Colorado Voters to Decide Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish

Colorado hunters and anglers cleared a major hurdle this fall, gathering enough signatures to put a right-to-hunt-and-fish amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot, setting up a fight with animal-rights groups over how the state's constitution treats wildlife management.

Key points

• The measure: Amendment 83 would enshrine the right to hunt, fish, and take fish and wildlife through traditional methods in Colorado's constitution, needing 55 percent voter approval.
• Carve-outs stay intact: Per Ballotpedia's summary, the language still allows regulation for nongame species, endangered species, and anything already illegal under federal law.
• Opposition is loud: Groups like Project Coyote and Friends of Animals have publicly pushed back, with Friends of Animals arguing the constitution isn't "a trophy room."
• Money talks: A Wichita Eagle report cited by American Hunter notes hunters and anglers fund more than 70 percent of Colorado Parks and Wildlife's $220 million budget, with hunting and fishing adding $3.2 billion to the state economy.
• Not Colorado's first rodeo: The state has a track record of passing emotion-driven wildlife bans, including bear baiting in 1992 and certain traps and snares in 1996, which is part of why groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation back this amendment.

Quick take

This one matters beyond Colorado. If it passes, the state joins 24 others with constitutional hunting and fishing protections, a real hedge against the kind of petition-driven restrictions that have chipped away at trapping and predator management in recent years. Worth watching if you care about hunting rights anywhere near the Rockies.

Read the full story: americanhunter.org