Guide Collections Laws Updated July 7, 2026

Weird Idaho Laws Still on the Books

Idaho State Capitol building in Boise under a clear sky

Weird Idaho Laws Still on the Books

Collection - Laws

The Idaho State Capitol in Boise, the same state where selling a rotten potato labeled Idaho Deluxe can carry a bigger fine than some misdemeanors.

Quick Answer

Weird Idaho Laws Still on the Books

  1. 1

    Four Idaho weird-law claims check out: a cannibalism statute, Idaho Deluxe potato grading rules, an internet hunting ban, and an old timber-sabotage law.

  2. 2

    The cannibalism law is real but narrow. It only punishes cannibalism that wasn't the sole means of surviving an extreme, life-threatening situation.

  3. 3

    The famous camel-fishing law is an embellished version of a real 1917 rule that banned fishing from the back of any animal, not just camels.

Unusual Laws in Idaho That Are Real

A cannibalism statute with a built-in survival exception anchors the Unusual Laws in Idaho that check out against the actual code. All four are still active parts of Idaho law today.

Cannibalism Is Illegal, With One Exception

Cannibalism Is Illegal, With One Exception

Law
Idaho law makes willfully eating human flesh or blood a felony punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Meaning
The statute includes a specific affirmative defense: it doesn't apply if the act happened under extreme, life-threatening conditions as the only apparent way to survive.
Reason
Lawmakers wrote the exception with real survival situations in mind, such as a stranded traveler in Idaho's backcountry, rather than leaving no legal distinction between a genuine emergency and a crime.
You Can't Hunt With an Internet-Connected Weapon

You Can't Hunt With an Internet-Connected Weapon

Law
Idaho bans shooting or killing wildlife using a gun or other device that's accessed or controlled through an internet connection.
Meaning
So-called remote or "internet hunting," where someone fires a weapon from a computer far from the animal, is flatly illegal in the state.
Reason
The rule followed a national backlash after a website began offering remote-controlled rifle hunts online in 2005, a practice hunting and animal-welfare groups agreed violated basic fair-chase principles.
Driving a Spike Into a Log Is a Felony

Driving a Spike Into a Log Is a Felony

Law
Idaho makes it a crime to drive a nail, spike, or piece of metal into any log or timber meant to be milled into lumber, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Meaning
Sabotaging timber before it reaches a sawmill carries the same weight as other serious property crimes.
Reason
The law passed in 1917 during a major IWW-led timber workers' strike that paralyzed Idaho's logging industry, aiming to stop sabotage tactics before they could damage mill equipment or hurt workers.

Weird Laws in Idaho We Couldn't Verify

Not all Real Idaho Laws You Won't Believe leave behind an actual ordinance. Pocatello's frowning ban is the most famous example, and an age cutoff for motorcycle riders in Idaho Falls comes close behind it.

Person with a serious expression in winter clothing

Frowning was illegal in Pocatello

Claim
Pocatello made it illegal to frown, scowl, or otherwise fail to smile within city limits.
Why We Couldn't Verify It
The stunt itself really happened. Mayor George Philips announced the tongue-in-cheek rule in 1948 after a brutal 13-week winter, and it made local news. But it was never formally entered into Pocatello's actual city code, so no citable ordinance number exists behind the famous story.
Motorcyclist riding along an open road

No one over 88 can ride a motorcycle in Idaho Falls

Claim
Idaho Falls bans anyone older than 88 from operating a motorcycle within city limits.
Why We Couldn't Verify It
Dozens of sites repeat this exact age cutoff, but none of them cite an actual ordinance number, and no record of anyone ever being cited under it has surfaced. Nobody has offered a clear reason for why 88 specifically would be the cutoff.

Strange Idaho Laws That Are Myths

Fishing from an animal's back is the single most repeated Strange Idaho Laws myth, told with a different animal depending on who's retelling it, and a supposed time limit on public affection tells a similar story.

Camel standing in a desert landscape

You can't fish while sitting on a camel's back in Idaho

Myth
Idaho specifically bans fishing while seated on a camel's back.
Reality
Idaho never had a camel-specific law. A real 1917 rule banned fishing from the back of any animal at all, passed because a game warden argued that riding a horse up and down streams destroyed trout eggs. The law is no longer in force today, and the "camel" detail is a later embellishment, since Idaho has no wild camels. The same joke also circulates with a giraffe standing in for the camel.
Couple embracing outdoors in soft evening light

Public displays of affection are capped at 18 minutes in Idaho

Myth
Idaho law limits how long a couple can kiss or embrace in public to exactly 18 minutes.
Reality
No such time limit appears anywhere in Idaho's actual code. The claim is a stock entry that shows up on generic "weird law" lists with the same specific number attached to other states, which is a strong sign it was never a real rule tied to Idaho at all.

Why Idaho's Part-Time Legislature Leaves Old Rules Alone

Small Idaho city hall representing one of the state's 200-plus independent municipal codes
With a part-time legislature and more than 200 separate city codes, an old Idaho ordinance can sit untouched for generations before anyone notices it.

Idaho's legislature is a part-time, citizen body that typically wraps up its session within a few months each year, leaving little room to revisit century-old statutes nobody is currently breaking. On top of that, Idaho has more than 200 incorporated cities, each keeping its own separate municipal code with no statewide office responsible for auditing them, which is exactly how a 1948 mayoral stunt in Pocatello and an age-88 motorcycle rule in Idaho Falls each ended up sitting untouched in their own city files for decades.

Key Facts

1 Idaho's cannibalism statute sits inside the state's mayhem chapter, the same section of law that historically covered maiming and disfigurement crimes.
2 The 1917 timber-sabotage law was passed the same year Idaho lawmakers banned fishing from an animal's back, both responses to disputes in the state's logging and outdoor industries.
3 Idaho Fish and Game has fielded so many questions about the camel-fishing myth that the agency published an official explainer addressing it directly.
4 Pocatello still celebrates an annual 'Smile Days' event that grew out of the 1948 frowning stunt, decades after the original joke ordinance was forgotten and rediscovered.
5 Idaho's internet hunting ban was part of a wider wave of similar state laws passed after a Texas website began offering remote-controlled rifle hunts in 2005.

Quick Answers

Is cannibalism actually legal in Idaho?
No, it's a felony punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The law only carves out an exception when it was the sole means of survival under extreme, life-threatening conditions.
What are Idaho's Deluxe potato standards?
Idaho law sets strict size and quality rules for any potato sold under the 'Idaho Deluxe' label, including freedom from rot and sun damage. Selling substandard potatoes under that label can bring a $5,000 fine.
Is Idaho's internet hunting ban real?
Yes. Shooting wildlife using a gun controlled through an internet connection is illegal in Idaho, part of a national wave of bans passed after remote-controlled rifle hunting websites appeared in 2005.
Was frowning really illegal in Pocatello?
The stunt was real. A 1948 mayor announced a joke ordinance banning frowning after a brutal winter, and it made national news, but it was never entered into the actual city code.
What is the weirdest real law still on the books in Idaho?
The cannibalism statute surprises the most people, mainly because it explicitly names a survival exception rather than leaving the question to a court's discretion.
Is the Idaho camel-fishing law real?
Not as written. A real 1917 law banned fishing from any animal's back to protect trout eggs, but it named no specific animal and is no longer in force. The camel detail was added later as a joke.

Sources

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.
Found an error? Report it here.

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