If proponents have their way, hunters, anglers and trappers in Delaware, New Hampshire and Ohio will not have to look over their shoulders to continue to participate in their traditional American recreational activities. Three distinctive legislative proposals seek to protect hunting, fishing and trapping in their respective state constitutions.

Why is there a need? Anti-hunting and animal rights groups across the country continue efforts to limit or even ban hunting, fishing and trapping. Activists placed a citizen initiative on Colorado’s 2024 ballot seeking to outlaw mountain lion and bobcat hunting. Voters rejected it. Several states have trapping restrictions, including New Mexico which has prohibitions on most of its public land.

An animal rights activist told WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio, the measure would “lock cruel and unpopular practices into our state constitution.” While another claimed, “There is no demonstrated threat to these privileges.”

The exact opposite is true. In Oregon, radical extremists are trying for a third time to place a measure on the 2026 ballot that would make it a crime to hunt, fish or trap. Their goal, in addition to passage in Oregon, is to create a grassroots protest that forces votes for state constitutional amendments and potentially a federal constitutional amendment to permanently ban hunting, fishing and trapping.

Lawmakers in Delaware want to protect hunting, fishing and trapping from future legal challenges, while also highlighting how hunting supports land and wildlife conservation.

“All I’m looking at is, guaranteed, the right for future generations to do something that for the last 250 years we’ve been able to do and nobody ever questioned it,” State Sen. Dave Wilson told Spotlight Delaware. 

According to the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, 24 states previously enacted legislation to protect the rights of citizens to hunt, fish and trap with Vermont the first in 1777 and Florida the most recent in 2024. The others are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

About Hunt 2 Conserve 

Hunt 2 Conserve is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its mission is to advance a legacy of hunting and conservation by educating, activating and developing stewards and defenders of these fundamentally American ideals. For more information, go to hunt2conserve.org. 

(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)