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If you hit a deer...

20K views 60 replies 43 participants last post by  northwest_5.9 
#1 ·
What would you do if you hit a deer with you car/truck? I see dead deer on the side of the road lots. I was just wondering what people would do... What i would do is harvest as much as i could (the reason i carry knives in the car and truck).
 
#2 ·
That's how a guy I know gets his buck every year. I keep telling him that a rifle and one bullet are way cheaper than all that gas but he never seems to listen.
 
#5 ·
Is it legal in Oregon to keep road killed game animals now? I had thought it was illegal, last I heard?

Last year I was coming out of the woods after sundown (post deer season when I ate tag soup), and a small Toyota truck in front of me smashed the head and neck of a blacktail doe that jumped in front of them. She went bouncing down the highway in their headlights, and they just kept on driving.

She landed in the opposing lane of traffic...Coos Cty highway, no shoulder but a sharp drop down into fields, so I pulled over to pull her off and cut her throat if I had to (had to do this to 2 deer in MN hit by other people but not dead, and suffering)...but she died in 30 seconds or so.

I was so burned that I couldn't salvage that meat...especially after not getting a deer, and her being so fresh and all.

I got home, called OSP to report the dead deer, and they redirected me to ODOT so they could pick it up.

Would really loved to have salvaged what I could...shameful waste to let it sit there and rot.
 
#7 ·
I hit a gnarly buck @ 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning near Winston on I-5. Hit him in the hips and spun him good. Stopped with pistol & light to put him down ~ he was able to flee all busted up. A shame indeed.

Curious question though. Is it legal to harvest the meat? Whats still edible anyway.

Coinincidentaly, 10 minutes later, 4 cow elk crossed my headlights. Eyes wide open til sunrise for sure!!!
 
#10 · (Edited)
It isn't legal. Here is the same discussion from two years ago:

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=252018

Third post on that thread is from JerryM, a LEO:
It is unlawful to knowingly or intentionally take or attempt to take a game animal by hitting it with a car. "Take," in Oregon, is inclusive of possessing. There is no time it is lawful to keep a road killed game animal. The state used to glean them but for liability reasons, no longer does.
Note that he specified "game animal". I understand that fur bearers are different if you are properly licensed.
 
#12 ·
Back in 84 i was coming back to Lebanon from Eugene-back way through Brownsville and coming over top of Washburn Heights met up with Jeep who had just hit a nice 3 point.
I called Linn Countny Sheriffs office and they sent out Deputy to help.I had to knock on a door to ask to use a phone. Cell phones just kicking in.
The deer had a broken left back femur.
When I walkeded up on him he made it across the road and laid down.
Deputy shows up and I offer to put my tag on the buck which would be legal tomorrow. He could not do it.
I went down on side of road in fenceline brush and helped deputy to find deer and I used my flashlite to help him take aim and dispached wouned buck.
He told me someone would be by next daylight to dispose of buck.
I felt like such a waste had happened.
I had offered to tag the deer and I would have made good use of all the meat.
It would have ended my hunting season but it really seemend the "common sense "thing to do.'
I ended up driving that night all the way down to Southern Oregon and my friend harvested a nice buck.
I had visions of that buck being "disposed of and alll the meat wasted.
It still bugs me real bad when i think about the waste.
 
#14 ·
It was NOT LEGAL in 2011 for sure. We had a doe get hit hard by the house this past winter. Whole rear end unusable for her. I called the Co sheriff and was told if I finished her off, I could be charged with poaching. Long story short, I let her know of the safety hazards of having the deer in the middle of the road in a curve and put a 20ga to her. County showed up and said the deer would not be salvaged due to all the damaged meat. I was told that if I salveged any that I would be charged. Wow, I said. Total waste. Picked up 2 days later by them and disposed of.
 
#15 ·
I hit one this winter coming back from fishing. I did not kill it but it was hurt really, really bad. I called OSP and they had an officer on site in 15 minutes to put it down. It is not even legal to put it down yourself, which is a shame to see an animal suffer but its necessary because people would abuse it. We carted it off to the side of the road, its all we could do. According to the officer I talked to I did the legal thing
 
#27 · (Edited)
I hit one this winter coming back from fishing. I did not kill it but it was hurt really, really bad. I called OSP and they had an officer on site in 15 minutes to put it down. It is not even legal to put it down yourself, which is a shame to see an animal suffer but its necessary because people would abuse it. We carted it off to the side of the road, its all we could do. According to the officer I talked to I did the legal thing

i think that officer may have givin you the wrong info

here is the ors statute

498.016 Taking crippled or helpless wildlife. Nothing in the wildlife laws is intended to prohibit any person from killing any crippled or helpless wildlife when the killing is done for a humane purpose. Any person so killing any wildlife shall immediately report such killing to a person authorized to enforce the wildlife laws, and shall dispose of the wildlife in such manner as the State Fish and Wildlife Commission directs. [1973 c.723 �76]
 
#16 ·
Sadly, if it was legal I believe people would A. Swerve to hit deer, and B. Create traffic hazards picking them up.

