Weird Wyoming Law Says It’s Illegal To Photograph Rabbit Debunked

Did you ever hear about the weird law that says that it is illegal to take a photograph of a rabbit in Wyoming during the months of January through April? It turns out that it was a law at one point in time, but now it lies like an abandoned barn on the desolate Wyoming prairie.

Turns out it was more than just rabbits but also included wildlife of any kind. Unless you had a special permit with the wildlife department. Only with that permit, then you could photograph the little or big woodland creatures. Plus you had to pay a game warden to accompany you on your photo shoot. Some said this was for your protection going into the unforgiving Wyoming winter landscape.

Is this law enforceable in 2017? This is what we found.

The law in 1921 restricted the use of photography for all game animals. Section 68 of the Session Laws of the State of Wyoming reads:

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to photograph any of the game animals of birds of this State during the months of January, February, March, and April, except in the manner hereinafter provided in this section.

Any responsible person who shall desire to photograph any of the game animals of birds of this State during the months of January, February, March and April, may up the payment of Five ($5.00) dollars to the State Game and Fish Commissioner, and upon the recommendation of two well knowns and responsible electors of this State, receive from said Commissioner, a permit, which said permit shall entitle said person or persons to photograph any of the game animals or birds of this State during said months.

We searched all over the current Wyoming State Law Statues, and this law doesn't exist anymore. On a question and answer forum Quora.com, this very question about photographing rabbits is discussed. Tom, an employee of Humboldt State University, did some research on the topic. He found that the old law vanished sometime before 1996. He also noted there was a change in 1969 to emphasize commercial photographers needing a permit.

We are not lawyers, so this is NOT legal advice. At the best, we can tell this is no longer a law in Wyoming. I even checked in with our local news department, and they have never seen anyone booked for photographing a rabbit recently or ... ever.

The Cowboy State does have laws against using drones or other remote-controlled devices for hunting. In fact, there are also laws against using software that could aid a hunter. For the laws about photographing rabbits, there are none on the books.