Groups Push for Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish in Colorado

Pro-hunting groups in Colorado are advocating for a ballot initiative that would codify hunting and fishing as constitutionally protected rights. The effort comes after a 2024 ballot measure that would have banned all big-cat hunting in Colorado failed to pass. There’s also a current ballot push to criminalize hunting and fishing altogether in the state of Oregon.

Travis Thompson is the Director of Policy and Coalitions for the International Order of T. Roosevelt (IOTR). The group is providing funds and policy guidance for the effort, alongside collaborators like Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management (CRWM) and HOWL for Wildlife. “We’ve already gathered close to 100,000 signatures,” Thompson tells F&S. “Our goal is 200,000, though we only need 125,000 to meet the threshold. Once all signatures are verified, we expect to be on the ballot this coming November.”

“A Lock on the Door”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 24 other states have already enshrined the right to hunt and fish in their constitutions. Thompson says that once hunting and fishing rights are codified, it’s much harder to get hunting bans approved for ballot inclusion through a state’s Secretary of State. “This puts a lock on the door,” he says. “The lock’s not perfect. Someone could still kick it in, shoot it off, or come in through a window. But it’s just common sense to at least have a lock on the door.”

IOTR worked on a similar ballot initiative in Florida in 2024. That effort, known as Amendment 2, passed with 67.3 percent of the popular vote. Its language says that “Fishing, hunting, and the taking of fish and wildlife, including by the use of traditional methods, shall be preserved forever as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife.” Because Amendment 2 was what’s known as a “legislatively referred amendment,” it had to pass Florida’s House and Senate before making the ballot, which it did with overwhelming bi-partisan support.

Thompson says Florida’s Amendment 2 is a model for what’s possible in Colorado, as well as other states that lack a constitutionally protected right to hunt and fish—like Oregon, Washington, and California. As proof of Amendment 2’s effectiveness, Thompson points to a failed attempt by the city of Marco Island, Florida to implement a nighttime shark fishing ban. “That was just one angler with no groups behind him, and he got that proposed ban dropped thanks to the rights spelled out in Amendment 2,” Thompson says.

Read Next: Ballot Initiative Would Criminalize Hunting and Fishing in Oregon

Called Prop 302, the proposed ballot initiative would not bring back any previously banned hunting or trapping seasons, Thompson points out, nor would it change any existing game and fish laws on the books in Colorado. “This simply protects our heritage by creating a right to hunt and fish in perpetuity,” he says. “Colorado Parks and Wildlife has and always will determine huntable seasons and species.”

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