In January the Utah Wildlife Board voted to restrict the use of all trail cameras, in the harvest or attempted harvest of big game animals, for several months of the year. They voted again during an administrative rule appeal hearing on Thursday, March 10 to keep the same trail camera regulations, according to a press release issued by the Division of Wildlife Resources.
A trail camera is a device that people do not hold or manually operate. It is used to capture images, videos, or location data of wildlife. It uses heat or motion to activate the device.
The Utah Legislature passed a bill in the 2021 legislative session, designated HB 295, and called Wildlife Modifications, which went into effect May 5, 2021. This bill gave the Utah Wildlife Board the authority to make some rules governing the use of trail cameras as they are used in hunting.
A regular meeting of the Utah Wildlife Board was held and the board voted to prohibit the use of all trail cameras (including all non-handheld transmitting and non-transmitting devices) in the harvest or to aid in the harvest of big game between July 31 and December 31 of that year.
Two surveys were conducted by contacting 16,000 big game hunters for their feedback on potential proposals for the wildlife board. These surveys showed that the majority of big game hunters and the public opposed using transmitting trail cameras for hunting. Transmitting trail cameras are cameras that transmit images and footage in real-time.
Public meetings were also held in November and December of 2021, to gather data from the public.
Many hunters gave considerable feedback on the issue. When asked for help in curbing poaching, hunters replied that they could have helped if they had been allowed to use trail cameras. As they could not use the trail cams, they had no information to pass on to the fish and game officers.
Because of the feedback on the rule change, the Utah Wildlife Board was required by state law to hold a rule appeal hearing. This meeting was held March 10 and received many public comments. After listening to comments and discussion, the board voted to keep the seasonal restrictions for the use of trail cameras.
Besides prohibiting the use of any trail camera to harvest big game between July 31 and December 31 it also prohibits the sale or purchase of trail camera footage or any other data that could help in taking an animal.
The restrictions do not apply to private landowners who are experiencing loss of livestock to bear or cougar, cities involved in the Urban Deer Program, anyone who is not hunting, and government or educational organizations gathering wildlife information.
The Board also voted that the same restrictions on the use of night-vision devices would apply.
If you have questions about the rules you can visit the DWR website which will contain additional details.
– The Byway
Feature image courtesy of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
See Three Hunting Bills for more hunting legislation news.
For updates on the 2023 season, read Deer Hunting Permits Reduced in Most of Utah.