# Arizona bans trails cams, what other states will follow suit?



## Not-Just-Fishin (May 25, 2021)

Arizona bans trails cams, what other states will follow suit?


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## deletedmember968277 (Jul 7, 2021)

Was wondering this myself. It seems like the details of the ban will be worked out rather than figured out before hand... that's a little scary.

I'm not _totally_ against it on public, but it's a hard sell.


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## horsehands (Jul 25, 2012)

I hope they all ban trail cameras.


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## Fury90flier (Jun 27, 2012)

If you're a hunter they're not necessary. What's the problem?


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## trvstrace (Jun 17, 2021)

I'm surprised to see so much support for it. I can understand the argument on public (and have never had an interest on public), but on private I should be able to put a camera out and see what's moving through. If not for hunting, just out of curiosity and my own interest in animal behavior.

It's fascinating to see camera pictures and videos, it's a great learning tool for kids (that actually gets them excited), and it also serves as a security device on private.

Again, it doesn't feel right to me on private. It's one thing to tell someone they can't bait deer on their property, it's another thing entirely to tell someone they can't put a camera up on their own property – you get into some murky waters pretty fast.


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## ThumbsMcGee86 (Aug 28, 2019)

I agree with the ban on public. Just eliminate them on public. On private, I think landowner should have the right to do as they please for cameras.


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## Msch (Nov 3, 2017)

Keep in mind that Arizona is a lot different topography than in your back yard in Illinois. As water is scarce, the water tanks in AZ were literally having 30 or 50 cameras set up all around them by different hunters. Not only is that ridiculous, but then factor in all of those hunters going in on a somewhat regular basis to pull pictures and also factor in the human to human interactions. I've heard second hand that there were more than a few heated discussions and acts of vandalism that helped get this issue on the radar to start with.


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## bowtech2006 (Apr 1, 2006)

Public is public and the state should do as they want, private and them telling us more more what we can and can't do is wrong. 

I guess some are ok with ppl telling them what they can do on their bought land but I bet they are only ok with it if it fits what they want. 
Pretty soon the state will sell you all its land and tell you what u can Do on it and even tell you that other ppl can hunt it if they pay the state money to hunt on your bought land. Seems far fetched but really think about it they are taking little by little. 

I run trail cams for deer and especially for security cams on my place 4.5 hrs away so I can catch ppl breaking in and stealing. Cell cams have caught 3 trespassers trying to steal from my barn called the local police department and sent pic to his personal phone he went over a caught them as they were leaving with my 8000k trailer with a 3000 tiller and 2800 disc. All locked up and chained around the axels they had some hell of bolt cutters what police said.


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## bowtech2006 (Apr 1, 2006)

Fury90flier said:


> If you're a hunter they're not necessary. What's the problem?


Not all of us can be the hunters we want to be In 2021 I avg 91 hrs a week. Yes a week so when do I have time to be a hunter that I want to be so I use cams to do scotting for me and I have to have a buddy go put cams up for me half the time as I can't. I have to take vac or sick days to go hunting or do hunting related things. Before this job 17 years ago no issues with killing deer with no cams but I had a 40 hr work week and poor so all I could afford was to walk around the woods and scout for deer since money was for family and roof over head.


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## zac0378 (Jan 3, 2022)

I think Utah is up next. Utah Wildlife Board bans trail cameras for big game hunting


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## Chase406 (Feb 19, 2021)

Not-Just-Fishin said:


> Arizona bans trails cams, what other states will follow suit?


Seriously they did?


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## BowChuck (10 mo ago)

ThumbsMcGee86 said:


> I agree with the ban on public. Just eliminate them on public. On private, I think landowner should have the right to do as they please for cameras.


Couldn't agree more..


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## Jhucke02 (9 mo ago)

BowChuck said:


> Couldn't agree more..


Seems like they would have a REALLY hard time enforcing a ban of a camera on private property...


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## Schoeny (9 mo ago)

Most states with water limitations will go this route....

And states that bear hunters set up long range bear baiting stations will have this problem as well.


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## uwprunner (May 31, 2013)

On private I'm curious what is a trail cam and what is a security cam? Cameras really help with tresspassing issues, just the danger of being caught deters a lot of bad apples.


