Does your state allow you to salvage a road killed animal?

If so, have you ever picked up and utilized a road killed deer / antelope / elk?

This has been legal in Wisconsin for many years and recently made legal in Montana. There was some concern in MT that legalizing the possession of road kill would cause people to 'poach' with a beater car. I would think there are easier, safer and more effective ways to poach deer for someone who's determined to do it.

Arizona

AZ revised statute:
§ 17-319. Big game killed by motor vehicle; salvage permit; violation; classification

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the carcass of a big game animal that has been killed as a result of an accidental collision with a motor vehicle on a maintained road may be possessed and transported by the driver of the vehicle if the driver first obtains a big game salvage permit issued by a peace officer. A person may possess or transport the carcass or any part of the carcass of a big game animal killed as a result of an accidental collision with a motor vehicle only as provided by this section.

B. The department shall provide big game salvage permit forms to peace officers on request. The permit may be issued only in the name of the driver of the motor vehicle and is not transferable. The permit form shall require the following information:

1. The name and address of the motor vehicle driver.

2. A description of the big game animal that was killed.

3. The date of the collision.

4. The specific location of the collision.

5. A description of the motor vehicle.

6. The destination where the carcass will be transported.

7. The name of the peace officer who issued the permit.

C. The peace officer shall:

1. Complete all of the information required on the permit.

2. Give the original of the permit to the driver of the motor vehicle.

3. Mail a copy of the permit to the department within forty-eight hours after issuing the permit.

D. A peace officer may inspect the carcass and motor vehicle prior to issuing the permit. The carcass and motor vehicle are subject to inspection by a game ranger within twenty days after issuance of the permit. If the carcass has been processed or if the motor vehicle has been repaired, a game ranger may inspect the invoices or other documents recording the processing or repair.

E. A person who possesses the carcass of a big game animal pursuant to this section may place all or part of the carcass in storage pursuant to § 17-373 or may make a gift of the carcass or parts to another individual.

F. A permit issued under this section carries no representation or implication that any part of the carcass is edible. Neither the peace officer, the agency employing the peace officer nor the department is liable with respect to any use made of the carcass.

G. A person who possesses a carcass of a big game animal under authority of a big game salvage permit that was obtained by fraud is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.

I remember the spring F&G hearings when some guys were making that argument.Guys would supposedly be putting bum pers with spears on them to collect a deer.What a joke.

quote:

Originally posted by Bigasanelk:
Does your state allow you to salvage a road killed animal?

If so, have you ever picked up and utilized a road killed deer / antelope / elk?

This has been legal in Wisconsin for many years and recently made legal in Montana. There was some concern in MT that legalizing the possession of road kill would cause people to 'poach' with a beater car. I would think there are easier, safer and more effective ways to poach deer for someone who's determined to do it.

Decades ago in Pennsylvania, coming back from a girlfriend's house kind of later than I'd be told, I hit a doe a glancing blow off the left side of the car.

When I got home, my father had no interest in getting out of bed, either to scold me for being late or for going to get it. In the morning we called the local game warden, who was similarly disinterested in getting out of bed on a Sunday morning. He asked if we wanted the carcass, we said yes, and that was the end of the legalities.

We hung it in the garage, and ate it.

It's legal in PA.

I've never eaten a roadkilled animal, but back in my fur trapping/hunting days I used to pick up roadkilled coons and foxes as long as they were fresh.

I was getting $20 for a big coon back then and a bit more for a fox so it was worth it to me. As a teenager, $20 represented almost two tanks of gas.

I remember riding with a game warden years ago in the middle of the night and we could see some lights racing ahead and then stopping over and over again. When we pulled them over it was a group of dirtbags with an old pickup and a 12" channel iron for a bumper. They had an almost dead pig in the bed of the truck with no bullet holes or knife wounds. The warden acted like he saw guys "hunting" that way all the time. That stuff probably happens more than we would like to think.

It is legal here in Indiana and there is actually a wait list of people who will take one. Much like the hunters for the hungry program, you can donate a roadkill deer and it goes to a butcher to be taken care of and distributed.

The one and only deer that I have hit was here, and we ate it. I drilled it in the head with my passenger side headlight. One deer = $5600 in damage. About the same as an outfitted hunt, but this dude was not much of a trophy.

Is it a way to poach? I doubt we are losing many to that. You see photos of a few giants that got pasted on the road, but the photo of the vehicle usually erases any idea that it was intentional.

Jeremy

I issued hundreds of road kill tags most of them were not worth picking up in my opinion.

The ones that get hit in the head seems ok.

