Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

Safe Road Kill Pick Up?

Bowhunter57

Bowhunter57

Senior Member
5,161
181
Roaming the country side....Retired.
Most county's Sheriff's Departments or the OSP will write out a permit, so that you can pick up a road killed deer.

I've always put my hand under the front leg or the inside of the rear leg (arm/leg pit) to feel if there was a body temperature...indicating a recent kill or time of death being recent. A cold or stiff deer could have been there too long and I'm by no means a forensic specialist. My first criteria would be the obvious damage to the meat. If there's too much damage, it wouldn't be worth bothering with it.

What would be the determining factor of pickup up a road killed deer, that you didn't hit or didn't see get hit?

Thank you, Bowhunter57
 
jagermeister

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,082
223
Ohio
Bowhunter57 said:
Most county's Sheriff's Departments or the OSP will write out a permit, so that you can pick up a road killed deer.

I've always put my hand under the front leg or the inside of the rear leg (arm/leg pit) to feel if there was a body temperature...indicating a recent kill or time of death being recent. A cold or stiff deer could have been there too long and I'm by no means a forensic specialist. My first criteria would be the obvious damage to the meat. If there's too much damage, it wouldn't be worth bothering with it.

What would be the determining factor of pickup up a road killed deer, that you didn't hit or didn't see get hit?

Thank you, Bowhunter57
Click to expand...

For me, the determining factor is exactly what you just said... If I didn't hit it, or see it get hit, I'm not picking it up. I don't need deer meat that bad. Don't get me wrong... I don't like to see things go to waste... But I also don't like wasting my time on roadkill deer that are worthless. Plenty of times I've seen deer, that look just fine to eat laying there dead, that look like total shit once the hide is removed.
 
hickslawns

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,770
248
Ohio
I have picked up one. My buddy is a State trooper. He was off duty on his way home on Christmas Eve a few years ago and came up on a car/deer accident. He called me at 1045pm as my wife and I were finishing our assistance to Santa. It was bitterly cold and snowing. I felt safe taking that deer. He called me because it wasn't far from the house and he figured nobody in their right mind would leave their home at 11pm on Christmas Eve to pick it up. I believe they normally use a list but this one made an exception. Outside of those conditions, I can't see me taking one. In weather such as what we are now experiencing, I would be nervous. Single digits while the trooper is sitting there, have at it.
 
CJD3

CJD3

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
14,644
201
NE Ohio
Not much I can add .You Phil and Jim have it prety well covered as far as road kill goes.
I've been called on a few by police but have never just stopped at a random road kill.
 
JD Boyd

JD Boyd

*Supporting Member*
3,173
0
Urbana
I would never even consider it. I did witness a guy hit one with a truck and then finish it off with a wood axe one time. It was the most bizarre thing I think I've ever seen. He might as well put the Jason mask on while he was doing it...
 
Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
JD Boyd said:
I would never even consider it. I did witness a guy hit one with a truck and then finish it off with a wood axe one time. It was the most bizarre thing I think I've ever seen. He might as well put the Jason mask on while he was doing it...
Click to expand...

You sure he didn't hit it with a white work van!?
 
M

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
You guys just about said it all correctly. But never take one hit by a semi even if it looks OK. It was bloodshot meat head to toe. Man what a mess soaking all the bloodshot meat in cold water to clean it up. Never lost a ounce of meat but the work was 10 times the effert.
On bloodshot meat from wounds just soak the meat in cold water couple times to remove the blood. It helps also to put some knife cuts in the boody area. Doing this for the last 44 yrs I have never lost one ounce of good meat.
Frank
 
bowhunter1023

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,915
274
Appalachia
One simple "H" cut down the spine will reveal the backstraps and make for easy pickings if so desired. When we came home from Ric and Ron's deer camp on Friday, there was one that had just been hit on our road. It was still warm and bleeding, so I pulled over much to my wife's dismay, grabbed a Havalon knife and spent 5 minutes pulling the backstraps out. Both were in good shape and will eat fine. I like deer meat and I put my favorite part of a deer in the freezer without using a tag. That's a win-win!
 
