Fresh road kill- anyone else salvage the meat?

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I swear I hit the same deer 4 times when I was 16. I had a 4x4 Chevy s10 blazer with a carbureted 2.8 v6 that would top out at about 64 mph if you could hang on to it at that speed. A buddy lived out of town and his area was hilly. I topped a hill near his place and locked the brakes at least a dozen times, 4 times I slid into a doe that appeared to be licking a reflector in the road. I assume she was licking the road salt. Busted a grille, I glued it back together several times. Hardest I ever hit her she kinda bounced up on the hood and crapped right on the windshield.

Not too far from there about 5 years later I saw a lady hit a nice buck. Broke its back. Deer was crawling away. Sheriffs deputy saw it too. He had a dash cam and conveniently moved the car before a loud noise came from somewhere else. He would not do it, said it was too much paperwork, but didn’t mind me wasting a 38spl. Lady’s husband claimed the deer, said he would eat it to ease the grocery bill for a while til he found a fender the right color.
 
I saved one deer that I hit many years ago. I was on a dirt lane coming from the boat landing on a waterfowl hunting marsh and was going quite slow. The impact broke the deer's back but I did not run over it. It still had it's front legs and was trying to crawl into the marsh so I shot it in the head with a steel shot load from my shotgun. A DNR officer lived next to the marsh and I reported what happened to him. Shooting the deer was illegal and he could have charged me for it but he thought it was reasonable under the circumstances.
I also had a limit of mallards.
I have hit many deer since then, the one's that haven't run off have been damaged far beyond being edible.
 
Sort of. Possessing a deer out of season is not legal, hence the need to call in and basically getting permission for having the deer out of season.



Yes, but mostly smaller animals. The truck was outfit with an industrial, homemade brush bar. By God, the guy ate anything he tried to hit. He had no problem swerving to hit a coon, rabbit, bobcat, small deer, etc.

We were on a camping trip where a group of us convoyed down to central Texas. His truck trailed behind and he and his buddy ended up arriving about an hour late. He came in and dropped a raccoon head in my lap. They had gotten a raccoon and two rabbits and put them into stew that night.

I have recounted this story several times over the years and he apparently wasn't the only one to actively engage in this form of hunting. Others I have met have had similar stories about people they have known.

Well, I have a nice '09 Jeep wrangler 4 door and a new F-150. I'd like to think no one would accuse me of being dumb enough to intentionally hit a deer with either one.
 
We saw a bambi in the ditch on our way to church one Sunday and I saw it move as we drove by. I stopped and popped it in the head with my 380 Glock. We went back to the house, a half mile away, I jumped into my truck and Gin went on to church. I took the bambi home, hung it up and then went on to church. Skinned it out when we got home and didn't lose much meat due to bruising. It was GOOD!

Yes, my friends, I don't go to church without a gun.
 
Lets see, how many deer have I hit with "vehicles" in my life?

1. The one going down Howel Mountain fast on my 10 speed at night. I don't know what happened to the deer but I had a broken bicycle, a broken collar bone and a concussion.

2. One in my Chevy Impala station wagon at night in a snow storm. That cost me about $1,300.

3. One in my Chevy Blaser. The result, a little bit of bent chrome I easily replaced myself.

4. One in my wife's Cadillac. It jumped out from behind a tree as I was doing probably 55 mph. There was a little "tick" as some part of it hit the car but no damage at all. It happened so fast, I couldn't even hit the brakes.

There could have been another one that I've forgotten. I never saw a dead deer result from any of these adventures.
 
Around here we call it "grillin", talking about game birds mostly. My rule of thumb is if it's my truck, yes. If I see it happen and the grillin rig doesn't stop, yes. Anything else, I'll pass. Don't pass judgement until you try grilled pheasant :)
 
We were taking a bowkill to the butcher when a doe jumped in front of my F-150. Knocked her into the ditch, jumped out of the truck and put an arrow through her lungs. I called it in to the Game & Fish phone check number and tagged her. We let the butcher gut that one. The big bumper just clipped her enough to put her down. No damage to the truck.
 
I've taken two fresh deer, killed by cars, and I prefer to see the deer hit, before I take it. Allows me to estimate how much of the meat is bruised and so full of blood, and how much I can salvage and eat. Both of the ones I got were head strikes from deer leaning too far onto the roadway.

LD
 
I have had 4 deer die on my land in the past 5 years (over population is spreading some kind of respiratory disease). If a deer keels over on my land (Oregon) it is illegal for me to harvest the meat. Whether I would actually get in trouble or not for doing so is a different matter. Most of my neighbors will just drag the carcass to the road and call the highway department to clean it up... government land = government problem, private land = land owners problem. Burying a deer carcass is a royal PITA!!!
 
None of it was edible due to bruising and blood clotted everywhere. Some of the better-looking meat was ground and it tasted foul too.
That’s been my experience. If it’s been hit hard enough to kill it, the meat is typically destroyed. I’m sure there’s exceptions but that’s my experience
 
I’ve hit 4 deer with vehicles but didn’t kill any of them. One of them I must have killed as it was dead center bumper of my pickup at 70 mph but couldn’t find it in the dark. Around here you can request to be put on a list to claim road kill deer. If the dnr gets a call on one and nobody at the scene wants it they will call off the list to come get it. I get all the meat I need for the year hunting, but if I ever do kill one I’ll probably take it if I have time to deal with it same day. I used to have a neighbor that got a lot of them and would leave them rotting in the back yard.
 
That’s been my experience. If it’s been hit hard enough to kill it, the meat is typically destroyed. I’m sure there’s exceptions but that’s my experience
I can certainly understand that- the one I hit was a hot mess in the midsection/hind end, but if you have a nice sharp knife or 2 its real easy to just unzip it along the spine and see if the backstraps are worth keeping.I have heard of dirt bag hunters killing deer and doing this, and leaving the rest to rot.
 
Also, in both my jeep and truck, I keep 2 very sharp knives and some disposable rubber gloves. My jeep (4 door wrangler) also has a disposable painter's plastic drop cloth, and the carpets were removed and the metal floor rhino lined. So I have more options than if this had happened in Mrs. FL-NC's VW jetta.
 
Almost two years ago my mother in law called my wife in tears about a fat mulie deer doe she witnessed getting smacked near her home. My wife’s mom actually held the doe’s head up while she breathed her last.

My awesome wife got a precise location on the deer and told me it was time to get to work. I headed out with a headlamp and butchering equipment and was able to salvage about #50 of meat off the deer.

The doe had an easy life eating grass and crops; the meat has been spectacular. All is gone save for a round roast now brining in the fridge for a boiled “corned beef” recipe.
 
The one and only time I have EVER drawn my EDC was when a friend hit a deer with her Honda Accord and the deer, with 4 broken legs, didn't die. It was just twitching at the side of the road. A .380 through an eyeball will dispatch a deer very effectively. The thought of beating a deer to death with a tire iron is VERY unappealing to me.
 
The one and only time I have EVER drawn my EDC was when a friend hit a deer with her Honda Accord and the deer, with 4 broken legs, didn't die. It was just twitching at the side of the road. A .380 through an eyeball will dispatch a deer very effectively. The thought of beating a deer to death with a tire iron is VERY unappealing to me.
Not enough leverage, a heavy stick to the base of the skull ends things instantly.
 
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