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## NWIOWAGRANT (Nov 24, 2018)

Trail cameras are to hunters what calculators are to mathematicians! 
I 100% support a public land ban! Do whatever you want on your land but not on our land!


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## karstic (8 mo ago)

I'm not 100% against trail cameras, but there should be restrictions especially for public land. For example I don't support their use during hunting seasons and of course cellular-capable cameras are way out of line.


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## TDT (Aug 20, 2020)

Makes sense after reading this thread for certain locations, due to the lack of water. Doubtful we see that in Illinois and Iowa. Lots of public and private hunting land compared to the amount of hunters.


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## SeanDC (Jan 21, 2019)

I can certainly see the argument for banning cameras in certain areas. But I also think there are a lot of people that assume they effectively "cheating". It's pretty much how I feel about crossbows. 

I personally use trail cams. They are cellular to boot. Maybe that makes me a cheater or lazy, or any number of things. They are on private land which is 3.5 hours from me. Like others have stated in these threads I work too much to scout properly. Mostly though, I just enjoy seeing what's out there. Currently I see a fawn on camera multiple times a day and a buck in velvet, and the biggest porcupine I have ever seen. I happily share these with my family and we all enjoy seeing nature in a way we may not otherwise.

This is the second year I put them out. At least to this point I have not seen any bucks on camera and then in person. I don't care much about trophies anyways. 

Think of me what you will. Personally I think the bad apples will be bad apples no matter what. The rest of us try to do the best we can.


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## CantHelpBut2Tinker (Nov 25, 2020)

I am on the fence about this. I am a hunter from Arizona, moved to the mid west and now I am back in AZ. While in the mid west I bought 2 cell cameras. They did not work so I returned them. I never considered trail cams here in AZ.

In AZ leaving anything on public land is risky. People are jerks and like to destroy or take things that are not theirs. Yes this happens in the mid west but not like it does here in AZ. Very different morals here. Also anything left on public land for 7 days is considered abandoned and will be removed by the authorities. I never leave any thing in the field in AZ like I did in the mid west. While hunting in AZ I found it extremely rare to come across someone else's gear for these reasons. 

With that being said I am one of those that finds it hard to get away to hunt and scout. I also love pics of wild life that you would not get without a trail cam do to time of day, weather, pressure from humans scouting, etc. I can see both sides of this even if I don't plan to use trail cams my self. I also see loop holes just like baiting. In AZ baiting is not legal. You can bait in the off season but all trace of the bait has to be removed 2 weeks prior to the season. You better pray you did not miss a single kernel of corn. I don't bait, it is not my thing. I do see the same thing happening with trail cams if they do not word the law to get around it. Someone could also say " I have the camera up to see nature, I am not hunting ". Fish and game use cameras all the time for "studies", insider trading tips for a game warden's hunt. The point there is they see the value of them for non-hunting reasons. 

I look at cameras like this. I don't have the money to have 30 of them and the cell plans for them. I also don't have the money for 2 of them and then they get stolen or confiscated. But they do serve a purpose to the animals, less pressure in their habitat. Trail cameras do not really increase you odds. You have to still sneak in, not get busted, get lucky to have the animal come in and place a good shot. I feel if AZ wanted to make a meaningful change they need to make getting tags less rare for residential hunters, mandate more training and have some way of gauging proficiency (especially with a bow). I have met a lot of AZ "hunters" that talk about the animals they have wounded and not recovered while they are still out trying to fill that same tag. Some of these guys shot 3 to 6 animals a season and maybe recover 1. Most of them are riffle hunters that only picked up a bow for the over the counter tag and have no real time slinging arrows and don't have a fraction of the time tuning their set up as they should. They act like this because of the hunting reg's in AZ, they are kinda nuts. It almost seems like they are trying to do away with hunting by taking everything to a draw with extremely low odds. In truth this could be do to low animal numbers and might be the right thing to do at this time for the animals and their environment. 

I know this is a bit of a rant but I don't think cameras are the problem, hunter ethics is. I could tell some crazy AZ hunter stories and how a lot of them break the laws that are already in place, but no one wants to read that book lol


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