Abandoned game cams

[Atroxus]

Sounds like a lot of these "fellow sportsmen" would consider it litter and have no problem taking it home. They would probably think it was their lucky day to score someone's hunting set up. Heck, maybe they will stumble across your tent if they are lucky.

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As far as I can tell nobody in this thread condoned theft. How about keeping your baseless aspersions on others character to yourself?

[Mossbak]

I don't own a game cam but maybe someday but still could never take something that wasn't mine.  My 15 yr old son this year deer hunting in 101 came back with his grandpa to camp all excited because he found a game cam in the road.  It had some mud on it but that's about it.  I explained to him that it was left out for a reason and not lost or abandoned.  He got it and I made him take me back to where he found it and we put it back.

[grundy53]

Sounds like a lot of these "fellow sportsmen" would consider it litter and have no problem taking it home. They would probably think it was their lucky day to score someone's hunting set up. Heck, maybe they will stumble across your tent if they are lucky.

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As far as I can tell nobody in this thread condoned theft. How about keeping your baseless aspersions on others character to yourself?

Sure the heck sounds like some do...

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[huntnfmly]

I don't own a game cam but maybe someday but still could never take something that wasn't mine.  My 15 yr old son this year deer hunting in 101 came back with his grandpa to camp all excited because he found a game cam in the road.  It had some mud on it but that's about it.  I explained to him that it was left out for a reason and not lost or abandoned.  He got it and I made him take me back to where he found it and we put it back.

Good on you @Mossbak teaching a good lesson.
 Your avatar pic is great kids getting into the outdoors

[Pinetar]

So I'm chasing a big bull. Ditch my day pack to drop weight and end up farther from my pack than planned. No worries though I'll get back to it in a day or so...Is it now unattended and considered litter...  

I don't understand the mentallity of some of these post's....guess I was raised to leave other people's stuff alone...

 

This post makes me laugh  , you sound like my kid.

Two weeks ago my son left his backpack/spotting scope in the sage twice for 3/4 of a day while he was stalking a big buck. Both times he ended up over a mile away from it and had to go back to retrieve it in the dark. One would hope this would be OK and no one would mess with it, now I'm not so sure with guys out there thinking it is litter. Unfortunately, it seems like times have changed.

[woodswalker]

Sounds like a lot of these "fellow sportsmen" would consider it litter and have no problem taking it home. They would probably think it was their lucky day to score someone's hunting set up. Heck, maybe they will stumble across your tent if they are lucky.

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Ah yes... I've been known to not return to camp for a few days from time to time...

I have left cameras and spike camps...SO FAR no one has gotten their grubbies on them.

[LDennis24]

Sounds like a lot of these "fellow sportsmen" would consider it litter and have no problem taking it home. They would probably think it was their lucky day to score someone's hunting set up. Heck, maybe they will stumble across your tent if they are lucky.

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As far as I can tell nobody in this thread condoned theft. How about keeping your baseless aspersions on others character to yourself?

 

This whole thing is like leaving your plate where the dog can reach it then blaming the dog. This world is full of thieves, some people can be pretty naive. Maybe it's an Ego thing... Stealing is wrong. It should be evident whether an item in the woods was left intentionally or not. I just think alot of folks who leave cameras on public land get this sense of ownership of the area they are in somehow and then become protective of it. That's been my experience with people who put cameras on public land... On several different occasions

[Alpine Mojo]

If I see a truck parked on the side of the road and the hood is warm it's obviously in use.

If a total stranger comes back and catches you snooping around their truck, good luck explaining you just wanted to see if "the hood was warm". 

[Brad Harshman]

This is a frustrating topic because we aren't focusing on all of the real issues. 
1. It's never ethical to steal.  Done - move on.
2. It's not ethical to litter.  Done - move on.

So is leaving your stuff on public land ethical?
According to the Leave No Trace practice it is not okay.  This is inline with John Muir's philosophy of preservation as well.  Nobody goes out to the woods hoping to find other peoples stuff.  When we go out in the woods we do so to reconnect, to re-create.  Why should we take that experience away by leaving trail cams up all year long?
To be clear, placing cams is distinctly different than dropping your pack for a day or two, or parking your truck for a week long hunt. Cameras placed in the woods are out of context with their environment. We don't expect to find them out there.  And the farther from the road, the greater it violates our expectstions.

