Alternative perspective on messing with others’ game cams

[Oh Mah]

no one can stake claim to a public spot,first come first serve.that said,that cam tells a story about that spot you have hunted for years.it has been found and you may not be the only one looking to get that 1 buck that comes in.now you can both or even a group lol can be hard headed and all stay there and share tag soup or somebody can leave and find a different spot.no right or wrong in that scenario but i will say if i go to my favorite spot and there is a cam there i know the best opportunity for me to tag out is somewhere else.

[Magnum_Willys]

Nobody in my hunting group feels that hanging a cam makes a spot "ours".  I think you are over-generalizing a bit there Magnum

Maybe not but if you find a hot wallow with a cam on it you gonna plan on showing up there opening morning?  The cam owner mite not mind but makes me feel intrusive.

[Elkcollector82]

Touch someone’s trail cam and see if this “scenario” works out for you. Best of luck.

[shallowforks]

If you find a treestand in the woods would you be fine with sitting in it? Or would you be fine with someone sitting in yours?

To add to my first response if I walked into my stand and found another hunter sitting on the ground overlooking the same wallow my stand was on id say why don't you hop in my stand, you were here first and this is public land not MY spot just because I hung a stand here and youll have better odds of success up in that tree then down here on the ground.

[shallowforks]

Touch someone’s trail cam and see if this “scenario” works out for you. Best of luck.

Maybe im wrong but that sounds like your willing to assault someone for not breaking any laws. Assaulting someone is never okay. Violence is never the answer. ones opinion doesnt give them the right to harm another person

[Elkcollector82]

Touch someone’s trail cam and see if this “scenario” works out for you. Best of luck.

Maybe im wrong but that sounds like your willing to assault someone for not breaking any laws. Assaulting someone is never okay. Violence is never the answer. ones opinion doesnt give them the right to harm another person

I’m pretty sure taking pictures off someone’s sd card is theft. So stealing something of mine or anyone else’s would in return earn you a trip to the hospital.
Just my 

[shallowforks]

Touch someone’s trail cam and see if this “scenario” works out for you. Best of luck.

Maybe im wrong but that sounds like your willing to assault someone for not breaking any laws. Assaulting someone is never okay. Violence is never the answer. ones opinion doesnt give them the right to harm another person

I’m pretty sure taking pictures off someone’s sd card is theft. So stealing something of mine or anyone else’s would in return earn you a trip to the hospital.
Just my 

well it is considered theft morally speaking by most on here but its not legally considered theft. where as assault is definitely against the law . A Jury of your peers would find you guilty of a felony but would send the person your willing to assault home as a law abiding citizen. And I also never mentioned "taking" pics off of an sd card, just viewing them.

[yakimanoob]

My significant other is not my personal property but in charge of herself and fully capable of making her own decisions. lol

[yakimanoob]

I appreciate the discussion, but @shallowforks there are some important points to consider.

1) A game camera is absolutely in NO way abandoned property, any more than a car at the trailhead is abandoned.  The analogy to driving someone else's car around is sound. 

2) There is no expectation of privacy on public land, therefore it is 100% legal to take a photo of someone else either by game camera or by simply sitting and waiting for them to pass by.  If you walk by someone's cam, the owner of the camera owns the photo of you.  Period. 

3) Most importantly, accessing someone else's memory cards is a felony under RCW 9A.90.100.  http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.90.100

[yakimanoob]

Another thought:

It's never wise to assume that because someone disagrees with you, or has an alternate perspective, that they're a bad person and/or raised by bad parents.  Public land use and laws are tricky and often vague (e.g. the abandoned property rules).  Shallowforks is not a bad person for wanting to discuss an interesting alternative viewpoint. 

[Magnum_Willys]

In WA even looking at the pics will take your modern rifle away as a felon......

“
Electronic data theft.

(1) A person is guilty of electronic data theft if he or she intentionally, without authorization, and without reasonable grounds to believe that he or she has such authorization, obtains any electronic data with the intent to:
(a) Devise or execute any scheme to defraud, deceive, extort, or commit any other crime in violation of a state law not included in this chapter; or
(b) Wrongfully control, gain access to, or obtain money, property, or electronic data.”
(2) Electronic data theft is a class C felony.

[luckyman]

When placing a trail cam or stand  or anything else on public land do so expecting it to be messed with. Be happy and thankful if it hasn't been messed with. You're kidding yourself to think it will be left a lone.

[RockChuck]

How about if I leave a bicycle at a gate are you going to take it for a ride and bring it back? Is that ok because it was sitting on public property?

[shallowforks]

Do we have any law enforcement officers or game wardens on here, or maybe lawyers who could weigh in with a professional not personal viewpoint on whether it is or isnt a crime to tamper with, view pics or even take trail cameras on public land?

[shallowforks]

Also, im not advocating the tampering with or taking of game cameras on public land. Maybe what I would be advocating if advocating anything at all other than the discussion itself is the caution and understanding one should have of what they are exposing themselves to by placing a camera on public land, and the idea that by willfully putting yourself into a grey area maybe you arent as righteous as you think you are and those who have done things like view your pics arent as evil as you think they are.