Montana hunters were surprised to open up the 2010 Hunting Regulations for Deer, Elk and Antelope and find a regulation that bans the use of game cameras during hunting season.
Perhaps more surprising is that the regulation isn’t new—though the buzz it’s creating on the Internet suggests a whole lot of hunters weren’t aware of it.
“We’ve had a law in place for 12 years that prohibits the use of scouting cameras during hunting season,” said Mike Korn, assistant chief of law enforcement for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). “You can’t use a camera as an aid to hunting, and scouting is part of hunting.”
The Internet chatter centers around these questions: Montana FWP imposed this rule based on their view of hunting ethics—but even if game cameras do raise ethical questions, should they be debated by hunters around a campfire—or decided for us by a government agency? Should it really be a crime for a hunter on his own land to use a camera to help him select a spot to hunt? http://www.nrahunterrights.org/Article.aspx?id=3322
