I just received an article from one of our Up North Journal Pro Staffers about trail cameras being illegal in the state of Montana! I was sure this was a joke, but after reading the story I was blown away with the fact that this is 100% true!
According to the Field & Stream blog article by Scott Bestul Montana’s Dept. of Fish and Wildlife has decided that trail cams or game cams as they are often called are subject to the following:
“It is illegal for a person to possess or use in the field any electronic or camera device who’s purpose is to scout the location of game animals or relay the information on a game animal’s location or movement during any Commission adopted hunting season.”
What bothers me even more is the chatter that this has created on F&S’s comments below the article. Once again we see an elitist faction criticizing anyone for using a camera. If you don’t want to use one that is fine, but don’t slam someone for choosing to do so. If it is legal then I have no problem with it. What I do have a problem with is the groups of so called hunters attacking each other! This serves no good what so ever. Once again something as simple as a camera is coming between us and dividing us! Instead of banding together for the common good we find it necessary to tear each other apart! When is this bull going to stop? Our outdoor heritage is slipping away right through our fingers and we are the ones to blame! There is no one else to point the finger at!
Back to the law at hand, how can the state tell someone on their own land that they cannot use a camera to catch a trespasser, keep an eye on predators that might be killing their livestock, tell biologists that they cannot use them to do studies, see if a deer you took a shot at and couldn’t find is still around the area, watching the progression of growth on a deer’s antlers, or simply taking photos to enjoy them, etc…..? This stupid law has more far reaching ramifications that I feel no one has even given any consideration to see what ill affects this might have on good law abiding outdoors men!
For more information on this law, NRAhuntersrights.org has their take on it as well!
