>Ban them on public land and
>require manufacturers to collect a
>small percentage (similar to Pittman
>Robertson for firearms and ammunition)
>that is put into a
>bounty fund. This would allow
>guys to turn in their
>own cameras for a couple
>bucks or turn in cameras
>they find abandoned on public
>land. If guys want to
>keep their cameras and use
>them on private land they
>can go nuts and hang
>them like Christmas tree ornaments
>if they want.
>
>I got a hunting catalog from
>Cabelas last year that had
>more pages dedicated to trail
>cameras than archery equipment. As
>far as I can tell
>these "made in China" devices
>contribute nothing to public wildlife
>and fishing funds and like
>most electronics devices offer great
>profits for the manufacturers and
>retailors. There is plenty of
>margin in these products to
>pay for self regulation so
>the enforcement concern is negligible.
>
>
>We can play the "we all
>need to stick together as
>hunters" song about technology until
>we are blue in the
>face but the reality is
>that there are more non-hunters
>than hunters in this world.
>It has been my experience
>that most non-hunters respect and
>support our sport as long
>as we practice basic fair
>chase principles. An expectation that
>a hunter actually be physically
>near the animal during the
>hunt seems pretty reasonable to
>me. Keeping our sport open
>to our kids in the
>future is more important to
>me than keeping camera factories
>open in China. I
>could care less about Cabelas
>annual sales.
>
>Ryan
Pretty much sums up my thoughts.
www.unitedwildlifecooperative.org