Arizona may ban trail cams

[Brent in Az]

I realize this may raise some hackles, but I agree with this. Trail cams have gotten way out of control in many areas.

Arizona wildlife commission considers ban on remote cameras for hunting

Arizona hunters would no longer be allowed to use motion-activated trail cameras to stalk game under a new rule proposed by state wildlife regulators.

tucson.com

 

[BRICKBURN]

How have they gotten "way out of hand"?

 

[Brent in Az]

How have they gotten "way out of hand"?

If you walk up to a water hole in an Elk hunting unit, you get your picture taken about a dozen times.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I guess when you only have three water points per 10,000 acres it could be an issue.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Gotta say I have never seen anything like this in my life.

 

[Brent in Az]

I guess when you only have three water points per 10,000 acres it could be an issue.

Especially during a drought season. Tree trunks tend to get crowded. Theft and vandalism, is another issue with cams.

 

[Tracey Colson]

I see some issues with this ban.

1) The article says they are going to allow them to be used for "recreational purposes". How are they going to differentiate between hunting and recreation? Seems to me to be a pretty blurred line at best.

2) The article goes on to say that they are concerned about the activity around water holes keeping the game away. If people did not have these trail cams up how are they going to scout the water holes? The only way would be to physically be there watching the water hole in person. If they think the activity of people going in the middle of the day to collect the cards is bad, wait until 5 people are sitting around that water hole at prime time trying to catch a glimpse of whatever game is coming in.

To me this reeks of anti-hunting groups trying to find a solution to keep people from harvesting game. Their best bet is to try and get us to turn on each other and that is exactly what this kind of action/legislation does.

 

[Brent in Az]

It was actually a large group of hunters that pettioned the AGFD to institute a ban.

Personally, I stay away from the popular areas that are prone for this. Just prior, and during hunting season, those areas can become a circus. Occasional fights can break out, as hunters try and claim rights to water holes, and prime tree stand locations during Archery hunts.

I have my own areas, and I seek out my own slice of solitude, even if the hunting may be a little more difficult.

 

[Firebird]

We have the same problem in utah-find a water hole or a salt lick and it will have multiple cameras on it. I personally run two dozen of them-I like the exercise in and out of the hunting areas and I love the pix of target animals as well as the unusual ones.
I’ve heard proposals to have them all taken down when hunting season starts or register them with the state, remove them if they aren’t registered. I leave mine up all winter long and people complain I am claiming ownership of those spots-but I love the pix of wildlife that occur in winter.
it is a problem, one without an easy solution

 

[Brent in Az]

We also have personnel that work for the Forest service, that are notorious for making trail cams and tree stands disappear.

 

[375Fox]

This is really interesting. I never thought of using a trail camera for an instant notification on cell phone an animal is there at that moment. Definitely brings up a discussion of fair chase hunting.

 

[Philip Glass]

I am a rancher, land manager, wildlife manager, predator manager, and livestock manager. I manage animals for a living. Any tool that helps manage animals is a good thing. Can technology be taken too far? Sure. But this is not that.
We get criticized for growing big deer in Texas while in other states guys brag about killing a “Y” buck (1.5 year old fork horn). We manage our animals to get the best one to grow to old age while wacking all the inferior deer. We do this in many ways but to include baiting, using blinds, and of course trail cameras. We just want to make he right decisions.
I never will understand guys shooting spike elk or 2-3 year old bucks. I really hate bow hunters who take young bucks and say it was good for a bow hunt. You see it’s not because I despise them, it’s because I am a manager who wants to optimize the wildlife resource.
I use trail cams (Stealth Cam because I can set the hours of operation) to look for predators at water sources so I can be advised of problems before it gets bad.
Trail cameras help us to maximize the wildlife resource in so many ways.
AZ is going to stop the use in season but thankfully not year round so some management can still take place.
I could say more but I’d better not.
Regards,
Philip

 

[Firebird]

We had similar theft issue here-an attorney and her spouse-she lost her job over the issue. Both serious animal rights people, got caught on a trail cam stealing cameras and tree stands-

 

[Firebird]

I also don’t use the instant satellite to your phone cameras. No service up there in the deep canyons for one thing and sometimes elk and bears will stay forever. Also wind amd shadow cause pix to be taken-don’t want that on your phone. And I agree-I hate the hunting shows where some hunter gets an update on his phone so he hurries to his lease and sits that stand. No skill reqd there and blurs fair chase

 

[375Fox]

I am a rancher, land manager, wildlife manager, predator manager, and livestock manager. I manage animals for a living. Any tool that helps manage animals is a good thing. Can technology be taken too far? Sure. But this is not that.
We get criticized for growing big deer in Texas while in other states guys brag about killing a “Y” buck (1.5 year old fork horn). We manage our animals to get the best one to grow to old age while wacking all the inferior deer. We do this in many ways but to include baiting, using blinds, and of course trail cameras. We just want to make he right decisions.
I never will understand guys shooting spike elk or 2-3 year old bucks. I really hate bow hunters who take young bucks and say it was good for a bow hunt. You see it’s not because I despise them, it’s because I am a manager who wants to optimize the wildlife resource.
I use trail cams (Stealth Cam because I can set the hours of operation) to look for predators at water sources so I can be advised of problems before it gets bad.
Trail cameras help us to maximize the wildlife resource in so many ways.
AZ is going to stop the use in season but thankfully not year round so some management can still take place.
I could say more but I’d better not.
Regards,
Philip

I like utilizing cameras also to see what is in area to know where to hunt and what to hunt for, but also a major difference between private and public land. I’m really envious of your land management for hunting in Texas, it doesn’t exist in all states.

