On November 5, Colorado voters rejected a ballot measure that would have criminalized mountain lion and bobcat hunting and trapping in the Centennial State. The controversial referendum, dubbed Proposition 127, failed by more than 280,000 votes.
Prop 127 was crafted and promoted by an anti-hunting organization called “Cats Aren’t Trophies"—a group most noted for its association with a reality television star and anti-hunting activist Carol Baskin, who appeared in the Netflix docuseries "Tiger King" back in 2020. The referendum would have prohibited any hunting or trapping of mountain lion, bobcat, or lynx—even though lynx are already protected under the Endangered Species Act throughout the contiguous United States. It also attempted to label all big cat hunting and trapping as "trophy hunting."
The hunting community came out in staunch opposition to the Prop 127 from the moment it was added to the ballot last summer. That's thanks in large part to Dan Gates, who heads up the pro-hunting group Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management (CRWM). As the chair of CRWM, Gates helped orchestrate a public awareness campaign that brought Prop 127 to the forefront for hunters and anglers across the country.
"This was a clear and resounding rejection of ballot box biology," Gates tells Field & Stream. "We made up ground in 27 counties that voted for the wolf reintroduction in 2020."
Colorado's wolf reintroduction plan was ushered in four years ago by a similar ballot initiative. That measure, known as Prop 114, passed on a razor-thin margin that broke down along rural and urban lines. The wolf reintroduction program that it gave rise to has been mired in controversy ever since.
According to Gates, Colorado's urban-rural divide was less pronounced in the results of Prop 127 than it was in 2020—when a slim majority of urbanites voted to reintroduce wolves. "We won handedly in Adams County, Jefferson County, and Larimer County," he said. "These are counties that voted resoundingly to reintroduce wolves, but they rejected this ballot measure soundly."
Adams County contains suburbs of Denver, while Larimer contains the bustling Front Range city of Fort Collins. Jefferson County is home Lakewood, Colorado, with a metro population of nearly three million people.
In 2020, 13 Colorado counties voted to reintroduce wolves. Prop 127, by contrast, only passed in 6 counties: Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, San Juan, and San Miguel. All told, there are 64 counties in the Centennial State.
Gates says it's the first time since 1992 that Colorado has voted 'NO' on a wildlife management-related ballot initiative. "In '92, we lost spring bear hunting and bear hunting with hounds in a measure that passed by 70 percent," he says. "Thirty-two years later, we have more bear conflicts than we've ever had."
What's Next for Anti-Hunting Groups in Colorado?
In a press release issued to its membership the day after the state voted 'NO' on Prop 127, Cats Aren't Trophies urged Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) "to act with all due speed to end hound hunting and baited trapping of bobcats and lions"—even though baiting for any big game species is already prohibited per CPW regs.
“When all votes are counted, nearly 1.5 million Coloradans will be on record in saying they want an immediate end to trophy hunting and commercial trapping of bobcats and mountain lions,” said Julie Marshall, the group's communications director. “So many ‘no’ voters want reform, but simply didn’t feel comfortable doing it on the ballot. They want CPW to act, and that starts with having CPW end its unlimited allowance for killing bobcats and halting hounding and baiting of the animals.”
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In Gates' view, Cats Aren't Trophies and other anti-hunting group are likely eyeing the use of hounds to hunt mountain lions as the next big challenge to hunting rights in the Centennial State. "This is one of the emotional appeals they use because they have no factual evidence to stand on: They say that hunting with hounds is 'unfair, unsporting, cruel, and inhumane," he says. "We'll have a similar response if they try that. We'll call on our upland hunters, our waterfowl hunters, our raccoon and rabbit hunters; They're in for a rude awakening if they try to come after our dogs."