Milo

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
Jesse said:
One simple "H" cut down the spine will reveal the backstraps and make for easy pickings if so desired. When we came home from Ric and Ron's deer camp on Friday, there was one that had just been hit on our road. It was still warm and bleeding, so I pulled over much to my wife's dismay, grabbed a Havalon knife and spent 5 minutes pulling the backstraps out. Both were in good shape and will eat fine. I like deer meat and I put my favorite part of a deer in the freezer without using a tag. That's a win-win!
Click to expand...
up here they cut the heads off. wonder how they are fixing them?
 
Flatlander

Flatlander

Junior Member
506
46
Darby Creek
Jesse said:
You mean you've never had deer head soup?!? :smiley_clap:

As if I needed to do anything to verify that I am indeed a Redneck, I fessed up to eating road kill. lmao
Click to expand...

LOL....I admire your honesty Jesse......and a country boy is all you'll ever be! :smiley_clap:
 
B

brenda03

Junior Member
1
0
One indication that it hasn't been on the road dead for too long is first, if you happen to see it when it was actually hit, its body temperature is still warm and if the eyes are still clear. You can also identify if the flesh is fresh by looks of it, no infestations of scavengers, no rotting smell and the body is not too damaged or crushed. Read interesting facts about legality of eating road killed animals from The curious debate over eating roadkill.
 
Bigslam51

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
I encountered a deer vs vehicle accident a couple months ago and the deer was still alive flopping her head around in the air as the guy who hit her stood there and watched. I asked him if he wanted me to kill it and he said yes, so I pulled over, cut her throat and let her bleed out then loaded her up and waited for the trooper to write me a tag. He didn't want the deer and I didn't have to use a tag, meat in the freezer!
 
Bowhunter57

Bowhunter57

Senior Member
5,161
181
Roaming the country side....Retired.
Bigslam51 said:
I asked him if he wanted me to kill it and he said yes, so I pulled over, cut her throat and let her bleed out then loaded her up and waited for the trooper to write me a tag.
Click to expand...
Bigslam51,
Even though you did the "humane" thing, by putting the deer out of its' misery, any GW would most likely cite you for poaching. Simply because you're not authorized to kill wildlife out of season...or with a non-listed hunting weapon. Legally, the Trooper is supposed to kill the deer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm with you, as far as I think you did the right thing...by the deer. Just the same, keep this in mind for future reference. GWs think you're guilty of something as soon as you pull out of your driveway. :smiley_arrogant:

Bowhunter57
 
Bigslam51

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
I never thought about that, and I think that's a BS law. It took the trooper damn near 30 minutes to get there and I wasn't going to stand there and watch the deer suffer. The trooper said nothing to me about putting it out of it's misery, he even asked me why I wasn't taking the heart to eat, he said "I'm from southern Ohio we eat everything" and he thanked me for taking it. I understand now that if it was a GW that showed up I would of probably got a BS ticket. But I didn't and the deer did not go to waste like all the other ones laying on the side of the road.
 
Bowhunter57

Bowhunter57

Senior Member
5,161
181
Roaming the country side....Retired.
Bigslam51,
BTW... Welcome to The Ohio Outdoors! :smiley_bril:

The majority of local law enforcement won't get involved with game laws, unless someone has made a specific call. Even then, they'll only hold you until a GW arrives.

Wanna hear another BS law?
About 6 years ago I was talking to some O.D.O.T. guys (mowing crew) and was poking fun at them because they'd stopped picking up the dead deer, along the road. I said, "What's up with you slackers, leaving the dead deer along the highways and mowing over them?"

They laughed, but said that wasn't their decision. The Ohio E.P.A. ground water division, put out an order to stop composting wildlife animal carcasses to the landfills. He said, "According them, we're not allowed to move a dead deer, more than 500 ft. and then we have to cover it with mulch." :smiley_chinrub:

So now, when you're driving down the road and you see a pile of mulch along the side with a set of hooves sticking out of it, you know the rest of the story. Our tax dollars are paying for mulch to cover dead deer. Nice! :smiley_arrogant:

Bowhunter57
 
Bigslam51

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
Haha! I've seen piles of what I thought was dirt in random spots in median strips on the highway and wondered what it was, now I know it was mulch covering a dead deer. Thats the dumbest crap ever.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.