Arizona regulators to weigh ban on trail cameras for hunting

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona regulators plan to consider prohibiting motion-activated trail cameras for hunting, with supporters saying the ban would allow wildlife to reach watering holes and give animals a fighting chance to live another day.

Animals can be deterred from using scarce water sources in drought-stricken areas because so many people place and check on remote cameras, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

“The technology has gotten much cheaper, and it has been proliferating in use,” said Kurt Davis, chairman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. “There are some that will have water holes with 30 to 40 cameras on them.”

The commission plans to vote at a March 19 meeting in Bullhead City on a proposed rule that, if adopted, would not take effect before 2022.

The commission regulates all wildlife in Arizona, and the camera ban would apply to hunting activity on public and private land.

The rule would not affect the use of trail cameras for scientific studies, wildlife viewing or other purposes unrelated to hunting.

Davis said the commission has already received about 600 comments, most of them from hunters who favor the ban.

The commission in 2018 banned live cameras with transmitters, but it is now considering the broader ban because it received a petition signed by over 200 hunters calling for a total ban on all trail cameras in hunting areas.

The commission voted unanimously to begin drafting a broader rule, and message boards on hunting websites began lighting up.

Some commenters said using trail cameras makes hunting too easy, while camera supporters said the devices are valuable for casual hunters who may not have the time or money to scout areas in person.

Others are worried about unintended consequences.

Longtime hunter Janet Drake said a camera ban may force her and her husband to choose between hunting and their volunteer work for the Game and Fish Department.

The Prescott Valley couple travel to remote sites to gather images from cameras that would still be allowed under a ban, but people they encounter might think they’re breaking the law, she said.

“There are going to be people out there who are angry that they can’t have their cameras anymore,” Drake said.

She said she hopes to be drawn someday for a hunting tag for a bighorn sheep but a camera ban would mean she couldn’t hunt in the same area where the couple collect camera data for the state.

“It’s causing me to not want to do this volunteer work anymore,” Drake said.

She also questioned how wildlife managers would enforce a ban. Despite the 2018 ban on cameras with transmitters, she said “thousands of them” are still out there being used.

Davis acknowledged that enforcing a broader camera ban wouldn’t be easy but said few hunting regulations are and the vast majority of hunters follow the rules and keep an eye out for those who don’t.

“We have 97% compliance,” the Game and Fish Commission chairman said.

He said something needs to be done to rein in the number of trail cameras clustered around water holes during deer and elk season.

Convenience seems increasingly important in society “but hunting is not about instant results,” Davis said.