It’s official. Colorado’s right to hunt and fish has a number, a ballot spot, and a date: Amendment 83, November 3.
We’ve been tracking this fight since it was just Initiative 302 gathering signatures back in June, and then when hunters delivered 180,000+ signatures in July. On August 20, the Colorado Secretary of State certified those signatures — 145,299 verified, blowing past the 124,238 required — and the measure officially made the ballot. The Secretary of State assigned its final ballot number after certification: it appears on your ballot as Amendment 83. (Early coverage, including ours, initially reported it as Amendment 84 — that number belongs to an unrelated mail-ballot voter ID measure.) Now comes the part that actually matters: winning the vote.
What Amendment 83 Actually Does
Amendment 83 writes the right to hunt and fish directly into the Colorado Constitution. The language does three big things:
- Establishes a constitutional right for Coloradans to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife using traditional methods
- Declares hunting and fishing the preferred means of responsibly managing fish and wildlife populations
- Preserves the state’s authority to regulate for sound, science-based wildlife conservation and public safety
It does not touch endangered species, nongame species, or anything protected under federal law. It doesn’t authorize trespassing. And it doesn’t strip Colorado Parks and Wildlife of its management authority — regulations stay, as long as they’re grounded in science.
Here’s the part that makes this one historic: 24 states already have a right to hunt and fish in their constitutions, but aside from Vermont — whose right dates all the way back to its original 1777 constitution — every one got there through their legislature. Amendment 83 is the first citizen-initiated right-to-hunt-and-fish amendment in American history. Colorado hunters didn’t wait for politicians — they carried petitions to trailheads, gun shops, and county fairs and put it on the ballot themselves.
Why Colorado Needs This
If you’ve hunted Colorado for any length of time, you already know why. This state has become the national testing ground for ballot-box biology — managing wildlife by campaign ad instead of by biologist.
Wolf reintroduction passed by a razor-thin statewide vote in 2020 and we’ve been living with the fallout ever since. In 2024, Proposition 127 tried to outlaw mountain lion, bobcat, and lynx hunting entirely — hunters beat it, but it took a massive fight to protect a hunt as regulated and science-managed as a guided Colorado mountain lion hunt. Nobody believes that was the last attempt. Amendment 83 changes the math: instead of hunters having to win every single defensive fight forever, the other side would need 55% of Colorado to vote hunting out of the constitution.
The coalition behind it is real, too — more than 60 state and national conservation organizations by the campaign’s count, including Dan Gates and Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management, T. Roosevelt Action, and Howl for Wildlife. These are the same people who have been holding the line for science-based management in Colorado for years.
What the Opposition Says
Fair is fair — here’s the case against. Opponents argue the phrase “traditional methods” is undefined and could spark lawsuits over practices Colorado voters banned decades ago, and that the constitution shouldn’t keep absorbing policy questions. Supporters answer that the amendment’s own text defers to state and federal law and preserves the state’s regulatory authority, so existing rules stand. That legal debate will get loud between now and November. What isn’t debatable: hunters and anglers fund the overwhelming share of conservation in this state, and Amendment 83 is the first chance to protect that system permanently instead of defending it one ballot fight at a time.
The Bar Is High: 55%
Because it amends the constitution, Amendment 83 needs at least 55% yes — not a simple majority. That’s a deliberately high bar. The campaign says nearly 2 million Coloradans hunt, fish, or support science-based wildlife management — but those people only count if they’re registered and actually vote.
The campaign’s next phase is visibility. At yescohuntfish.org you can build your own Amendment 83 supporter graphic — your photo, your name, your reason — in about a minute, and post it to your feed. Campaign info and ways to get involved are at yeson83co.org. We broke down the early version of this fight on the Hunt Podcast, and we’ll keep covering it through November.
Colorado Amendment 83 FAQ
What is Colorado Amendment 83?
Amendment 83 is a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment on Colorado’s November 3, 2026 ballot that would establish a constitutional right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife using traditional methods, and declare hunting and fishing the preferred means of managing wildlife populations.
Does Amendment 83 change existing hunting regulations?
No. The amendment explicitly preserves the state’s authority to regulate hunting and fishing for science-based wildlife conservation and public safety. Seasons, licenses, bag limits, and method restrictions all remain in place.
What percentage does Amendment 83 need to pass?
It needs at least 55% of the vote. Colorado requires a 55% supermajority for constitutional amendments, a higher bar than the simple majority that ordinary propositions need.
How many states have a right to hunt and fish in their constitution?
Twenty-four states have constitutional right-to-hunt-and-fish provisions. Vermont’s dates back to 1777; the rest were referred to voters by state legislatures. Amendment 83 would make Colorado the first state to do it by citizen initiative.
How can I support Amendment 83?
Make sure you’re registered to vote in Colorado, vote yes on November 3, and spread the word — you can create a personal supporter graphic at yescohuntfish.org and find the campaign at yeson83co.org.
Our Take
We book hunts in a dozen states, but Colorado is home. Every elk and mule deer trip we run in this state depends on wildlife management staying in the hands of biologists instead of ballot campaigns. Amendment 83 is the rare chance to play offense. Register, vote, and get your crew to do the same — and if this season has you fired up to hunt Colorado while it’s still the Colorado we know, browse our guided hunts or drop us a line.
Hunting is not a hobby. It’s an obsession.
