Utah Outlaws All Trail Cameras

[lukew]

By Dan Pickar- The time has come in the state of Utah. Yesterday, January 4th, the Utah Wildlife Board met and were set to vote on whether or not trail cams should be outlawed on public land. Due to a split vote of the board, the chairman cast the deciding vote to ban all trail cameras for the use of hunting on public and private land from July 31st to December 31st beginning in 2022. The provision stated that private landowners can still use trail cams to monitor their property but they can’t use it for the intention of hunting. This vote follows suit with other states out West banning trail cameras during hunting season, namely Arizona and Nevada. This vote came after a survey was sent out to more than 9,000 license holders to see what they thought; 57% never used a trail camera and around half thought that they should be illegal. Around two thirds of the respondents thought that wireless transmitting trail cameras should be illegal.
This ruling also makes it illegal for outfits to sell trail camera photos with date and locations for animals to the highest bidder. This issue has popped up the past couple of years where we have been seeing people capturing trail camera images and selling the coordinates to hunters. The public survey showed strong support for that to be illegal.
Thermal imaging devices were also made illegal during hunting season and they cannot be used two days before hunting season opens and two days after hunting season closes. You can’t use thermal imaging devices to recover an animal you shot either.

We are seeing a turning of the tide in the western states regarding technology usage for hunting. Is this a slippery slope or is it a move in the right direction?

Utah Outlaws All Trail Cameras - Eastmans' Official Blog | Mule Deer, Antelope, Elk Hunting and Bowhunting Magazine | Eastmans' Hunting Journals

The time has come in the state of Utah. Yesterday, January 4th, the Utah Wildlife Board met and were

blog.eastmans.com

 

[Backcountry Junkie]

To me, using trail cams should be legal, but selling the images probably shouldn't. As hunters, we want to remain ethical, and selling photos and coordinates to the highest bidder seems a bit unethical.

 

[Muley bound]

This is indeed a slippery slope! I definitely see both sides of the story here. I don’t hunt those states, but I do use trail cameras on my private property. I didn’t know outfitters or others were selling pics with coordinates for game.....that is completely stupid, but then again lazy people will pay for whatever they can get their hands on. I’ve never placed a trail cam on public lands in fear of them getting stolen.
The issue I have with that: if I’m a private landowner, there is no reason why I can’t put trail cameras out. It’s my property, I have that right. There’s obviously a grey area if the rule states for “only monitoring your property”. Loopholes there that can’t be enforced unless concrete evidence.
Over all the years I’ve used trail cameras, I never actually killed a deer because of them. Its nice for me to run cameras for a few reasons:
1) monitor trespassing
2) my property is almost 2 hours away, so I can monitor my food plots as far as growth or storm damage, flooding, etc.
3) monitor water holes and see if they need filling
4)also a great tool to monitor the deer herd, as far as buck to doe ratio, fawn ratio, age class, overall health. Good indicator whether or not to harvest more doe. That’s things I can’t do from 2 hours away or from a couple sits in the stand.
5) I get some really cool photos of other wildlife as well that you don’t see otherwise!

 

[Winchester]

Sounds about right to me. They were getting way out of control. Good decision to ban them.

 

[JimP]

Ban isn't really the word that should be used.

There are a lot of exceptions such on private property and or those using them for something other than hunting. But the question is how do you determine just how they are being used.

 

[kidoggy]

I don't use cameras so don't really much care either way . but it is my humble opinion that this is just another feel good law that cannot and will not be enforced. being such I suspect all the fools will rally in support of it.

I do agree people are misusing them and it is an unfair advantage that gives loser hunters a chance to kill what they otherwise couldn't . but I live my life being accountable for only my own decisions and feel no need to try to control the actions of others as most of our species do.
JMHONMNL!

 

[Shane13]

That doesn't make much sense to me - especially banning trail cameras on private land, even with exceptions. I can show you trail camera pictures from the land I own in Texas of several really nice bucks that I never killed or even saw while I was out hunting this year. I know they're around, but having trail camera photos of them didn't help me kill them.

