ImThere
Well-Known Member
Me neither. At least we can have a discussion.
Game Cameras on public land.
- Thread starter killingtime 41
- Start date
ImThere
Well-Known Member
Why is the parking lot excluded? So I can use your radio? What about if you leave your backpack while you're tracking a deer? Can I use your lunch and drink you coke? I'll return it before I leave of course.
Edit: Sorry, I thought I was replying to someone else. As far as the guy's lunch? Straight up theft, of course. ;-)
killingtime 41
Well-Known Member
The analogies are getting kind of wild. If you left your truck in the parking lot for 365 days. The TWRA would have towed to an impound lot long before the year was up. I haven't read on here anyone saying they were gonna take anything. As a matter of fact stand wise. Your suppose to get the permission of the head warden over that specific property. And if so allowed to leave a stand. Your suppose to put your phone number and TWRA number on the stand. With a sharpie or whatever you want to use. He will also tell you it's first come first serve if you leave it out there. And at the end of season if you don't remove it. They will do so themselves. And then they will auction whatever equipment they take once or twice a year. That's another reason for your TWRA number and phone number. They will try to call you once. So to just go out and put up a stand without the head wardens permission is not legal to begin with.I'm not sure about cell cams. Probably exactly the same procedures. But I have found stands that are hard to see. That they miss. I don't say anything cause I don't want a man's hard earned money to be taken. If you don't believe me call the warden over the area you hunt. TVA also has people over certain areas. But no idea what they do or don't do.
ImThere
Well-Known Member
What prof do you have the cameras are out 365? Batteries don't make it that long. Honestly buddy I think you should just go hunt and control what you can. Public land is equal opportunity. If you think cams are an advantage go buy some and put them out.
From my experience, most people who leave game cameras on public do not put out cell cams. Of course where I hunt it is high pressure so it will be stolen most likely. I have also noticed that they do not lock them up as they are generally cheap cameras.
**** I do not agree that if a stand is put on public land it is public property and anyone can sit in it. I do agree that if you get to an area first you get the area and someone coming to a set up ladder stand, etc. should vacate and hunt elsewhere if you are there.****
With that last point in mind, I have been informed (over the last few years) that if a stand is on public anyone can just climb on up... I have not seen any while out lately, but with what I've been told about the stands in mind I have started to carry a card reader or extra SD cards of various storage capacity and if I see a camera I am going to read the card or swap the card. I mean it is public property by the stand logic. If you can use my stand I should get to know what your camera is seeing.
There is the issue. Ladder stands, lock-ons, etc. (despite the book saying you can't leave a stand for more than 24 hrs) are legal to leave at the discretion of the WMA manager. If it is mine and legal I agree with you leave it alone and don't get in it. However, our opinions do not matter and I have been told that anyone can get in your stand as it is on public property and therefore it is public property. I haven't managed it yet, but I am at least reading the card if I find a camera. If I forget the reader I have 20 SD cards in my bag of various sizes, I am swapping the card, unless I have a change of heart, but I doubt that will happen.
If it is legal for someone to get in a stand that is there, then it is legal for someone to look at the card or swap the card. NOW stealing the camera or not replacing the card is stealing and if I didn't have the cards I wouldn't take the cards.
I guess the point I am trying to make is if the rules say that anything left on public is public property then it is not yours once you put it there, so therefore, technically it is everyone's to use. IMO your options are don't put it out or accept that others may use it. I don't actually like that or agree, but it appears to be the rules, so I will follow them...
There is the issue. Almost all of them will let you... They say they want to make sure everyone can hunt. When I asked in my 30s I was told, what if you were older and couldn't lug a stand in and didn't want to sit on the ground. Now that I am 47 (in Feb) I am starting to feel that. It is nice they will let you set a stand in the beginning and take it down after season to lighten the load, but most leave them up forever. The rules are clear as mud, then you have people showing up with the idea that if it is on public land it is public property. I totally disagree, with this. However, if that is the rule, same goes for cameras.
