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What are the rules of having a trail cam on public land in AZ? I’ve seen conflicting answers.

@diablo
They're now illegal for hunting. Other use, is unknown. Best to check with AZG&F Department.

@Pivo
Thanks man, everything I’ve seen just talks about the hunting aspect of it, I just want the pictures just because.

Leaving personal items on public land is littering/garbage and items found should be treated as such.

In January, there was a new sighting of a jaguar in southern Arizona as captured by a private citizen wildlife enthusiast with a trail cam. A lot of people were very excited about the photographs he captured including conservation organizations and AZGFD. I read a bunch of articles about it, and none of them mentioned anything about any legal issue with his trailcam having been out there illegally. Does that mean it's ok? Or does a cool capture make something that isn't ok into an overlooked offense? I dunno.

* As Linda mentioned, there are laws prohibiting abandoned property. On FS land, something left for as little as 24-hours can be considered abandoned -- if somebody "steals" your trail cam, you don't actually have a legal claim to it anymore. I've seen USFWS trail cams with identifying labels and contact information on them. I'm not sure if doing the same to a private cam makes a difference, or if you can get a permit/permission from the land management agency you wish to put the cam on.

Serious question: How does a trail camera locked in place and or strapped to a tree qualify as abandoned, but a locked car parked on a road for the same amount of time not qualify as abandoned? It isn't a rubber elephant on a peak, or a radio repeater (which was locked to a bush, but I dismantled on McCleary) that is probably illegal. Where does one become acceptable?

Jim_H wrote:Where does one become acceptable?

A good question, and one that might contribute to how there doesn't seem to be true clarity on the issue.

It was probably 20 years ago, but ASNF removed dozens of boats and canoes that were locked to trees at the south end of Chevelon Canyon Lake, deeming them as abandoned property. So on national forest land in Arizona there is at least some precedent for confiscating property even though it was "parked" and "locked" similar to a trailhead parking lot. (I believe the FS allowed boat owners to claim and recover their property for a fee, with unrecovered boats going to auction).

Jim_H wrote:How does a trail camera locked in place and or strapped to a tree qualify as abandoned, but a locked car parked on a road for the same amount of time not qualify as abandoned?

Roads are intended for vehicles. They typically have stay limits.

LindaAnn wrote:Leaving personal items on public land is littering/garbage and items found should be treated as such.

this is why when I'm elk shed hunting up near Payson I help keep the forests clean and remove them and take them home with me

@chumley
Gotcha thanks. I’ve seen several people on here have them on public land so I assumed it was legal. But I suppose if it gets stolen it’s fair game.

@diablo Also fair game is triggering somebody's cam in ways that will make them forever regret having looked at the photos captured on their memory card.

@chumley

Near the border it usually belongs to BP or to the Cartels. One inholding the rancher has some up on his property recording the illegal crossers ( in the hundreds in less than a month's time, so he has told me.)
Sycamore Canyon has a couple of BP sensors, and there are others scattered in the Parajita area and around Atascosa. My favorite from a BP agent with an injury working in the monitor room -- a fate worse than death supposedly---"in 24 hours we saw some border crossers, cows, drug runners and naked hikers."

It is legal if not being used to aid in hunting purposes. I used to set them up a couple times a year. Have thousands and thousands of incredible pictures and videos of all kinds of wildlife. My young boys absolutely loved sifting thru to find bears, mountain lions etc…

@kelly14 I think we've all been looking for some kind of published documentation that says it's legal. I've seen many posts like yours, but I'm not sure that would stand up in court!

@chumley
Can find it on the azgfd website.

Trail Cameras, and/or their images, shall not be placed, maintained, or used for the purpose of taking or aiding in the take of wildlife (R12-4-303)

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission voted unanimously at a June meeting to ban trail cameras for hunting, though they still can be used for research, general wildlife viewing and to protect property.

To be safe, contact azgfd to double check but I think it’s fairly clear.

@chumley
https://azgfd-portal-wordpress-pantheon ... July14.pdf

kelly14 wrote:though they still can be used for research, general wildlife viewing and to protect property.

I guess the confusion may lie in the fact that AZGFD does not have authority to manage public lands outside of the scope of hunting activities, nor do they have authority to regulate the activities listed in the quote. Moreover, AZGFD doesn't make any mention of how long they think you should be allowed to leave a camera on public land for those activities.

But I’d definitely feel more comfortable arguing my case if USFS or BLM was trying to confiscate or cite. (Though there would likely be a state agency v fed agency conflict in that too!)

@chumley
Would the case be different in designated wilderness areas?

@diablo I've never known of a regulation that prohibits trail cams in designated wildernesses. There are several federal agencies that manage lands that are designated as wilderness. I think most National Forest, BLM and USFWS wildernesses permit hunting (firearms are mechanized, no?) while National Parks wildernesses do not.