And I used to never use trail cameras. I preferred to just hunt "blind" and keep it a mystery as to what critters may or may not be there. I get that sentiment as well. But even then, I never had any thought of trying to pass a law to force everyone else to hunt the way I wanted to hunt. Hunters, like just about every other group of people these days, spend way to much time and energy trying to force others to adopt their personal preferences. If some other guy has an advantage like a trail camera or more money - or being a resident with higher draw odds and cheaper tag fees and easier access to year round scouting so he doesn't need to buy trailcam pics, that's just the way it is.

We have bigger enemies than each other (hopefully).

 

[buckbull]

Not a surprise when you see this kind of nonsense on public ground. I wonder how much time CPO's spend dealing with conflicts of this kind of crap?

 

[mallardsx2]

Ya that pretty much sums up where my friend hunted in Utah. There was 9 on one "mud hole" as they called them on the mountain east of SLC. He sent me a picture of it years ago. Wish I had saved that picture.

 

[mallardsx2]

This bull was killed over that very water hole 1 hour later. One of the other guys who had another camera on that same "mud hole" was in another treestand nearby got that photo and slipped in there and killed him as I understand it.



Make no mistake about it, my old friend would have used it in the same manner if he had been on the mountain that day....


I mean look at this:

Cellular Trail Cameras | Game Cameras | Moultrie Mobile

Moultrie Mobile has the best cellular trail cameras in the U.S. Learn more about our state of the art wildlife cameras, accessories and mobile app.

www.moultriemobile.com

The thing even tells you the best time to hunt based on activity....

Lord.

 

[Muley bound]

Not a surprise when you see this kind of nonsense on public ground. I wonder how much time CPO's spend dealing with conflicts of this kind of crap?


View attachment 38513

View attachment 38512

Now that is just downright ridiculous!!!!

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Now that is just downright ridiculous!!!!

If I saw those 2 trees with the cameras attached like that, I'd get a can of orange spray paint and paint them all....camera lens included. In fact I think I'll start carrying a can with me for just that. LOL

 

[mallardsx2]

Sounds like a few bad apples got the ball rolling.....

 

[Hilltop]

Trail cameras are like anything else - eventually people start to abuse things. We like them for late summer pictures of bulls. It's fun to know what is around and I can honestly say several guys in our camp have shot fewer elk during the archery season because we are using them. They get pretty selective when they know a huge bull is using an area.

 

[kidoggy]

If I saw those 2 trees with the cameras attached like that, I'd get a can of orange spray paint and paint them all....camera lens included. In fact I think I'll start carrying a can with me for just that. LOL

and you'd probably be jailed for it also.

to be clear , I have no objection to you painting them .

 

[kidoggy]

Sounds like a few bad apples got the ball rolling.....


View attachment 38515

that's how all silly feel good laws are passed . a few bad apples and next thing one knows all must be punished!

 

[raspy]

I guess I run a few cell cams on private land I have permission for and I have yet to kill some of the nicer ones I have pictures of. I hunt public too that they are not allowed on and I would almost rather hunt that way and put some eyes on deer instead of eyes on phone. I like the guess work that goes into it. I think on public ground it should be illegal. Coming across a scenario like the picture above would take the fun right out of it. I would say that ranks right up there with finding someone’s poo pile.

 

[ColoradoV]

Don’t use em never have so skin off my back. More problematic to our Utahan brothers and guided hunters = is no piles of apples….. If you boys knew how many bucks were killed over apples lately in southern Utah…..

Also if you knew who is paying for scouting it would amaze some of you. I know for a fact one of the velvet bucks recently on the cover of eastmans was not scouted by the “hunter” but bought and paid for like a loaf of bread….

Ego…. There is a core group who knows if you pay for scouting and if you have to pay for someone else to find your buck it is what it is.. Great white hunter ego….

 

[JimP]

On the piles of apples, baiting big game in Utah was just banned starting last year along with using salt blocks.

 

[mallardsx2]

I watched Tiffany shoot a pretty big buck in Utah over a pile of something on TV just the other day.....(It was filmed several years ago)