DENVER — Colorado voters will decide in November whether mountain lion hunting should continue to be allowed in the state.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, Cats Aren’t Trophies has gathered enough signatures to get Initiative 91 on the ballot.
“This would be a ban on the recreational trophy hunting and commercial fur trapping that we still allow in Colorado, while leaving intact those exemptions for people, pets and livestock to keep our communities safe,” Cats Aren’t Trophies Campaign Manager Samantha Miller said.
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), an average of 505 mountain lions are harvested each year.
Hunters who want to kill a mountain lion must take an online class, pass an exam and present the remains to CPW officers for an inspection.
“Coloradans are shocked to hear that it is still legal in Colorado to hunt mountain lions with packs of up to eight dogs,” Miller said. “Those dogs wear GPS collars and will corner mountain lions or bobcats in a tree, and then the trophy hunter will just walk right up to that tree and shoot the animal from a close range, and I think that’s really surprising to people because we have such a high standard of ethics in Colorado that most people assume this isn’t happening.”
The proposal has received strong backlash from hunting groups across the state, with many referring to it as more ballot box biology.
“Colorado Parks and Wildlife uses a lot of information to set those mountain lion numbers, and mountain lions are some of the most regulated species in the state,” Patt Dorsey said. “And that’s why ballot box biology is a bad idea.”
Dorsey is a hunter in Colorado who represents the National Wild Turkey Federation. She said she’s been on mountain lion hunts before.
“It’s one of the most exciting things I think that you’ll ever do,” she said. “You have to experience it to understand it.”
CPW declined our interview requests and has declined to take a stance on the issue.
The agency says hunting is one tool to manage populations, which are currently at a healthy level.
“You know, there's the adage, right? If it's not broke, don't fix it,” Dorsey said. “And I think this is one of those situations.”
“I think this is not a ballot box biology question. This is a question of values and ethics, and it really empowers CPW to continue to manage mountain lions, bobcats and Canada lynx, like they always have, and it just removes the ability for folks who want to kill them in cruel and inhumane ways to continue doing that,” Miller said.