ST. GEORGE — Beginning with the 2022 hunting season, the use of all trail cameras to harvest or aid in the harvest of big game will be banned – establishing an ongoing seasonal ban.

The ban, which will be in effect from July 31 to Dec. 31, was approved in the Jan. 4 meeting of the Utah Wildlife Board, the decision-making body for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. For the purposes of the new ban, a trail camera is defined as a device not held or manually operated by a person that is used to capture images, video or location data of wildlife.

Troy Justinson joined other private citizens, state representatives and nonprofit stakeholders who spoke at the public meeting. Speaking from personal experience, Justinson said he supported the ban particularly as an alternative to limiting tags or other restrictions.

“In 30 years of guiding big game and outfitting, my personal opinion (is) trail cameras are the single most effective tool in locating big game,” Justinson said. “They’re there 24/7/365 and you can have them anywhere. All I’m asking is that at some point we as hunters say, ‘Let’s put away a few of the tools in our tool bag,’ so that we can put the ‘hunt’ back in ‘hunting’ and increase our opportunity while maintaining quality.”

While those who offered comment in person all favored some level of regulation, the results from a large-scale survey and the online comments gathered by the wildlife agency demonstrated that the state’s hunter population was much more divided on the issue.

Only 25 of the 46 people (54%) who submitted comments online “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed with the division’s proposal, and about 52% of the 2,342 survey respondents said that trail cameras should be regulated in any way. 

While the division’s initial proposal would have established a ban for transmitting trail cameras only – those that transmit images or videos in real time – input from members of the public at the meeting and the experiences of board members led to consideration of more expansive restrictions.

Board member Wade Heaton said he opposed the expanded restrictions because it would disproportionately affect the individual compared to outfitters and guides that contribute more to the oversaturation of cameras impacting Utah’s wildlife.

“I think one of the original motivations for this idea was to level the playing field,” Heaton said. “You’ve got outfitters out there with hundreds of cameras … (but) who this actually affects is the average guy who’s working for a living, who’s sitting at home and can’t get to the mountain in the evening and rarely gets to go on the weekends. That’s the guy who’s not going to be able to have a trail camera out there and find out what’s on the landscape.”

Outfitters and guides would still have the resources and time to devote to finding trophy bucks and other prime specimens, decreasing the average hunter’s odds of success, Heaton said.

While the use of transmitting cameras during the hunting season was strongly opposed by the majority (67%) of hunters surveyed, the use of internal storage cameras was actually supported (51%).

Ultimately, the board voted on an amended rule that would ban all trail cameras – transmitting and nontransmitting – for the duration of the hunting season, although the heightened restriction was opposed by about half the board. After the board members voted in a 3-3 split, Chair Kevin Albrecht cast the deciding vote in favor of the ban.

“In this room there are people that are on all sides, but ultimately I think I have to go with my heart,” he said. “I just personally think the only way that we’re going to take a step forward is a seasonal restriction.”

While the ban extends to property owners using cameras on their own land to track and hunt big game during the season, it does not apply to government or educational organizations gathering wildlife information, private landowners who are monitoring their property for trespass or active agricultural operations or to cities involved in the Urban Deer Program.

In addition, the board also voted to prohibit the sale or purchase of trail camera footage, photos or location data related to attempts to hunt or help those hunting big game animals. Many of the individuals with a large number of trail cameras in Utah’s backcountry profit from the sale of footage or other data, so banning the sale of data would be an effective measure to disincentivize high camera ownership, state officials said.

Following the vote on trail cameras, the board members approved several additional changes that would go into effect for the 2022 hunting season:

• The use of any night-vision device to locate or attempt to locate big game animals will be prohibited beginning 48 hours before any big game hunt opens and continuing for 48 hours after the hunt ends.
• Individuals can now apply for and hunt certain animals in the same year, including doe and buck pronghorn, cow and bull moose and ewe and ram bighorn sheep. 
• Bison hunters will now be required to review educational information about shot placement prior to the hunt
• Hunter orange is no longer required for adults during the general season of any bull archery hunt when it overlaps with the youth archery hunt

The wildlife board also clarified a number of existing rules related to muzzleloaders, national wildlife refuges and hunting permits. More information about these rule changes and clarifications can be found on the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources website.

The next meeting of the Utah Wildlife Board is scheduled for April 28. Unless otherwise noted, meetings are held in the Department of Natural Resources auditorium at 1594 West North Temple in Salt Lake City.

Members of the public can also offer comment at regional advisory committees, with the next scheduled meeting for the Southern Region on April 12 in Room 405 of the Hunter Conference Center Room at Southern Utah University in Cedar City.

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