Seasonal trail camera restrictions will remain. The passing of HB295 during the 2021 Utah legislative session instructed the Utah Wildlife Board to make rules to govern the use of trail cameras in hunting. After an extensive process, that included surveying over 16,000 big game hunters and multiple public hearings, the Utah Wildlife Board voted during their January board meeting to prohibit the use of ALL trail cameras in the use of big game hunting between July 31st and December 31st. In the weeks that followed, considerable feedback poured in and an appeal hearing was scheduled for March 10th. Several hours of comments and discussion took place before the board ultimately decided to keep the rule to prohibit ALL trail cameras in the use of big game hunting. This rule does not apply to: Private landowners monitoring their property during active agricultural operations, in preventing trespass, or harvesting a bear or cougar that have killed livestock; Cities involved in the Urban Deer Program; Government or educational organizations gathering wildlife information; And anyone who is not hunting and is just getting footage of wildlife for personal use. The key to all of these is that the use of trail cameras, even on private property, cannot be to assist in the harvest of big game between July 31st and December 31st. Learn more at wildlife.utah.gov.
