According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 17 states have constitutional language expressly guaranteeing the right to hunt and fish. Two other states, California and Rhode Island, constitutionally protect the right to fish. Of the states that protect both hunting and fishing rights, only Vermont established the right when its constitution was first drafted. The other states amended their constitutions to include the rights, starting with Alabama in 1996. Mississippi will vote on a similar amendment this year.
A Wall Street Journal (subscription required) article attributed these efforts in part to a growing number of hunters seeking to insulate hunting and fishing rights from calls by animal rights organizations to prohibit certain hunting practices. (There is evidence that, nationally the number of hunters increased by 9% between 2006 and 2011.) In prior decades, hunting license sales declined, likely do to such things as urbanization, less land available for hunting, and an increase in efforts to protect wildlife.
