are trail cams illegal on national forest?

[pianoman9701]

Let me qualify my last statement. I find that the tendency to rake someone over the coals on a forum, especially when we don't have the facts is wrong. In this case, the original poster made several mistakes and assumptions. He fessed up to those mistakes. A great many posters joined in a started bad mouthing the LEO immediately, and others as a course.

The wildlife LEO I've come in contact with in the field have been nothing but professional, and in most cases, down right helpful. I've had assistance with boundaries, regs, even animal locations and concentrations. The wildlife LEOs of this state are not the enemy. They're they guardians of our resource. I believe we should assume the best of them and in return, will rarely be disappointed. Hopefully, this lesson will help many of us to work with them and respect what they do. I know it's a soapbox. I believe it and I'll practice it. I think most ethical and legal hunters should strive to do likewise and do.

[Bob33]

Well said

[provider]

I'm a little confused why anyone else on the thread should be apologizing.  We were told that the warden took down his cam and told him it was illegal to have one up on FS land.  We were outraged that a warden would do that.  I guess we should apologize about believing a fellow member's story...... 

Yes, you should apologize for believing this member’s story.  He kept changing the particulars and there was sufficient doubt to the validity of his story and his credibility.  It did not add up and some people even questioned it.

Not only was it poor judgment to just blindly accept a questionable source… but to side with him over an enforcement officer… demonstrates poor judgment too.  And to then attack the LEO (and others), making false accusations like “anti”, call for his head, or worse, etc… is sad and that officer deserves an apology.  This is not just aimed at you Curly, but to the many who used poor judgment.  And I’m not seeking an apology… shoot, I’ve been called a lot worse, and those who count, know the truth about me. 

I’ll put it this way.  If I received bad information from someone, and thus jumped to false conclusions (albeit due to the wrong information I was given), and then I made false accusations towards an individual who ultimately would be proven to have done precisely the right thing?...  I would absolutely apologize to the person I falsely accused, and it would be deserved.

Bigbucks did a lot of things wrong here… but at least he had the integrity to come forward and acknowledge his wrong doing.  I’m also impressed with his self imposed sanctions to reassess hunting participation pending further introspection.  I hope he learned a valuable lesson here and becomes a better hunter in the process?  And I hope many others here learned a lesson too?

[Bob33]

People on here were merely commenting on what was posted and I didn't see in the thread where anyone trashed the said officer.

Nope, none at all.  Not a single trash comment.

“i call *censored* the warden is just  being a *censored*”
“I sure as hell wish we could snap their heads off at the exit hole and watch them run around like a dog sh!ttin' a peach pit.”
“are u defending the pile of s^%$ that did this? Its not even my deal and I am fuming hot over this..not a effing thing he did wrong, but yet we let this ignorant fool throw his ego, power trip, agenda or whatever else his issue is around on law abiding sportsmen?”
“it's ridiculous our tax dollars are being wasted on this type of "enforcement" when they should be out busting poachers.  Unbelievable really. This guy is enforcing laws that don't even exist. “
“What a crock of pellets.  Gamie been watching too much Discovery Channel game warden shows.  Probably thinks he's the Savior of Wildlife instead of a MANAGEMENT agent.    Gotta wonder about the guys getting into the warden business these days....”

[huntnnw]

wheres my post??

[huntnnw]

I have 0 respect for gamies in this state zilch! corupt, power tripping fools

[bobcat]

Well I see one of my comments got included in Bob33's list of "trash comments".  This one:

“it's ridiculous our tax dollars are being wasted on this type of "enforcement" when they should be out busting poachers.  Unbelievable really. This guy is enforcing laws that don't even exist. “

I still stand by that comment and don't feel I need to apologize to anyone. Apparently the game warden was, in fact, "busting poachers" (a person hunting deer in a closed area). And as it turns out, he didn't remove the trail camera at all, and that's what we were led to believe from the story given in the beginning of this thread. That's what my statement was based on and I don't see anything wrong with it.

It's actually kind of ridiculous that we don't just let this thread die, rather than demanding apologies. 

(more bad judgement on my part, I guess) 

[Knocker of rocks]

People on here were merely commenting on what was posted and I didn't see in the thread where anyone trashed the said officer.

Nope, none at all.  Not a single trash comment.

“i call *censored* the warden is just  being a *censored*”
“I sure as hell wish we could snap their heads off at the exit hole and watch them run around like a dog sh!ttin' a peach pit.”
“are u defending the pile of s^%$ that did this? Its not even my deal and I am fuming hot over this..not a effing thing he did wrong, but yet we let this ignorant fool throw his ego, power trip, agenda or whatever else his issue is around on law abiding sportsmen?”
“it's ridiculous our tax dollars are being wasted on this type of "enforcement" when they should be out busting poachers.  Unbelievable really. This guy is enforcing laws that don't even exist. “
“What a crock of pellets.  Gamie been watching too much Discovery Channel game warden shows.  Probably thinks he's the Savior of Wildlife instead of a MANAGEMENT agent.    Gotta wonder about the guys getting into the warden business these days....”

 

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Yes, you should apologize for believing this member’s story.  He kept changing the particulars and there was sufficient doubt to the validity of his story and his credibility.  It did not add up and some people even questioned it.

I'll admit that in this case I'm chagrined I gave the OP more credit than he was due obviously. I'm usually more careful than that.

Not only was it poor judgment to just blindly accept a questionable source… but to side with him over an enforcement officer… demonstrates poor judgment too.

But that doesn't mean that an LEO's word on it's own is any more truthful than the next guy.  LEO's are human and subject to the same foibles as the rest of us. They make honest mistakes. They make dumb mistakes. They lie, cheat, drink, do drugs, commit crime, and even murder, probably at the same rate as the rest of us.  When it comes to LEO's or other humans in general, I'm with Ronald Reagan, especially on the internet.  "Trust, but verify".