TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A group that backed a 2024 right to hunt and fish amendment to the Florida Constitution now is telling a court that the ballot measure compels the state to allow a planned bear hunt in December.
The International Order of T. Roosevelt, in a brief challenging a lawsuit seeking to block the hunt, says state wildlife officials “directly implemented the electorate’s mandate” in August by approving the bear hunt, scheduled to begin Dec. 6.
In 2024, amendment opponents said the ballot measure would clear the way for a new bear hunt for the first time in 10 years. But amendment supporters argued the measure wouldn’t tie the hands of state wildlife officials to make such decisions. The amendment passed with about 67 percent of voters approving.
The International Order of T. Roosevelt, a hunting advocacy group and leading backer of the ballot measure, said in its brief filed Monday that the amendment “compels approval of the black bear hunting season as a protected exercise of a public right” against challenges “from so-called ‘animal rights’ groups” that it claims seek to end hunting.
