It’s a fine line between preserving the traditional sport of hunting and the modern technology that is available today. Big game hunters today are not hunting with Hawkens flintlock muzzleloaders or recurve bows with wooden arrows and stone arrow tips. Heck, for their time, those tools were significant technological advances over spears and clubs. Hunters today are using high powered rifles with scopes and modern high performance ammunition, or compound bows with carbon arrows equipped with mechanically released broad heads. Modern accessories like modern camo patterns, calls, scents, and tree stands add to the technological advances available today. I have taken advantage of all of this modern equipment at one point or another. It might seem a bit hypocritical for me to come out against a particular piece of technology when I’m out there hunting with modern equipment. However, I believe there is a line. The line is different for different people, so the debate will rage on, but I content that trail cameras take the first step over the line of too much technology in deer hunting.Trail cameras are cameras that are attached to a tree. They are motion activated to take digital photographs of any passing animal.
Why do I pick on trail cameras? What’s the difference between trail cameras, and a piece of equipment like the new modern rifle equipped with the latest and greatest optics? The biggest difference is electronics. Electronics is the line I draw in modern hunting. I content that no piece of hunting equipment should need batteries.
I’m not alone in drawing the line with electronics in hunting. Connecticut turkey hunting
regulations allow all types of calls except electronic calls. Other states have disqualified the CVA Electra muzzleloader from the black powder season. The Electra uses a battery-operated mechanism to create a spark to ignite the powder. It's evident that hunters and hunting regulators are uncomfortable with electronics in the field.
Trail cams are certainly electronic and battery operated. Some of the more advanced models can actually use a cellular signal (when available) to email pictures to the user. Some also utilize photovoltaic cells to recharge their batters with solar energy. The user does not even need to go into the field collect the pictures! Using trail cameras takes out much of the skill of scouting and evaluation that is a big part of deer hunting. Despite the fact that popular hunting magazines like Field and Stream and Outdoor Life tout the use of trail cams, the wisest woodsman is able to pick their hunting spots based on their superior knowledge of the area, advanced scouting, and animal knowledge. These should be skills that are acquired after years in the field, not from a few hours in front of the computer screen.
The debate over technology in the field will continue. For example, hunters in many areas are currently in debates about the use of crossbows during the archery season. Different people have different criteria, but for me, keep the electronics out of the hunt.
I’m not alone in drawing the line with electronics in hunting. Connecticut turkey hunting
regulations allow all types of calls except electronic calls. Other states have disqualified the CVA Electra muzzleloader from the black powder season. The Electra uses a battery-operated mechanism to create a spark to ignite the powder. It's evident that hunters and hunting regulators are uncomfortable with electronics in the field.Trail cams are certainly electronic and battery operated. Some of the more advanced models can actually use a cellular signal (when available) to email pictures to the user. Some also utilize photovoltaic cells to recharge their batters with solar energy. The user does not even need to go into the field collect the pictures! Using trail cameras takes out much of the skill of scouting and evaluation that is a big part of deer hunting. Despite the fact that popular hunting magazines like Field and Stream and Outdoor Life tout the use of trail cams, the wisest woodsman is able to pick their hunting spots based on their superior knowledge of the area, advanced scouting, and animal knowledge. These should be skills that are acquired after years in the field, not from a few hours in front of the computer screen.
The debate over technology in the field will continue. For example, hunters in many areas are currently in debates about the use of crossbows during the archery season. Different people have different criteria, but for me, keep the electronics out of the hunt.
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