Just to be clear, I'm not opposed to using cams. All I ask is whether we should use them 365 days a year.  If we're not willing to consider others who want to use public lands, then what kind user group are we?

[Dan-o]

I agree, Brad.

I don't see anyone advocating stealing cams (I have up to 6 out on public land, so I'm not against them).

[fishngamereaper]

I think the definition of litter is being slightly abused by some. Litter in general refers to refuse/garbage/ junk etc. A working trail cam does not fit into the definition. I don't run cams all year but for the 3-4 months I do I prefer someone leave them alone. I also run cams for only one week sometimes. So one week or 3 months, it shouldn't really matter.

I also do understand there is a chance of theft, I deal with thieves every day, but I don't expect it with my cams or any of my other stuff. That removes the blame from the thief.


AS for the littering concept, if that's the true focus. How's it any different than a road side memorial, or a mountain top memorial. How about flagging tape, does everyone pull their flagging tape after recovering an animal. Not from what Ive seen. If you really want to focus on littering we should start by outlawing helium balloons….those dang things are all over the place in the woods. 

[GoldenRing270]

We'll said Brad. I think one of the reasons that folks are getting so heated over this topic and calling fellow hunt-wa members thieves is that they understand this argument. We all share public land and by leaving a camera out for over a year without checking/maintaining it's essentially the same thing as making a mess in the break room at work and telling your coworkers you plan to clean it up later. They realize that it is not a very considerate thing to do but being wrong hurts the ego therefor they are responding harshly toward anyone with a different opinion and immediately making assumptions about their character to put them down and keep their ego in check.

[JWEBB]

We'll said Brad. I think one of the reasons that folks are getting so heated over this topic and calling fellow hunt-wa members thieves is that they understand this argument. We all share public land and by leaving a camera out for over a year without checking/maintaining it's essentially the same thing as making a mess in the break room at work and telling your coworkers you plan to clean it up later. They realize that it is not a very considerate thing to do but being wrong hurts the ego therefor they are responding harshly toward anyone with a different opinion and immediately making assumptions about their character to put them down and keep their ego in check.

This topic has gotten outta hand. Seriously comparing leaving a mess in a break room to leaving up a trail camera for a year? Sorry I don’t see anything simillar between the 2. Personnaly I haven’t called anyone a thief on this thread but I do understand some who have. It’s super frustrating when you put in a ton of effort and some idiot thinks he can take your cam. I honestly don’t think it’s ok to leave a cam out for years but if I stumble across one that’s got moss growing on it, I’m not touching it! Not yours leave it be! And I would like to hear from anyone who can tell me a trail cam is going to ruin the environment

[huntnfmly]

We'll said Brad. I think one of the reasons that folks are getting so heated over this topic and calling fellow hunt-wa members thieves is that they understand this argument. We all share public land and by leaving a camera out for over a year without checking/maintaining it's essentially the same thing as making a mess in the break room at work and telling your coworkers you plan to clean it up later. They realize that it is not a very considerate thing to do but being wrong hurts the ego therefor they are responding harshly toward anyone with a different opinion and immediately making assumptions about their character to put them down and keep their ego in check.

This topic has gotten outta hand. Seriously comparing leaving a mess in a break room to leaving up a trail camera for a year? Sorry I don’t see anything simillar between the 2. Personnaly I haven’t called anyone a thief on this thread but I do understand some who have. It’s super frustrating when you put in a ton of effort and some idiot thinks he can take your cam.

+1

For those who are upset that they find a camera out in the woods and it effects thier time outside all I have to say is wow really? You may have some issues that you should look into

[GoldenRing270]

Ok, so how would you feel if I were following you around with a drone and video taping and taking pictures of you while you were out in the woods hunting/scouting on public land? How would you react? Not kindly I suspect. All I am saying is that some of the cameras that go missing might not be stolen by thieves. They are more likely just taken down by citizens who feel like their rights have been violated. They don't need to "look into their issues" they have every right to be upset that someone they don't know just got a picture of them without their consent. Or back on topic, someone finds an old obviously neglected trail cam in a spot they like to visit and see it for what it is... an eyesore and piece of garbage in the woods. They then remove it the same way they would if they found an old beer can or candy wrapper. I completely understand the frustration of having put the time into finding a good trail and going through the effort of placing a cam only to have it become stolen but you have to look at it from multiple points of view before just assuming your camera was stolen by a low life who took it for personal gain.