Among the issues that percolated through the Florida legislature during the 2023 session , the “ Right to Hunt and Fish ” was among the most important . Thankfully , the legislature responded to the heavy support from sportsmen groups in every corner of the state and passed the bill to put the issue on the 2024 ballot . As in the 23 states that have already passed the Right to Hunt and Fish , Florida voters will decide whether the Florida Constitution should be amended to include this all-important recognition of our sacred outdoor traditions .
Vermont was the first to recognize a Right to Hunt and Fish in its Constitution in 1777 , even before its admittance as a state in 1791 . More than 200 years later , Alabama began the modern wave of ballot measures when voters approved a Right to Hunt and Fish for that state in 1996 . In just about every two-year election cycle since , at least one state has added the protection , with voters routinely approving these ballot measures by hefty margins . The latest was Utah in 2020 , where voters passed a Right to Hunt and Fish Amendment with a resounding 75 percent yes vote .
' 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 . This section does not limit the authority granted to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under Section 9 of Article IV .' — Florida HJR 1157
If not for Right to Hunt and Fish Amendments , future hunters could see diminished outdoor opportunities .
Right to Hunt and Fish Amendments are slightly different in each state , but each tracks closely to a central theme that hunting and fishing are considered traditional ( and often preferential ) methods by which effective fish and wildlife populations are managed . The language from the Florida bill ( above ) to establish the ballot question is a great example .
These protections are critical going forward , as animal extremists continue to assault our outdoor traditions with reckless abandon , driven by a dangerous ideology that doesn ’ t include sportsmen on the landscape . In recent years , these extremists have established war chests numbering in the billions of dollars , and slowly but surely , continue to push for the erosion of conservation , science and the outdoor legacy so carefully built by the American sportsman over the last century .
Public opinion polls continue to show that the American public generally supports hunting and fishing , but the problem is the animal extremists never come at issues directly . Instead , they seek to prohibit or restrict activities at the edges , knowing that many hunters and anglers won ’ t notice the incremental destruction cratering our heritage slowly over time .
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