Many States Working to Protect Hunting

For Don Knight, little compares to the adrenaline rush and camaraderie he feels heading out with friends to hunt rabbits, raccoons and deer in Alabama. But he said he worries that animal-rights groups around the country are intent on restricting his cherished pastime by pushing measures that, for instance, would forbid the use of dogs to pursue game.

"They're just nipping away at it any way they can," said Mr. Knight, president of the Alabama Dog Hunters Association.

That is why he is urging the group's members, numbering more than 10,000, to back a proposed amendment that would enshrine the "right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife" in the Alabama constitution.

Both chambers of the state Legislature voted overwhelmingly earlier this spring to place the question on the November ballot. The effort, if it succeeds, would strengthen an amendment passed in 1996.