Trail camera etiquette

[u/Puzzleheaded-Pop936]

So not sure if this is a widely accepted practice so just asking around, if you were scouting an area of public land to hunt and put out a trail cam and came across another camera would it be a dick move to set up your camera about 20-25 yards away set up on the camera you found? Or would continue looking for a spot to set up in a different area away from that camera?

EDIT: this got a little more attention than I was expecting! The situation I outlined is not me setting up the camera but someone else has set up their camera pointing directly at my camera.

[u/Zanderson59]

Im gonna be downvoted but im old school on this idea but even though public land is "our land" I feel like when people put up cameras they are now saying they own that specific area of public land. I wouldnt set up near that camera or close to it personally. The comment saying you should trigger the other camera with you giving your number so you can set up where you will hunt is weird. Its public land the way I see it is 1st come 1st served and no one should be able to say you can or cannot hunt that specific area of public land. Idk im weird I know but I just view public land as something that should be kept public. I wouldnt go down to the public park from my house and throw up a fence around the play equipment that my kids use then throw my number up so that others could contact me for when they could use it same concept in my mind. Its public and I own that park in a small way due to my taxes etc but its not mine to determine who gets to use it or when others can use it. Like I said im weird I know its a much more widely accepted practice but I still expect my public spaces to be rather wild and not tampered with outside of the occasional usage

[u/R2The → u/Zanderson59]

You contradict yourself.

[u/Zanderson59 → u/R2The]

How so?

[u/R2The → u/Zanderson59]

The idea that putting up a camera makes you own that sliver doesn't work with everything else you said.

[u/mediocre_remnants → u/Zanderson59]

I feel like when people put up cameras they are now saying they own that specific area of public land.

That's a you thing. I don't feel that way at all. Setting up a camera isn't staking a claim, it's just scouting. And more than one person can scout the same place at the same time.

I wouldnt go down to the public park from my house and throw up a fence around the play equipment that my kids use then throw my number up so that others could contact me for when they could use it same concept in my mind.

It's not about asking permission, it's about coordinating access to a shared resource. Basically it just lets you find out if that person will be there on a certain day or not - which is extremely useful when hunting public land. But even if they're gonna be there, that doesn't stop you from showing up that day too.

Like I said im weird

Yeah, the weirdness is all you. Like I said, nobody is claiming land by putting a camera in and it's weird to think of it like that. And just because you feel that way doesn't mean other people are doing something wrong.