The county sheriff department used to keep a list of people who said they wanted road killed deer. This stopped because the people who supposedly wanted the deer got mad when the sheriff called in the middle of the night to inform them that there was a deer available. Apparently they expected the deer to be butchered, frozen and delivered.

I do ag-damage control and got a call from the game warden. A young family was having some financial problems and the father called the sheriff, insisting on being put on the now-nonexistant list for road killed deer. He was so disappointed that the officer was moved to contact the warden to see if there was any way to get the needy family a deer. (This was in late summer, long before the 'hunters for the hungry' program.) The warden knew I was filling lots of damage tags and gave me the father's number. I gave the family some elk meat to get them by and shot them a big doe the next week. Funny thing is that I've never heard of a vegetarian planting a garden and offering produce to the needy.

Tennessee caught hell in the press nationwide some years ago over the "Roadkill Bill" in legislature, but it was just a formal solution to allow someone to claim and utilize a roadkill.

I claimed one some years ago because the car and deer were still at the scene so I had a time sequence.

Wasted most of one hind quarter, but everything else was ok.

Wish they had hit it in the head/neck.

As an aside a coworker hit one with her pickup, did 3000 bucks worth of damage and the deer ran off.

Just don't make them like they used to . . . Pickemup trucks that is.

Nailed one head on between the headlights with my van, sure tore hell out it. Killed the nice buck. Knocked the doghouse cover off, soaked me in hot antifreeze, then over two hours before the next vehicle came along. Half hour before the kill, I'd driven thru Gunnison CO and saw it was -36. I was in serious trouble before that car came along! Had on all the clothes I had along.

When OTR trucking I hit 5 mulies in one whack. Finished two with the pistol, one a nice doe with just a broken back leg. Hunters camped nearby hollered asking what I was shooting. They had a doe tag and came n got her. Told them where the others were and to check for some meat not damaged. Don't know what they did, I reported it to the game check station as it was during season. Warden just said: "good deal, for once someone will make use of one, thanks for reporting it".

Cousin was a trooper at Pagosa Springs for years, kept his four dogs well fed and freezer full of deer n elk roadkills. Passed the good meat to folks that needed it, used some for his trapline too.

Question now: "how many dead sheep does it take to fill both ditches solid for 1/4 mile?" Yes I did!! NO I didn't stop either!

George

It was recently made legal here in Washington state. I can't imagine many doing it on purpose.

Logic and reason have disappeared ,certainly in NY. The old way was to get the meat to a family in need . Now as I understand ,you go to the DEC office , apply for a permit to take the road kill. You'll get the permit in the mail in about three days .
Three days ?? after the eagles , coyotes, etc have had their fill !

I've picked up numerous deer before. Perfectly legal to pick up road kill deer in Pa. Just need to make a phone call and they will give you Tag ID number over the phone. For antlered deer the state allows you to keep it but, also gives you the opportunity to keep the rack. If not you need to turn it into the game commission. If I remember correctly it costs $10 a point.

The last two were both bucks in SE Pa. One was a decent 3 yr old 7 point. The buck had a broken back and watch some people drag it off the road. At the time we were on the way to get a compressor for work. Told the assistant I was with that we will pick up that buck up on the way back. He thought I was crazy. On the return the buck was still there. It had crawled up an embankment and expired. Pulled over and loaded into the back of the truck. Gave the rack back to the game commission. He asked if I wanted it but, said no. The only thing the warden asked was if if I had a section of jaw bone for age determination.

The second was a buck with antlers under 3 inches. The car in front of me hit the deer. They briefly stopped and drove away. It looked ok when I stopped and decide to put it in the back of my suv. Field dressed the buck at work and found very little sign of damage. At the time had a crew of Mexican workers on Visa. They were amazed at what I was doing. One mentioned I was a "Redneck Americano!"

Illinois requires a carcass permit

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
Logic and reason have disappeared ,certainly in NY. The old way was to get the meat to a family in need . Now as I understand ,you go to the DEC office , apply for a permit to take the road kill. You'll get the permit in the mail in about three days .
Three days ?? after the eagles , coyotes, etc have had their fill !

Any law enforcement can issue a permit for roadkill in NY State on the spot.

I've had DEC (I call my neighbor,LOL) Dutchess Sheriff, and NY State Police all give me a tag. All for deer someone else hit, and I either called for the tag or the car owner was waiting for them anyway for an accident report.

Sometimes for coyote bait, and often salvage backstraps and a quarter or 2 depending on damage, gutless is the way to go and avoid busted up internals.

In NY any local police agency can give you a note for you to take the deer. They will even dispatch it for you if not dead. Heapppens all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
Logic and reason have disappeared ,certainly in NY. The old way was to get the meat to a family in need . Now as I understand ,you go to the DEC office , apply for a permit to take the road kill. You'll get the permit in the mail in about three days .
Three days ?? after the eagles , coyotes, etc have had their fill !

quote:

I remember the spring F&G hearings when some guys were making that argument.Guys would supposedly be putting bum pers with spears on them to collect a deer.What a joke.

