Some of the weird Wyoming laws people trade stories about are real and enforceable, some are old municipal ordinances nobody polices anymore, and a few are internet folklore that falls apart the moment you check the code. The genuinely surprising ones tend to cluster around wildlife, fencing, and a handful of frontier-era commercial rules that never got repealed.
You Can’t Shoot a Fish
Wyoming law flatly prohibits using a firearm to take, wound, or destroy any fish in the state.1Justia. Wyoming Code 23-3-201 – Fishing Tackle; Designation of Waters for Setline Fishing; Taking Fish With Firearm Prohibited; Snagging; Penalties The same statute bans “snagging,” meaning hooking a fish anywhere on its body other than its mouth. Legal fishing, the law assumes, requires the fish to voluntarily take bait or a lure.
A conviction is a low misdemeanor, which under Wyoming’s game and fish penalty structure carries a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, and potential suspension of your fishing license for up to three years.1Justia. Wyoming Code 23-3-201 – Fishing Tackle; Designation of Waters for Setline Fishing; Taking Fish With Firearm Prohibited; Snagging; Penalties Conservation officers patrol waterways, so the rule is not decorative.
No Automatic Weapons for Hunting
A separate statute makes it illegal to take any wildlife with a fully automatic weapon. Federal law already restricts automatic weapons heavily, but Wyoming carved out its own prohibition specifically for hunting, classified as a high misdemeanor rather than the lower grade attached to the fish-shooting ban.2Justia. Wyoming Code 23-3-112 – Firearms; Automatic Weapon Prohibited; Use of Silencer or Suppressor to Take Big or Trophy Game Restricted; Penalties
You Need Permission to Pick Up Roadkill
Seeing a deer on the shoulder and loading it into your truck is not legal in Wyoming without approval from the Game and Fish Department, requested case by case through the state’s 511 WYO ROADS app or desktop site.3Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Roadkill Collection The permit covers deer, elk, antelope, moose, bison, and wild turkey. You don’t have to be the driver who hit the animal; anyone can request the permit.
The conditions attached to collection are strict. You must take the entire animal, not just the choice cuts. Collection is daylight only. Your vehicle has to be off the road with hazards flashing. Field dressing on the roadway is prohibited, euthanizing an injured animal is not authorized, and the meat cannot be donated to a nonprofit. Carcass remains must go to an approved landfill or incinerator under the state’s Chronic Wasting Disease protocol.3Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Roadkill Collection
Roadkill collection is completely off-limits on Interstates 25, 80, and 90, inside construction zones, and within national parks.3Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Roadkill Collection
Shed Antler Hunting Has a Closed Season
Walking public land and pocketing a naturally shed antler is a regulated activity in parts of the state. On public land west of the Continental Divide, including the Great Divide Basin, no one may collect shed antlers or horns from January 1 through 6 a.m. on May 1 for residents, or through 6 a.m. on May 8 for nonresidents.4Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Shed Antler Season Has Arrived for Some Parts of the State The closure covers U.S. Forest Service land, Bureau of Land Management land, state land, and Game and Fish Commission-administered land.
The reason is winter stress. Big game animals in western Wyoming come out of winter nutritionally depleted, and people pushing through their habitat in February and March burn critical energy reserves fleeing. The closed season keeps humans off those landscapes during the most vulnerable months.
If a Neighbor’s Cow Eats Your Garden, That’s Your Problem
Wyoming is a “fence-out” state. Landowners are responsible for protecting their own property from roaming livestock, not the other way around.5Wyoming Game and Fish Department. A Wyoming Landowner’s Handbook to Fences and Wildlife If a rancher’s cattle wander onto your unfenced property and destroy your garden, you generally have no legal claim for damages. The stock owner is not liable unless your property is protected by what Wyoming defines as a “lawful fence.”
What qualifies as “lawful” is pinned down in the statute, with specific requirements on post size, post depth, post spacing, and the number and spacing of barbed wire spans or boards. Alternative materials like stone or hedge plants qualify only if proven just as effective as the standard designs.6Justia. Wyoming Code 11-28-102 – Lawful Fences Generally Build something that doesn’t meet the definition and you can face a misdemeanor charge and fines, with 30 days after conviction to bring the fence into compliance before additional penalties stack up.7Justia. Wyoming Code 11-28-103 – Constructing of Unlawful Wire Fence; Liability and Penalty
One wrinkle catches newcomers. The fence-out rule applies to cattle and domestic bison, but Wyoming is a “fence-in” state for sheep, meaning sheep owners bear responsibility for containing their own animals.5Wyoming Game and Fish Department. A Wyoming Landowner’s Handbook to Fences and Wildlife
Junk Dealers Can’t Buy From Drunk Sellers
A longstanding statute prohibits anyone in the business of buying or selling junk metals, rubber, rags, or paper from purchasing anything from a person who appears to be intoxicated.8Justia. Wyoming Code 33-18-105 – Purchase From Intoxicated Persons The same section bars transactions with anyone known to have been convicted of theft, and if purchased property turns out to be stolen, it must be returned to the rightful owner without the owner paying anything to get it back.
The design is anti-fencing: a dealer who turns away a visibly impaired seller is less likely to end up with property the seller doesn’t own. A first offense carries a fine between $50 and $200, up to 60 days in county jail, or both, with higher penalties for repeat offenders.9Justia. Wyoming Code 33-18-106 – Penalty; Power of Cities and Towns Not Impaired
Spitting on Sidewalks Is Still Technically Banned
Several Wyoming municipalities keep ordinances that prohibit spitting on sidewalks, street crossings, and inside public buildings. Riverton’s code states plainly that no person shall spit upon any sidewalk or street crossing, or on the floors or walls of any public building.10City of Riverton, WY. Riverton Code 12.12 – Street and Sidewalk Use Regulations Wyoming also had a state-level spitting ban dating to 1917, which lawmakers have considered repealing in cleanup efforts targeting outdated statutes.
Under Riverton’s code, a violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $750.10City of Riverton, WY. Riverton Code 12.12 – Street and Sidewalk Use Regulations These ordinances date to an era when tuberculosis spread through populated areas and public health officials pushed for anti-spitting rules across the country. Wyoming was far from alone in passing them, but many local versions were never formally repealed.
The Famous Ones That Don’t Actually Exist
A few Wyoming “weird laws” show up on every list online and fall apart under checking. The most famous is a Cheyenne ordinance supposedly banning hats that obstruct another patron’s view in a theater. The Cheyenne Municipal Code chapter most often cited (Chapter 12.16) appears to have been repealed and replaced with a chapter governing trees and shrubs, and no current text of such an ordinance is available in the city’s online code.
Another repeated claim is that Wyoming makes it illegal for a woman to stand within five feet of a bar while drinking. No current provision in the Wyoming Statutes appears to match it, and the story likely traces to a long-repealed temperance-era regulation. A similar claim about Cheyenne prohibiting skywalks over city streets, often attributed to Municipal Code 12.16.030, runs into the same problem: the chapter no longer contains any such provision.
The pattern is consistent. A real historical ordinance gets repeated for decades without anyone checking whether it was repealed, and eventually it takes on a life of its own. If you’re actually worried about legal exposure in Wyoming, the enforceable rules on wildlife, fencing, and junk dealing are the ones to know.