It was almost 10 years before the Maine Wildlife Conservation Council hit pause following the 2014 bear referendum win. That year a statewide ballot measure seeking to ban the use of bait, traps and dogs in bear hunting was defeated by voters 52 to 48 percent.

Guides across Maine (not just bear guides) put their hard-earned money into the fight to keep hunting methods and their livelihoods from being taken away at the ballot box. Sportsman’s clubs in Maine and across the United States dedicated their time and money to hosting gatherings that raised funds to fight. When all was said and done, hunters and their supporters prevailed.

The Maine Wildlife Conservation Council, formed to oppose the 2014 referendum on banning bear baiting, voted to hit pause and put the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised since the vote into an account to grow. I remember exactly where I was standing and with whom when the question was asked about trying for a constitutional amendment to protect hunting, fishing and trapping in Maine.

The answer was an emphatic: “No. Absolutely not. It does nothing to prevent this from happening again.”

Throughout the bear referendum, hunters were outspent 3 to 1. It was a David vs. Goliath fight, with small one-person guide operations fighting against the corporate machine of the Humane Society, now called Humane World for Animals. When the referendum was over, conservation organizations, hunters, guides, clubs and supporters saw their energy and savings accounts drained.

Proposed bill LD 820, sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth M. Caruso, R-Caratunk, puts forward an “Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to establish the Right to Hunt and Fish.” The bill passed out of the Inland Fisheries & Wildlife committee and is headed for a wider vote in the legislature. If an amendment goes forward and gets added as a statewide referendum question, there will be a campaign to raise awareness and support. It costs a lot of money to educate, deal with propaganda and false narratives, and convince the non-hunting public that this is a necessity. Millions of dollars will be spent.

FUTURE FIGHTS

A constitutional amendment enshrining the right to hunt and fish may guarantee the ability to “do” the activity, but it does NOT protect the hunting methods that are used. The methods — such as baiting, trapping, the use of dogs and more — could still be the subject of future fights at the ballot box.

The language in the 2014 bear referendum asked voters: “Do you want to ban bear hunting using bait, traps or dogs except to protect property, public safety or for research?” The referendum question said nothing about ending my right to hunt bears; it just attempted to remove primary methods that are used for hunting that game.

My right to hunt is technically not blocked using this language against the methods.

In 2018, North Carolina voters approved an amendment to their constitution that granted the right to hunt and fish. Two years later there were challenges to the amendment in regard to Sunday hunting. Similar to the recent failed attempt to allow hunting on Sundays in Maine, using the state’s new “Right to Food” amendment, the court in North Carolina found that the state’s amendment for hunting and fishing did not mean that hunters were entitled to more access than already established, including for Sunday hunting.

Florida just passed its right to hunt and fish in its constitution last fall. The ballot questions allowed for the state to “preserve forever fishing and hunting, including by traditional methods as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife.” But even with the constitutional protection, the definition of “traditional methods” can be interpreted in many ways.

Where there is vagueness, there is opportunity for anti-hunters to challenge specific hunting methods.

Vermont, which put the right to hunt and fish into its constitution in 1777, is battling for the right to continue using bait to hunt coyotes, as well as other fur-bearers like foxes, bobcats, fisher and marten. While that issue goes through the state legislature, there is also a move to change the power structure of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife board to add more non-hunting members to help approve, modify and oversee the rules governing hunting, fishing and trapping in the state.

BE PREPARED 

Again, an amendment to the Maine constitution does NOT protect the hunting methods we use.

At face value, such a law would just allow us to go for a walk in the woods with our weapons. It is shortsighted to believe this will protect our ability to hunt and fish using the methods we use today.

I am not saying that this push for an amendment is a bad idea, but don’t get fooled into thinking it is something that will prevent future legislative or referendum attacks on hunting and fishing. And it will not be a pathway to acquire hunting on Sundays, as seen in North Carolina.

If I were any anti-hunting group, I would sit back and let hunters and outdoorsmen spend their money on passing this constitutional amendment at the ballot box. Assuming it passed, I would then come after every hunting method I wanted, knowing that hunters (more than likely) could not afford another referendum battle so quickly.

The general public would question why the amendment was passed to begin with. Hunters could face losing credibility with the non-hunting public.

Hunters may think this constitutional amendment is the best option to protect what we love about it, but we must also think about how anti-hunters are viewing this and what their game plan may be. The last thing we want is to be caught off guard and unprepared because we were not paying attention. We need to be prepared.

LD 820 may end up on the ballot as a referendum question in 2026. If it does, there will be challenges to get it passed. A lot has happened since the bear baiting referendum in 2014, including a decline in the number of hunters in Maine.

No hunter wants to lose the ability to put food in the freezer for winter. I’m just not convinced that a constitutional amendment is the way to go about ensuring that remains the norm.

Erin Merrill, an award-winning writer based in central Maine, writes “Hunt & Harvest” monthly. She welcomes emails at: [email protected].