Back in the 50's and 60's down in south Texas where deer were more plentiful than over other parts of the state, folks would build bumpers for their pick ups out of old oilfield pipe and go out "Road Hunting".

As far as I know here in Texas if you hit a deer and call the GW he/she will make the call as to what happens to the carcass, if it is a buck the GW will normally take the head and rack. I believe it is still illegal for a private citizen to salvage the rack from a road killed buck here in Texas.

Illinois law:


Claim a Road Kill


Claim a Road Kill or Salvage Deer.

Deer Accidentally Killed/Injured by Motor Vehicles and Methods other than Lawful Hunting​
​There is no limit to the number of deer that may be possessed under these circumstances. No part of a deer so killed can be bartered or sold.
Except for law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties it is illegal to kill a deer:

crippled by a collision with a motor vehicle.
crippled by methods other than lawful hunting unless permission has been obtained from a Conservation Police Officer.
The State of Illinois is absolved of any and all liability associated with the handling or utilization of vehicle-killed deer and deer killed by methods other than lawful hunting. Motorists are also reminded to report deer-related traffic accidents to appropriate law enforcement agencies when such reporting is required.

Collision with a motor vehicle
An Illinois resident/driver of a motor vehicle involved in a vehicle-deer collision has priority in legally possessing white-tailed deer killed/injured as a result of a collision with a motor vehicle. If the driver does not take possession of the deer before leaving the collision scene, any citizen of Illinois who is not delinquent in child support may possess and transport the deer. Non-residents may not claim a road-killed deer. Individuals claiming such a deer must report the possession within 24 hours at www.dnr.illinois.gov. Individuals without Internet access can report such possession by calling 217-782-6431 no later than 4:30 PM the next business day.

I hosted two guests from Denmark last year who hunted whitetails with me here in Texas. They asked why there were so many deer carcasses along the roadways. I told them that most people didn't want to bother with taking a roadkilled deer, and that it was also technically illegal to do so. They seemed puzzled.

A month later I was visiting them in Denmark for a reciprocal hunt. One night they fed me a roast from a roe deer. It had been run over in front of one of their houses and they had immediately grabbed it. They say in Denmark that God made the little roe deer just exactly the right size for the trunk of any car.

I have been a buzzard cheater a time or two in my life.

Once you get to the areas that were not hit by the vehicle, the meat is no different that that of an animal that has been shot.

quote:

Originally posted by kjjm4:
It's legal in PA.

I've never eaten a roadkilled animal, but back in my fur trapping/hunting days I used to pick up roadkilled coons and foxes as long as they were fresh.

I was getting $20 for a big coon back then and a bit more for a fox so it was worth it to me. As a teenager, $20 represented almost two tanks of gas.

Yep, I used to pick up roadkill anytime the fur was good in the winter time. Had to sew a few up but as long as the back fur was good then got decent money from the fur buyer that would come around town. I measured the value in six-packs of beer rather than tanks of gas, though.

The best eating deer to date that I have ever eaten was a road kill. Don't know who hit it. It was hit right on the end of the spine and wrecked maybe a fist full of meat. I picked up a couple-three others including the only one I ever hit. She was a very old deer and but for the chops and tenderloins was made into grind meat. Absolutely zero damaged/wasted meat from her.

I have picked up a number of ducks/pheasants/grouse that flew into my cars over the years. Never had a bad one.

Came across a bunch of people watching a deer that had been hit. No one was doing anything other than bsing and a couple women crying for it.
When I saw it's back was broken I got a pistol from the truck and shot it in the head. They were shocked but, damn it, why let an injured animal suffer til the law gets around to coming out IF they do? Me and another guy pulled it of the road and I got in the rig and left. Don't know if, who, or what happened after that. Didn't care either.

I've shot half dozen cows, a horse and quite a few deer and left 'em off the road. No way to salvage the meat when driving a rig. I always tried to report it on the CB to the locals for someone to get the law online with me.

One time a few miles East of the Texaco truck stop at San Antonio. Several of us were in the yard when a bunch of squalling tires started on I-10 right in front of our terminal. While I was getting my boots on, one of the guys came back and said several cows had been hit and cars all over the place. Another called it on on the CB.
I got my Blackhawk and went around killing crippled cows. Think there was 5, broken legs mostly, one's guts were dragging, had to chase that one down to kill her. I went to flagging traffic with the gun behind my belt not paying attention to anything else. Troopers came and I was still out there flagging.
One of 'em walked up to me and asked why I had the gun. Told him we were first on the scene and I'd finished up the cows with it, then went to flagging. He said several folks had told him I had it and wanted to know why. Since things were fairly well under control and cattle off the highway I just went back to my truck and to bed. End of the story far as I knew it. By morning they had all been hauled off along with the cars.

