The state of Kansas is the latest to join a growing number of states that are cracking down on the use of trail cameras by hunters. A March 9th meeting of the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks (KDWP) Fish and Game Commission brought a vote to prohibit the use of all trail cameras on public lands in the state. This includes both cellular and conventional trail cameras.
The move brought unanimous support from the 7-member commission. While some in the meeting were pushing for an in-season ban of cameras only, the commission ultimately chose to apply a year-round ban to all public lands owned or managed by the state. The ruling will go into effect prior to the fall hunting seasons.
The Reasoning Behind the Ban
The obvious question is, why place a ban on trail cameras? What’s the point?
According to the commission, much of the issue revolves around privacy of others. “There are some deleterious issues when it comes to trail cameras,” says Commissioner, Gerald Lauber. “In some places, cameras are used to spy on other hunters. And some people recoil from seeing a camera. They’re private. They don’t want to have somebody take their picture, and then have it on Facebook.”
But obviously not all Kansas hunters are in agreement. A number of hunters showed up to voice their disapproval of a year-round ban. Kansas bowhunter, Sean Miller, spoke out to the commission asking them to consider an amendment to the ban that would apply only during the fall hunting season.
Watch the commission’s discussion of the ban at the 25:00 minute mark in the video below.
In the end, the commission took an “all or nothing” approach on the issue. “If we’re going to have a regulation, we need to be able to enforce it as effectively as possible,” Lauber said. “It would be a lot simpler from an enforcement standpoint to have all or nothing.”
According to the KDWP, the ban applies to all state lands and waters, including 28 state parks and approximately 300,000 acres of public wildlife areas and 1.4 million acres of leased private property enrolled in the states Walk-in program.
Last year, we reported on Utah’s move to ban the use of trail cameras by hunters from July 31 to December 31. Read that story HERE.
What do you think? Is this a good move for the state of Kansas? Should it apply to other states across the country? Comment below, and let us know what you think.
