Eating roadkill

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Aug 9, 2017
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Back in the day if we hit deer or elk we would throw it the in the truck bed and bring it home and process.
 
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Feb 2, 2020
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I wouldn't think twice about it as long as I wasn't breaking any laws. Depending on temperature, I think you'd be ok for at least a few hours.

I've never had the privilege to find a fresh enough venison roadkill to eat
 
OP
J

Jn78

Lil-Rokslider
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May 9, 2018
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Seems like something poor people would do.
Yeah, we have a $4,000 per month daycare bill, are dealing with covid furloughs, so free meat is nice. Especially since my wife would buy organic meat if I didn't keep the freezer full of elk and deer. It would cost like a grand to buy that much organic steak. Last year we ate 2 elk and 4 deer and this year I wasn't able to bring that much meat home from hunts, so we will appreciate the supplemental roadkill elk.
 
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
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MT
Seems like something poor people would do.
I picked up an elk this year. It was wounded and had to be killed. I didn't need the meat and have never done it before but I didn't want to see it go to waste either so I took it. It is still hanging in my walk-in cooler so I don't know what I've gotten into yet--I usually age elk for about 3 weeks. It was 10 deg out and I expect good results. It was the first elk I've brought home whole in about 12 years. I'll probably have to give about 1/2 of it away as the freezer is already nearly full. The game warden I spoke with was grateful and confirmed that he would have had to take it to the landfill the next day. Most people wouldn't consider me poor; it just seemed like the right thing to do. I can't see any reason to be disparaging about it regardless of one's net worth though.
 

thinhorn_AK

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I picked up an elk this year. It was wounded and had to be killed. I didn't need the meat and have never done it before but I didn't want to see it go to waste either so I took it. It is still hanging in my walk-in cooler so I don't know what I've gotten into yet--I usually age elk for about 3 weeks. It was 10 deg out and I expect good results. It was the first elk I've brought home whole in about 12 years. I'll probably have to give about 1/2 of it away as the freezer is already nearly full. The game warden I spoke with was grateful and confirmed that he would have had to take it to the landfill the next day. Most people wouldn't consider me poor; it just seemed like the right thing to do. I can't see any reason to be disparaging about it regardless of one's net worth though.

I’m surprised that nobody seems to have a sense of humor, what I posted was a joke.
 
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PA
The local whitetail like to cross the road by my house. 2 out of the last 3 years I've been able to salvage a doe within 20 yards of my property. My family will eat 4-5 whitetail a year and will take anything we can get.

If it's in bad shape I won't touch it. I'm not that hungry...
 

Marbles

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Good way to get meat, poor or not. In Alaska it is managed by a lottery system.
 
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I’m surprised that nobody seems to have a sense of humor, what I posted was a joke.
I figured it was. I end up editing a few posts and delete some due to my poor taste in humor. People are so thin skinned on the internet and in general. Way too easy to offend these days. Cant say this, cant say that...
 

Maverick1

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Picked up a roadkill once. It was fresh (drove up a couple of minutes after the collision, LEO still going over incident with driver). Got deer home, hung it up, and started to skin it. I struggled to find any significant meat that was salvageable. One side was bruised/mashed, the other was just as bad. Turns out it had been hit by an original vehicle, then driven over by a semi / tractor trailer. No good!
 

Marmots

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Idaho
I've eaten a lot of road-killed elk and deer. The meat quality has always been excellent, sometimes better than hunted animals. Which makes sense, given that a Peterbilt to the head sure puts them down quickly.
 
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I’ve picked up quite a few deer if the conditions are right and I have a rough idea of how long it’s been there. Only had one that was too bruised to make it worth while and one that had an off smell to it which was probably just me being paranoid. 2 years ago I grabbed one that looked fresh. Turned out it was just unconscious and when I got home notice it breathing. That was the freshest/cleanest deer I’ve ever skinned. Must have only need hot in the head and a clean cut to the throat left 100% bled out meat.
 
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Coming home from pheasant hunting Sunday, I added a button buck to my road kill list. He jumped out of the ditch and I clipped him.

After working on a few elk this year, he might as well have been a rabbit... The meat looks excellent. I kept all but the inner loins and the heart.
 

Kevin_t

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I’ve had a couple elk and a couple deer that have been hit by my house . The one buck was good size and I had to take him to the DOW to make sure it wasn’t intentional . They are fine if you get them early . Around my house , it really is a shame to drive in the spring snow melt and see just how much road kill there is over a 30 mile section of road ... it’s sad . I look at it as recycling ... and in the case this year , I got a road kill elk and decided I was going to get way more picky on my deer tag ( which I ended up not filling by being picky ).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Adrico

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Feb 2, 2021
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WA
I've done it before. I was a yearling buck that was still alive and the meat was great.
Out here you have to fill out a Salvage permit, and if the animal is still alive a police officer or a ranger has to finish it off.
 
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Out here you have to fill out a Salvage permit, and if the animal is still alive a police officer or a ranger has to finish it off.

Same here in IN, you need a permit to be able to transport any roadkill animal that has a hunting season... Whitetail, turkey, fox, rabbit, etc.

I think these permits need to be provided by an officer at the scene of the accident, this is to help prevent people taking animals out of season.
 

PAhntr91

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Picked up 2.5year old buck about two months ago. Had to be dead a few hours found him on the way to work threw him in the truck took him back home. Processed him after work. Let the meat age over ice in a cooler for about a week. Can’t taste the difference just gotta call the game commission for a salvage permit here. Told me to hang on to the head for a few days just in case an officer wants to check it out
 

def90

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In Colorado you can get on a list where if someone hits an elk or deer or whatever and the authorities are involved and the person that hit said animal does not want it you can get it. I know a girl with 3 kids that got an elk this way.

Elk or other animals that are found randomly on the road do not go to this, it has to be a fresh kill that leos are called in on.

If you do hit an elk with your car and call the local leo you can get a permit from CPW to take the carcass home.
 

ScottRK

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At night on way home from work a guy hit 1 and didn’t want it.It was still alive with broken back. older farmer across the road didn’t want to get involved to shoot it.
Washtenaw county had a bunch hit that night. Took a while for 2 state troopers to show up. Told the little older 1 the guy said I could have it: He said it’s not his deer. Fresh out of training young one missed 1shot at 5’ with his pistol and got it on then 2nd,and started rubbing his ears. I said he’s going to hear about that miss at the station isn’t he: older one said “oh yea”. They gave me a permit and the deer.
Young coworker said he and friends thought they had a fresh one in a ditch froze up in cold weather in a til a possum crawled out the other end when they turned it over! They all lost it.
 
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