 

[sgt_zim]

I like utilizing cameras also to see what is in area to know where to hunt and what to hunt for, but also a major difference between private and public land. I’m really envious of your land management for hunting in Texas, it doesn’t exist in all states.

the downside to the land/game management here is deer hunting has gotten quite expensive. i don't have a problem with them asking, but I ain't paying north of $5K for a 3-day white tail hunt. I can hunt nilgai or aoudad for that price or less.

we use "traditional" trail cams and this year started using cell cams on our place in St Francisville, LA. My B-i-L lives a 10 minute drive from our hunting place, and my best friend and I are in Texas, a solid 4.5 hr drive away on a good day, and 7-8 hrs away on the less good days. From our camp to deep in the woods, it's a good 45 minute walk. We can get there faster on our ATVs, but our deer have gotten wise to ATVs. Even if it were possible to sneak up on deer there (years and years of hardwood leaf litter on the ground), by the time we might get there, the deer are long gone. Not to mention that the hardwood stands, vines, and undergrowth are so thick, visibility is rarely any more than 30-40 yards. Water is plentiful (we have a sandy bottom creek running through our place, and it always has moving water in it), and except in the worst of winters, there is always forage for them.

all the cell cams do for us is to allow us to pattern deer without having to get out to the hunting spots to pull SD cards.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Five cameras on one tree? Yeah, I'd say that's out of hand.

 

[Brent in Az]

Five cameras on one tree? Yeah, I'd say that's out of hand.

You should see some of the water holes in the trophy elk units. Every tree around the hole has camera's on it. It's gotten ridiculous.

 

[WilhelmM]

I am a rancher, land manager, wildlife manager, predator manager, and livestock manager. I manage animals for a living. Any tool that helps manage animals is a good thing. Can technology be taken too far? Sure. But this is not that.
We get criticized for growing big deer in Texas while in other states guys brag about killing a “Y” buck (1.5 year old fork horn). We manage our animals to get the best one to grow to old age while wacking all the inferior deer. We do this in many ways but to include baiting, using blinds, and of course trail cameras. We just want to make he right decisions.
I never will understand guys shooting spike elk or 2-3 year old bucks. I really hate bow hunters who take young bucks and say it was good for a bow hunt. You see it’s not because I despise them, it’s because I am a manager who wants to optimize the wildlife resource.
I use trail cams (Stealth Cam because I can set the hours of operation) to look for predators at water sources so I can be advised of problems before it gets bad.
Trail cameras help us to maximize the wildlife resource in so many ways.
AZ is going to stop the use in season but thankfully not year round so some management can still take place.
I could say more but I’d better not.
Regards,
Philip

I've never hunted in the states but I have to agree with your point on growing big deer in Texas and what-not. Yeah, I can understand why someone wouldn't like a hunter shooting a 300" buck in an 800-hectare ranch but at the same time neither do I like it when hunters shoot obviously immature, tiny deer and brag about it being free-range. The reason why you don't see big bucks outside Texas and Montana is that the deer aren't selectively managed. If you're bitter over not being able to get a big buck then you need to stop shooting anything that walks in front of your tree stand. Let the deer grow for Christ's sake.

 

[Red Leg]

I've never hunted in the states but I have to agree with your point on growing big deer in Texas and what-not. Yeah, I can understand why someone wouldn't like a hunter shooting a 300" buck in an 800-hectare ranch but at the same time neither do I like it when hunters shoot obviously immature, tiny deer and brag about it being free-range. The reason why you don't see big bucks outside Texas and Montana is that the deer aren't selectively managed. If you're bitter over not being able to get a big buck then you need to stop shooting anything that walks in front of your tree stand. Let the deer grow for Christ's sake.

Lots of big deer come from many other States. Kansas and Iowa for instance produce huge animals. But the management techniques that @Philip Glass describes are also in play on the large farm leases in those areas. There may be no high fences, but careful lease holders and land owners only shoot older fully mature deer. As the old hunting witticism goes - If you want to shoot a big buck, don't shoot a small one.

I should add, this sort of management is almost impossible in many public hunting areas. There deer are managed for opportunity not quality. In such an environment, a 3 1/2 year old 120 class eight point can be the trophy of a lifetime.