there may be more than one "target" available!

The issue is AZ game and fish can only regulate “take”. They can not prevent a “wildlife viewer” from using a trail camera. So how is a game warden suppose to know if it’s a hunter trying to locate game or just a member of the public who doesnt hunt but likes pictures and video of wildlife. A game warden can not just take a camera if this law goes through. AZ terrain is not like other states. In Az there are roads everywhere and people can just drive to every water source so it is very easy to run cameras, and non hunters do run cameras.

 

[Gr8bawana]

The issue is AZ game and fish can only regulate “take”. They can not prevent a “wildlife viewer” from using a trail camera. So how is a game warden suppose to know if it’s a hunter trying to locate game or just a member of the public who doesnt hunt but likes pictures and video of wildlife. A game warden can not just take a camera if this law goes through. AZ terrain is not like other states. In Az there are roads everywhere and people can just drive to every water source so it is very easy to run cameras, and non hunters do run cameras.

While it's true some non-hunters use trail cams I would think the vast majority are put up by hunters and guides/outfitters.
The cameras still need to go.

 

[Blackcats06]

While it's true some non-hunters use trail cams I would think the vast majority are put up by hunters and guides/outfitters.
The cameras still need to go.

You're right but gf still can't take any camera. Hell the commission said if you don't have a tag for the current year you can still run cameras. It's not going to work, if it's not going to work why have the law

 

[MTGomer]

Here’s a few pics. I put this camera up Memorial Day 2020. Took down the one that didn’t burn memorial day 2021.
Although I could have used a OTC deer tag in this unit last year I didn’t. I didn’t apply for any draws in this unit. I have no immediate plans to hint here. Full disclosure…
If this camera picked up a 200” deer or 400” bull, I’d probably switch up my apps.

This was just fun for me. It’s one of the most remote places as far distance from a road on non tribal land in the entire state.

Legally it’s kind of a gray area now. Cameras are banned for hunting purposes. Would I risk my hunting and guides licenses to keep doing this? Probably not. Am I using this to pattern an animal and kill it? No.

Here is a sequence of the SW drought. Including some velvety bulls last year and then a wildfire. Up to the waterhole being dry this year.

And a burnt camera thrown in the mix.


I was hoping to see them either get a season put on them or banned on the kaibab and strip or banned on artificial water.
I do feel like it’s a bit excessive that a father and son in the sky islands can’t put a camera on a spring because a bunch of shithead guides in the trophy units can’t play nice

 

[Wind Gypsy]

How is it not a right? Why can't we do it because you don't like it? I do use trail cams. And I use them on public land (gasp) but I'd not say I use them to hunt really. I can count on 2 fingers the times we've shot deer we had on the cameras. I don't put them in super secret spots because there really are none where I hunt. But what I gain from them the most is, I get to see how many people pass by them in a 2 week period. I usually check them every 2 weeks in the fall. If I have people going past them a few times a day on the weekends, I hunt somewhere else.

I do however LOVE to see all the other things on the cameras. The turkeys I'd never guess would be in the middle of the northwoods in MN or WI. The wolves that pass the camera 5 min after I left or they left 3 minutes before I got there.

I also use trail cams on public land in N. MN. I never see anyone else's cams even though I know a handful of other groups in the area use them.

Comparing that to AZ with limited water sources and once in a lifetime tags where people are spending many thousands of dollars with outfitters is not apples to apples. I haven't seen any outfitters running hundreds of cameras trying to get their big $ clients on those elusive 120" bucks in wolf country..

 

[2rocky]

Probably because of all the big bucks dying of embarrassment from the names the Shedhunting Instagram influencers were giving them.

Don’t they realize how much content they are going to eliminate from the ‘gram? This could bring the hunting douche industry to its knees.

 

[MTGomer]

Comparing that to AZ with limited water sources and once in a lifetime tags where people are spending many thousands of dollars with outfitters is not apples to apples. I haven't seen any outfitters running hundreds of cameras trying to get their big $ clients on those elusive 120" bucks in wolf country..

Comparing that to *two trophy deer units and two elk units that most Arizonans don’t apply for and will never hunt in, up to 8 hours away from where 85% of Arizonans live* with limited water.

 

[Griggs]

Personally, I am for them being banned. And I used to use a couple of them.

But poaching is illegal, and one of my last two hunts I had SXS roll into my camp (mule deer) asking where the game was. 4 hunters in one SXS and brazen enough to tell me they didn't even have a tag. And when they found out I had a tag the sped off.

So how they will enforce this when they add in that gray area verbiage as well, we shall see. Especially when there seems to be 1 fish and game employee for every 5000 miles in AZ.