Wyoming Statutes

Wyo. Stat. § 23-3-103 (2026)

Taking predatory animals, predacious birds and

✓ current as of May 2026 Cite as: Wyo. Stat. § 23-3-103 (2026)
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trophy animals; taking furbearing animals and game birds without
license prohibited.

     (a) Predatory animals and predacious birds may be taken
without a license in any manner and at any time except as
provided by W.S. 6-3-1005(a)(iii), 23-2-303(d) and (e), 23-3-
112, 23-3-304(b), 23-3-305, 23-3-306(b) and 23-3-307, provided
that any predatory animal or predacious bird reduced to
possession shall be promptly killed or released subject to
subsection (d) of this section.

     (b) In areas designated by the commission under W.S.
23-1-302(a)(ii), specified trophy game animals may be taken in
the same manner as predatory animals without a license.

     (c) Any person who takes any furbearing animal or game
bird without the appropriate license, except as otherwise
provided by this act is guilty of a low misdemeanor punishable
as provided in W.S. 23-6-202(a)(v).

     (d) No person shall knowingly, and with intent to cause
undue suffering, torture, torment or mutilate living wildlife,
including predatory animals and predacious birds, after reducing
the living wildlife to possession. A person violating this
subsection shall be liable under W.S. 6-3-1004(c) for a first
offense and under W.S. 6-3-1005(a)(iii), (b) and (c) for a
second or subsequent offense. Upon any conviction of a violation
of this subsection the court may revoke any license issued under
this act and suspend a person's privilege to purchase or receive
any other license under this act or to take any wildlife as
provided under W.S. 23-6-206(a)(iii). For purposes of this
subsection, "wildlife" means as defined by W.S. 6-3-1001(a)(vi).

     (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require
an owner of a trap or snare to check the trap or snare before
the time required in title 23 of the Wyoming statutes and rules
promulgated by the game and fish commission. Wildlife discovered
in a snare or trap shall be considered within the possession of
the owner of the snare or trap upon discovery by the owner.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 2005–2005 · leading case: Wyoming v. United States Department of the Interior
Wyoming v. United States Department of the Interior (2005) wyd · cites it 3× “Wyo. Stat. § 23-3-103 provides an exception to taking trophy game animals without a license.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.