I found a trail cam in the woods a mile from the road this year in unit 39 while elk hunting. It should NOT be legal to use trail cams as a aid for hunting at all. What is the department doing about the use of them?

The use of game cameras for hunting has been discussed by the Fish and Game commission in the past. This is a topic that may be discussed again in the future, although there are no current proposals to restrict them. 

There are a several things the department and commission consider when limiting hunter’s ability to use certain types of equipment. First, whether there is a biological implication, which would be a piece of equipment that leads to significantly higher harvest and the possibility of overharvesting game. 

Also, whether there is an infringement on fair chase. In the case of camera-equipped drones for spotting game, the Fish and Game restricts their use out of concerns for fair chase and the disruption of other hunters. 

There’s also the question of how you could write a rule that is enforceable. We realize other states have restricted game cameras, but it gets tricky determining when one is used in aid of hunting, and also whether the rule is understandable and can be enforced on the ground and held up in court. 

From a broader perspective, the department and the commission are constantly grappling with managing technology that ranges from muzzleloader bullets to electronics in scopes and rifles. Each of these technologies has hunters for and against them, and often the decision falls back on whether there’s a biological implication that the potential for increased harvest could lead a choice between allowing that device or restricting hunting opportunity to account for it. 

These are never easy questions, and typically quite divisive between hunters, especially when some have already bought the equipment when it’s legal to use, and then we restrict them.