Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Trail cams on public land: how is that ok?

Hey, it's public land and the courts have ruled that there is no expectation of privacy in public spaces. You guys look at it all wrong. Taking a dump in front of someone's trail cam is one of life's little pleasures, and it's free. Prancing around nude in front to said camera, even better. What better way to mess with someone's mind, and they don't even have a clue who you are.
 
I would suggest calling fwp to find out if it's legal
The problem is that the game and fish agencies do not control the land. At least in CO, if you call CPW, they tell you that the rules are per the land agency (USFS, BLM, State Forest, etc) and sometimes those agencies' rules vary by location. As mentioned, some state game and fish agencies do have state-wide rules (during hunting seasons, generally).

Just like so many other regulations, trail cam rules are complicated and rarely clear.
 
The problem is that the game and fish agencies do not control the land. At least in CO, if you call CPW, they tell you that the rules are per the land agency (USFS, BLM, State Forest, etc) and sometimes those agencies' rules vary by location. As mentioned, some state game and fish agencies do have state-wide rules (during hunting seasons, generally).

Just like so many other regulations, trail cam rules are complicated and rarely clear.
I was joking because I got some bunk info from them yesterday
 
I have 4 cameras on the 15’ish acres of CRP behind my house as a last ditch effort to try and figure out how a certain buck is getting in and out of that thicket. I pride myself on my sign reading ability and this buck is humbling me.

At this point I think he may be skydiving in there.

Either that or there is a tunnel I don’t know about.
 
There’s a 50 gallon metal drum screwed to a white oak in the National Forest I hunt. It’s blue and probably 40 feet up the tree now. The heads of big the nails that were the steps are barely visible now. It’s been there since the mid eighties. It’s a couple miles from the road. That guy was thinking out of the box on stand construction! I always thought that it had to be a very uncomfortable sit in that thing.
 
There is nothing wrong with trail cameras (cellular or not) on public land. Any laws attempting to ban their use will be nearly impossible to enforce.
 
I don't use them. And don't use a GPS. Couple compasses work.
I don't think more laws help anything. It's a personal decision on how you want to hunt. To me being able to have to go find animals first is half the hunt. I don't need or want to know there routes. Having to determine sex and size without prior information. Want to pre scout great. I consider them as elelectronic assisted devises. Just my style though. I'd rather figure it out
 
How many folks that won't or don't use trail cams use fish finders and vise versa?

I use the cams, though mostly just for curiosity, but not the finders.
I don't think the debate here is over fair chase but whether people want to be running into a million trail cameras in the backcountry as the number of trail cameras is only going to increase over time.

Personally, I'd rather not run into trail cameras on public land as I think it degrades the experience although I can understand why people utilize them since they are a lot of fun.

I also wonder how people defending trail cam use on public land would feel if their kids accidentally went to bathroom in view of someone else's trail cam since it's pretty difficult to spot some of these cameras.
 
I can get behind banning trail cams on all public land, they had to do that in AZ finally because there just got to be too many and were having issues with outfitters blowing up hunts for other people coming in and checking cards.
 
I’ve used them to exclude portions of public land if legal to do so. I bought off-brand cheapos with decent resolution, $40/cam. Add in card and batteries probably $55. I’m fully aware that placing those cams makes them publicly available and accepted that I may not recover. I wouldn’t place them in areas I know hold game because that’s improper use of resources. Additionally, my presence disturbs game.
 
I don't use them. And don't use a GPS. Couple compasses work.
I don't think more laws help anything. It's a personal decision on how you want to hunt. To me being able to have to go find animals first is half the hunt. I don't need or want to know there routes. Having to determine sex and size without prior information. Want to pre scout great. I consider them as elelectronic assisted devises. Just my style though. I'd rather figure it out
Orienteering ought to be a high school elective! I too use a compass. Garmin 64 stays in my pack. But that OnX though, it’s helpful in those blocks of Fed/State adjacent to private for me.
 

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