Michigan Representatives are pushing House Joint Resolution C, a constitutional amendment that would guarantee citizens’ right to hunt, fish, and trap in our state.
If passed by both chambers and approved by voters in 2026, this amendment would add Section 29 to Article I of Michigan’s Constitution, protecting these heritage activities while maintaining “science-based conservation” management.
This is a big deal for several reasons, mostly because your ability to hunt deer, catch a bass, or trap beaver isn’t guaranteed. It exists today only through statutory law—laws that a basic majority in the state legislature or a well-funded ballot initiative could eliminate at any time. This resolution would change hunting, trapping, and fishing from a privilege into a right.
I’ll be honest, I’m typically the last person advocating to expand the list of human rights. We’ve watched the term “rights” be stretched over the last 50 years to cover everything from internet access to vacation, fundamentally misunderstanding what rights are.
Rights aren’t goods or services the government provides. They’re liberties the government protects. That’s at least the idea that led to the most successful and prosperous nation in the world.
Our founders understood this distinction. The Bill of Rights doesn’t give you free muskets or subsidized printing presses. It prevents the government from interfering with the liberties God gave you: speech, worship, free association, and self-defense. These are activities you can pursue without requiring anything from anyone else.
Hunting and fishing fit this original framework perfectly. The resolution is not asking the government to provide you with deer or stock streams with trout, it’s protecting your liberty to pursue game, to provide for your family through your own effort, to engage with the natural world as humans have for our entire existence.
When the U.S. Constitution was written, wildlife law barely existed. The founders couldn’t conceive of a future where the government claimed ownership of every deer, turkey, and bass—even those living on private property. In their world, hunting wasn’t just a liberty. It was survival, commerce, and culture all rolled into one.
If Madison and Jefferson could see today’s regulatory framework, where you need government permission to catch a bluegill or harvest a squirrel eating your corn, they’d likely view it as exactly the type of government overreach they sought to prevent.
And while I agree with conservation and management of animal species, this amendment recognizes what the founders would have made explicit had they foreseen the reach of the modern administrative state into every aspect of our lives.
The House Resolution uses specific language calling hunting and fishing “heritage,” which is more than just feel-good rhetoric. It’s a legal term that positions these activities as cultural traditions deserving protection, similar to how we protect religious practices or free speech.
My great-grandfather teaching me where to sit and see deer, my niece’s first bluegill, the deer camp stories passed down through my family for generations aren’t just memories. They are something more. They are the cultural inheritance that shapes who we are as Michiganders and outdoorsmen.
This amendment recognizes that reality.
So what changes if this proposal passes? The nuclear option for removing hunting, trapping, and fishing goes away. Wildlife management decisions must be based on science and conservation needs, not political pressure or emotional campaigns.
And it’s not like this is a new idea. States with similar amendments (Tennessee, Vermont, and Indiana) still have fantastic wildlife management.
HJR C has been sitting in committee since February. That’s not unusual for constitutional amendments, especially in an election year with a divided government. But legislators are watching, measuring public support, and deciding whether Michigan’s outdoor community cares enough to fight for this.
Michigan’s hunting traditions face threats from urbanization, changing demographics, and organized opposition. Constitutional protection makes sure this part of our culture survives long enough for your grandchildren to experience them.
The choice is simple: Protect Michigan’s hunting and fishing heritage now or risk losing it later.
Tom Zandstra is a passionate outdoorsman and CEO of The Fair Chase. Follow him on X @TheFairChase1.
