Hunting Forum

Steve in TEXAS sometimes if you know the game warden..hell just tell you to harvest the meat(ooops i mean he will)but most of the time he will come and conficate the meat and donate it to a deserving family....makes me feel good inside knowing we can help the less fortunate..in times of a stupid period in our lives delivered by that a$$ munch in office

I have shot several animals that I would not eat. Most of them were just too close to the house for safety. Eating a coyote might be ok for some but not for this guy at least as long as there are other more edible critters.

I've tried possum and coon but just can't handle them, so no way I'd want to eat that type or roadkill (most of them are pancaked anyhow). I just thought it was interesting to see the responses to the poll. Maybe a lot of folks don't consider car killed deer as road kill!
Down here, we have so many deer/car accidents that it doesn't even require an accident report or notification made to a Highway Patrolman. Insurance companies will just send an adjuster and cut a check. It always amazes me to see the number of deer that are killed on the roads and then left for the vultures.........such a waste!!!!!!!

When I lived in Mi. you could get on a list of folks to be called in your area to claim roadkill deer. When the cops respond to the sight they just start down the list and call till someone is home and wants it. Thats is if the person driving the vehicle don't. Most times the whole deer isn't salvageable , but generally some of it is.

Have eaten a few road killed deer. Other than some bruising they are just as good as a rifle or arrow killed one.

Posted By rthomas4 on 09 Aug 2012 07:20 PM
Has everyone participated on the poll on the home page about eating roadkill? From the results, I guess most people wouldn't salvage a deer killed by their automobile. I can assure everyone, if I were to hit and kill a deer with my truck I'd load it into the back before calling the wrecker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I worked for the Colorado Dept of Highways for a couple of years. We took care of over 45 miles of roads over between Kremmling and Steamboat Springs. We salvaged a lot of roadkills. Since we maintained and plowed the road, we drove it several times a day. So we knew when we saw a roadkill how long it had been there. In the summer they were hard to salvage because the heat often got them before we did.

But, in the winter we field dressed the ones that weren't torn up too bad and let the game warden know where they were. He picked them up and gave them to the needy. If I wanted one for myself I'd dress it and take it home and he would drop off a carcass permit at our maintenance shed to make the carcass legal. We all used state radios so it was easy to arrange for keeping one if I wanted or needed it. Benefits of the job you could say.

I'd guess all in all we salvaged  at least 75 or so deer and about a dozen elk a year. I usually took a couple deer or an elk for me and my wife. Free meat is hard to beat. Got a roadkill mountain lion once too. The warden took that one and they donated the skin to one of the local school's science dept. Colorado didn't want the game to go to waste. Not sure if all states do this but I know Colorado does.

I would have to be near death starving to eat a coyote, and I don't ever recollect being any where near that hungry. I was in Vietnam and they didn't have any problem eating rats,dog or cat, so I would suspect they would eat a coyote.

As for road kill, up here in Alaska, you can put your name on a list and when your name comes to the top, you are the one to go gut skin, dispose of the entrails, and take home and butcher what ever road kill is available. Usually a moose of caribou. The on{1}**** by cars aren't too bad, but the freight trucks can sure mess 'em up pretty good. Train kills are even more messy.