Written by HLRBO Staff|
Last updated
Colorado voters decide Tuesday, Nov. 3, whether to make hunting and fishing a right protected by the state constitution. Amendment 83 needs 55 percent of the vote to pass. If it does, Colorado would join 24 states with similar protections, two years after the same electorate rejected a ban on hunting mountain lions and bobcats.
A hunter glasses elk country in the Colorado Rockies. AI-generated illustration.
Amendment 83 began as Initiative 302, a citizen petition that qualified for the ballot on Aug. 20 with 145,299 valid signatures, according to Ballotpedia), which described it as the first citizen initiative to propose a constitutional right to hunt and fish.
What the amendment says
The text of the measure is short. It establishes "a right of the people of Colorado to hunt, fish, and take fish and wildlife," and declares that "hunting and fishing are the preferred means of responsibly managing fish and wildlife populations." The state keeps its power to regulate when a law is necessary for "sound scientific wildlife conservation and management" or public safety. And the text says it is "not intended to authorize trespass upon private property."
The ballot question describes a right to hunt, fish, and harvest fish and wildlife "by traditional methods," a phrase the measure does not define.
The legislature's nonpartisan Blue Book analysis says the amendment would make "no immediate change to existing state law or regulations." Its effect would come later, when future laws and ballot measures are measured against it.
The case for it
Supporters, led by Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management, argue that wildlife decisions belong to science-based management rather than the ballot box. Executive director Dan Gates has called the amendment a "strong barrier against lawsuits, ballot initiatives and other restrictive actions from anti-hunting groups," KUNC reported. The Wisconsin-based International Order of T. Roosevelt is also backing it. "Hunting and fishing is part of Colorado's heritage," executive director Luke Hilgemann said.
The backdrop is recent. In 2024, Proposition 127 would have banned hunting mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx in Colorado. Voters turned it down, roughly 55 percent to 45 percent.
A mule deer buck in western Colorado sagebrush. AI-generated illustration.
The case against it
Opposition comes from several directions. Gov. Jared Polis has argued that "there shouldn't be a 'right' to one form of outdoor recreation above all others." Attorney General Phil Weiser said he is "really worried about putting things in the constitution that create mischief and invitation to litigation," according to Ballotpedia).
The measure "threatens both Colorado's wildlife and Coloradans' voice in how wildlife is managed," Aubyn Royall, Colorado state director of Humane World for Animals, said in a statement. Opponents also argue that the undefined "traditional methods" language could be used to challenge practices Colorado voters have already restricted, such as baiting and steel-jawed leghold traps, KUNC reported.
Some hunters share the worry about lawsuits. Eric Washburn, a big game hunter from Steamboat Springs, has warned of a rush to the courthouse over what "traditional methods" covers, KUNC reported, citing the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
Where other states stand
Colorado would become the 25th state with a constitutional right to hunt and fish, according to KUNC. Most of those provisions were adopted since 1996, HPPR reported; Vermont's dates to 1777. Colorado's is the only right-to-hunt measure on a statewide ballot this year, according to Ballotpedia's tracker.
Results are expected Tuesday night. Even a win changes nothing on the ground this season: licenses, seasons, and regulations stay where they are.
Amendment 83 covers fishing as well as hunting. AI-generated illustration.
A constitutional right to hunt doesn't come with a place to hunt, and Amendment 83 says as much in its own text. Private ground still runs through the people who own it. HLRBO connects hunters with landowners across the country, with written lease agreements and secure payments behind every booking. Find a lease.