As the technological revolution continues to change the face of everything in North America — including hunting — trail cams have become a common tool of the trade. And their sales produce a lot of revenue for manufacturers and retailers. They have also become popular for more than just hunting, with wildlife photographers, biologists, farmers, those concerned with residential and commercial property security, and others employing them.
According to KBY Research, the North America trail cam market will witness an annual market growth of 5.8 percent during the forecast period of 2022-2028. Estimates show that in North America, there were somewhere between 350,000 and 400,000 units sold in 2024, the growth primarily due to advancements in wireless technology.
I’ve used trail monitoring devices since first employing the simple Trail Timer, invented by Dean Reidt in 1984, when I was running several bear baits in Alaska in the 1990s. The Trail Timer ran a string linking a digital clock’s circuit to a tree on the far side of a trail. When something ran into the string, it pulled it loose from the clock, breaking the electrical circuit and causing it to freeze on that time. You got only one reading before it had to be reset, but it was better than nothing. Then we used the Trailmaster, which used an infrared beam of light that, when broken, recorded date and time, and it didn’t have to be reset. But you didn’t know exactly what had walked past. Trail monitoring devices then evolved into using film cameras, then digital cameras, and finally today’s cell cams that lets the user receive images in real time from afar.
Trail cam tech advancements are continuing at light speed, and with them, questions about whether their use violates fair chase. To that end, some states have adopted regulations restricting or prohibiting the use of certain technologies at specific times and/or for particular species. Agencies do so to ensure the use of tech doesn’t push success rates to the point where seasons or permit numbers need to be reduced, and to uphold the tenets of fair chase. For example, in Nevada and Arizona, trail cams are banned for hunting purposes. In Montana, Utah, Kansas, New Hampshire and Alaska, the use of cell cams is prohibited during hunting season.
When it comes to the question of fair chase, the Boone and Crockett Club’s policy on the use of wireless trail cams states, in part: “The use of any technology that delivers real-time data (including photos) to target or guide a hunter to any species or animal in a manner that elicits an immediate (real-time) response by the hunter is not permitted.” The club also smartly recognizes that states are geographically different, and what’s good for states in the Southwest affected by prolonged drought will have different regulations than states in the Midwest or Southeast, where water sources are more abundant. Pope and Young’s policy states, in part, “While the use of a wireless trail camera is not automatically a violation of the Rules of Fair Chase, using this technology to deliver real time location data of the animal being hunted would be a violation of rule #7 of our Rules of Fair Chase.”
My Opinion
As technologies continue to evolve, the tenets of fair chase become even more important to me. There comes a point in which we have to decide whether or not the use of technological advancements in all things — not just trail cams — simply make hunting too easy. In fair chase hunting, success is never guaranteed. By its very definition, fair chase is what separates hunting from simply killing.
The Boone and Crockett Club says it best: “Hunting, at its most fundamental level, is defined by the unpredictable relationship between predator and prey. This relationship is built upon many complex components that differentiate hunting from simply shooting or killing. It is a profoundly personal and human connection with wildlife that cannot be shortchanged, manipulated, or otherwise compromised if the hunter is to maintain the sanctity of this relationship and any credible claim that hunting is challenging, rewarding, respectful of wild creatures, and a positive force for wildlife conservation.
“If a person allows hunting to become too easy, too predictable, and less challenging, they risk losing the special nature of the hunting experience itself. Hunting tests a person’s abilities in difficult conditions and their developed skills in finding and taking wildlife. Most hunters agree that the physical and mental challenges, and the uncertainty of hunting are its most powerful attractions.”
In a modern society where technology has speeded up everything, trail cam use has in no small measure replaced time-consuming, boots-on-the-ground scouting that will put the hunter in the best position for a shot. I fear that, for some, whose daily lives prevent them from spending lots of time afield, the need to kill an animal, then post their picture with it on social media, makes the use of technology to replace basic woodsmanship and commitment, extremely appealing.
For me, placing a personal limit on the use of tech is important. Sure, doing so may decrease my chances for success, but it also enhances the hunting experience and helps me show maximum respect for the game. After all, in bowhunting, is not “the one that got away” more memorable than the one that did not?