I couldn't care less about people putting them out. I will look at the cards if I see them. No way you're patterning a buck on public land with a camera, so I don't see the harm in taking a peak and putting the card back in. Heck maybe people will see a big buck and think, maybe I should hold off on that 1.5 yr old buck and this dude may come by... could be a good public resource and save some young bucks.
Slavery was legal, that didn't make it right.
I once had to write a paper on a social experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram, a descendant of holocaust victims. He was attempting to understand why an entire nation of otherwise normal, good moral people could allow such a thing to happen. Turns out people are savage. They'll be cruel and harmful to one another so long as an authority in uniform says it's ok, even if they know and feel it's wrong. It's a super interesting and controversial experiment but the results are clear and repeatable. Science proved that people suck.......if authority allows it.
Just because it's a TWRA rule that you can sit in someone else's stand doesn't mean it's not a d!ck move. It absolutely is. Swapping somebody's card is not only stealing THEIR card but also stealing all the info on it. That's also a d!ck move and replacing it with a fresh card doesn't make it ok. We can't allow a bogus rule or law give us justification to be @$$holes. Just because you won't get in trouble for it doesn't mean you should do it. There's no law that says I can't cuss like a sailor while a minister is giving a eulogy, but nobody would think it's ok. We've got to govern ourselves and quit using "laws" as an excuse to treat others badly.
I'm a huge advocate of cell cams. nothing like real time data without having to intrude into their area. And i agree who heartedly with your remark about big bucks rarely being patternable. But you aren't an early season hunter. Those super avid bow guys know that in ag country the opposite is often true. certain times of the year in the right field, you can set your watch by them. A green beanfield in the afternoon that is surrounded by big woods/cover, mature bucks are incredibly patternable. in 2020, on a half acre field in for 9 out 11 days i had a mid 140s 10pt that came in that field in the mornings between 7 and 8 am. (odd to see morning predictabilty). The only issue was i was 3 weeks post surgery and i couldn't draw my bow for a couple more weeks. This was just a clover field that had been let go.
having said that i am pro cam and enjoy it as much as the hunt- especially since i struggle with the act of killing
Honestly, I can't say I haven't been tempted to look at the SD card of another hunter's camera on public land, and could if I wanted since I generally carry my SD card reader. My concern would be that removing the SD card from the camera and re-inserting it would not automatically re-arm the camera, so out of respect to the other hunter I just leave it alone. Or, if you're going to leave a camera out on public property, then use a cable and lock as I do, and that way no one looks at your SD card...problem solved.
kentuckylakebuck1
Well-Known Member
That warden needs to be fired! whether you think cameras should be on public or not, you do not have the right to take something that does not belong to you! sounds like he doesnt know the law and will get someone in big trouble one day!
i definitely wouldnt listen to that game warden
i dont hunt public land and i dont put cams on land i dont own. for the record
peytoncreekhunter
Well-Known Member
I'm of the opinion, (if I'm on public land), that if it's not my camera I'm not touching it and I'm not hunting out of anyone else's climbing or ladder stand either. If it's on the private land I'm leasing I'd take it and leave a note on how to contact me to get their property back.
I hunt mainly public land and never leave my stand when I'm not hunting. The main reason is I don't wont some dummy screwing around with my stand, like stealing the seat or chain pins. Also I don't want people to see exactly the tree I climb. The way I see it if you leave a stand on public others should be able to use it. Most of the hunters that hunt the property I hunt that leave stands and cameras do so trying to hold that spot or spots for themselves.
AT Hiker
Well-Known Member
Some good points here.
1.) The thought that some dip chit could sabotage your stand and cause injury is enough for me to not leave one.
2.) People that use cameras and stands to claim a spot should get automatic license suspension for there entire life. This frustrates me to no end. Yu are not allowed to get mad if someone beats you to "your spot".
Buzzard Breath
Well-Known Member
This has always been a concern of mine and part of the reason why I'd never use some random person's stand. I also question whether the stand owner has done any regular maintenance on the stand and hung it in accordance to the instructions.
With a tree stand I'd agree with you. But a camera hardly claims a spot unless it's on a tree you're wanting to climb.
Exactly. You have no idea how old the straps are or the condition on the stand. Would seem foolish & reckless to climb into a stand you know nothing about.