I guess I am a lot less bothered by 'wasted' road killed deer than most people are. I see road-killed deer as an inevitable by-product of automobile use, and most of the road-killed deer I have seen were significantly damaged. Sorry, but too much bloodshot, punctured intestines, etc. most of the time to make me feel like I'm missing much.
 
#17 ·
It really is a shame that people cannot harvest the meat off a road kill deer or any mammal for that matter. But, like stated above, people would find a way to abuse it. You'd see an influx in bumpers built for this purpose. I'm certain theres salvageable meat on almost every road hit deer. :)
 
#18 · (Edited)
Two deer were hit at 185th and sky line. Both deer suffered broken legs. When the WCSO arrived he located both deer in a field and put each deer down with his MP5. The property owner was there and asked the deputy what he should do with the deer. The deputy asked the property owner if he wanted them and he said that he did. The deputy wrote something on his business card which included a case number and gave it to the property owner and told h to enjoy the fresh venison.
 
#19 ·
:applause: wish this happened more! I wonder if this had something to do with the deer being on private property.
 
#22 ·
Had a friend and his family see a moose hit on I-84 here in Idaho near the Utah border a few years back with mostly head/neck damage. They called ISP to see if they could come in on the frontage road and salvage it. Unfortunately the answer was no, they had to let it lay. I was glad to find out they finally changed that law recently. So now, if I hit a deer.....I'm taking it home!:food:
 
#28 ·
I know a fella who was driving a federal rig home from Coos Bay when a deer ran into his driver's side door, spun around and got clocked by the car behind. The guy pulled over as did the car behind him which was occupied by two crying teenagers who had just done some serious damage to their parent's car. The guy in the fed. rig grabbed a shovel from the back of the rig and killed the deer by striking it in the head. Everyone involved continued along on their way home, no harm no foul. Moral of the story is do what is right and in the best interest of all involved (including the animal), and go home knowing you did the right thing.
 
#29 ·
I finished off a deer in the ditch near the sewage treatment plant at the edge of Hillsboro. I was leaving as local deputy was walking up. He asked if I had my concealed carry permit. Told him I wasn't carrying, just had it in the truck. He said "thanks," and that was it. He didn't look like he had the stomach, very nervous, for what I did.
 
#30 ·
Years ago a buddy of mine was towing a flat bed trailer with a big empty wooden box on it. A deer jumped behind his truck and smashed into the box on the trailer. It never moved after that and he never stopped. Yes it did have some damaged meat but no worse than someone with poor shot placement.

Oh wait I said that wrong. Seeing how my buddy is disabled and in a wheel chair, He promptly got help and returned the dead deer to the seen of the accident!

It is a shame that all these animals end up going to waste. I like the idea of being able to call the state trooper and letting him issue a harvest tag for an animal that was hit unintentionally.

I do not support the taking of animals with a car or truck! I do support taking home of such animals though.
 
#34 ·
Two...errr..."personal" stories. I know a guy... probably 10 years ago, at least. his dad hit a deer while driving to work. His dad throws it in the back of his truck. Takes it home. Asks his son to clean it, see if there's anything salvageable. Deer gets dressed in the garage. Couple nights later, the son and his buddy butcher the deer. They got 3/4 of the meat off it. Only lost a front shoulder. The dad had called police to ask what to do with it. They told him to leave it. Illegal taking of game. Well, it got eaten.
While in Idaho this past spring, another...um, guy I know... was having dinner with a large party at a restaurant. A rental car hit a young doe in front of the restaurant. Broken legs, struggling to get up, gasping for air. Some people wanted to leave it be and wait for it to walk away...with backward legs. Good luck on that. Guy (hunter) with common sense and compassion, no knife, no gun, in front of restaurant, proceeds to step on throat of young doe as inconspicuously as possible so as not to shock everyone watching from inside. Within a couple minutes, she had stopped moving altogether. Guy checked for vital signs (no breath, no heaving of chest, no movement at all). Dragged deer off to the side of the parking lot out of the way of traffic.
Few minutes later, cops showed up to address the situation. Since I had...been witness...to the whole situation, and knwoing that Idaho had recently made it legal to obtain roadkill, I hung out and asked some questions of the law enforcement. Found out that anybody can take roadkilled animals. They have 48 hours to report to Idaho fish and game. F and G writes up a little reciept and you're good to go. Doesn't use a tag or anything. Just report and eat it. I thought that was pretty cool.
 
#35 ·
i think the first mistake most people make is calling anybody. on things like this if you ask 99% of the time they wont let you.
last year in wyoming we came across a nice pronghorn buck that had been hit. he was still kicking. didnt investigate cuz it looked as if it had been poached in a drive by. the next day it was still there but had been half eaten by coyotes. wish we woulda stopped cuz we had 2 more tags
 
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