That kind of thing happens a lot more than we realize. Thousands of deer are killed on the roads, lots of other things too.

George

Here is kind of a funny one.

I had just got done working about 14 hours in a small town that was hit by a tornado.

After being on my feet for about 14 hours I was heading home in my marked cruiser. With an hour and half drive ahead of me I was looking forward to going to bed.

I looked up the highway and saw several cars pulled over and a hopped up pick up pulled out and continued on past me.

When I pulled over to see what the trouble was I noticed a woman sitting in the ditch crossed legged. When I walked up I noticed that there was a deer laying next to her and she was cradling it's head and petting it in her lap. It was a large doe.

As I walked up she started to scream at me that that pickup hit the deer and left. I am thinking good no accident report to fill out.

How could he do that what are you going to do about the deer. I said shoot it.

She screams NO stands up fast screaming, then runs to her mini van and takes off.

I then walk up to the deer its eyes are started to glaze over I nudge it with my foot yep dead.

I really didn't not want to shoot it more paper work.

Arrived home after about 18 hours total I was glad to hit the bed with out further incident.

In Alaska, road kill (and railroad kill) belong to the state. Families are put on an on-call list and when a moose is reported killed the top name is called and they come and process the meat.

The local high school in Talkeetna has a Moose Club and a building to process road killed moose for needy families. The Alaska RR kills many but most are too far off the roadway to get to them.

The RR has a right of way on the east boundry of my property. Five years ago we had 22 feet of snow and the moose used the RR to walk. My property and within 1/2 mile six moose were killed. The eagles, wolves and bears (after coming out in the spring) had a feast.

Cal

I've told this story before, but for those that didn't read it.
A fellow in town was driving home from a job with his Subaru wagon, towing a utility trailer.
A bear ran down the bank into the trailer. Ken said he saw the bear laying there, but had to go up the road to turn around. When he got back there was a couple pulled over. The woman was crying, "oh the poor bear, why did you run over the poor bear"
The fellow had gone over and picked the bear up by the scruff of the neck and a handful of hair on it's ass and was shuffling to the edge of the road with it. The woman was still wailing poor bear, poor bear, when Ken noticed the bear shake it's head.
It woke up and was standing upright with the fellow still holding it. The woman starts screaming, "let go of the bear, let go of the bear"! He pushed/walked the bear to the edge of the road and shoved it over the bank. Ken thought it the perfect time to leave.
So, not really a roadkill story, but pretty funny none the less.

In Kansas you call the sheriffs dept. and they will add your name to the list. If your name is at the top when they call you can accept or refuse to go get the roadkill(usually whitetail deer). The call comes when the accident happens usually so could be anytime day or night. If you don't answer or you decide you don't want to get up at 3am to go get it then you go to the bottom of the list. Turn them down a couple times and they take your name off the list.

I used to be on the list and would go recover deer and get a salvage tag from the sheriff on site then I would process them and turn the meat over to the local food bank. I usually kept the back straps for my effort. But I just don't have the time or the energy(especially not in the middle of the night) to do that anymore.

In April 1996 I was driving my 94'regular cab 4x4 toyota headed to my grandmother's farm just before day to go spring turkey hunting. I noticed two deer on the side of the road and wasn't traveling fast so I came to a complete stop. While I was sitting there an unseen doe ran head first into the passenger side front fender. Killed herself dead as a door nail. Threw her in the back and went turkey hunting. $1500 in damage on that one and we joked about how expensive that venison was.

November 2012, I had just left my hunting tract and had just gotten onto the 4 lane road when a sixpoint whitetail ran into the passenger front fender..... even after I had left the far right lane and had moved into the median.... $3600 on a Silverado for that one. I was to pissed to mess with it that night, but I did go back the next day to cut the horns of, but it was gone. I do have the fond memory of watching that buck spin around like a top in the rear view mirror.

Pulled up on a small buck that had been clipped in the rear end one time. Of course this time I didn't have a gun with me. Deer still had his head up and I'm not one to let things suffer. Grabbed a machete from the tool box... diddn't know a three legged deer could run that fast.....

Works out great here in MT. Don't know of anybody purposely wrecking there car to get a deer but plenty of spotlighting and shooting from the road goes on. We have the law also available to cover any big game animal so if you hit an elk or moose or someone else does you can claim the meat. You can go online and get a carcass tag.