Killing roadkill?

[TCOV]

Best to just go on about your business. You will forget about the animal sooner than you will forget about prosecutions, tickets, and game law violations which may come up. Sad for a little while but not long.

 

[bhk]

I have done it in my state and called in my actions (after the fact) to the CO. One was for a fawn severely wounded by dogs, one for a almost dead fence-entangled doe, and the last for a car hit deer. I called the conservation officer each time (after the fact) and essentially received a 'thank you' from them for taking care of the problem. These calls went to three differenct conservation officers, but it may have helped that they all knew me as a 'good' guy.

 

[WCSO]

I hit a deer with my car a number of years ago and broke it's back. It was totally helpless and I was able to walk right up to it (carefully) to check for injury. It was obviously in a great deal of pain and couldn't move so I used my .380 CCW to dispatch it. I pulled it out of the road and went on home to call the game division. This was in the days before cell phones. The person I talked to on the phone was polite and friendly but very insistant that the deer remain where I had hit and then shot it. They had me give them very specific directions as to where their officer could locate it the next morning but in the same polite friendly manner informed me that the deer had better be there when their officer arrived. It made me feel like I should go back to the location and stand guard all night to make sure someone else didn't come along and take it.

 

[jcwit]

Quote:
Have you ever actually tried that with a wounded wild animal?

No I haven't but I believe I'd try to avoid needless suffering

Having experience with this I would say it would be entirely possible for you to be the one experiencing suffering. Slitting a wounded wild animals throat, not for me. Especially with the type of knives I normally carry.

 

[miss lead]

When I was taking my class for my carry permit a few weeks ago, I asked the instructor this exact question - if I came upon a wounded deer could I dispatch it legally. He said no, absolutely no. He said to call the police and let them take care of it.

He also went on to tell me that it used to be legal in this state for you to tag and take a deer you killed with your car, but then they discovered that in some areas of the state people were doing that intentionally so now it's no longer legal to take a deer you hit.

 

[AlaskaMan]

Alaska Administrative Code 5 AAC 92.220 states a “big game animal killed or injured by a vehicle is the property of the state. The operator of a motor vehicle that collides with a big game animal resulting in the death or injury to the animal shall notify the state troopers or division of fish and wildlife protection in the Department of Public Safety, as soon as possible. Fish and wildlife protection is now Alaska Wildlife Troopers (AWT).”


If a private person shoots a moose on the road without permission from a state trooper, they could be charged with taking a moose out of season. Additionally, under 5 AAC 92.080 it is unlawful to take game by shooting from, on or across a highway.


Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - The voice of Interior Alaska since 1903

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Call animal control,

We have ONE officer and he isn't available on the weekend. Two different situations; A friend finished of a young deer hit by a car. An Alabama State Trooper threatened to arrest him for illegal discharge of a firearm within 50 feet of a roadway and killing a deer out of season. He surrendered the deer to the trooper and wasn't charged. Situation two; a puppy about 6 months old was hit by a car in front of my house (on a state highway)on a Sunday afternoon. I called the sheriff's office to have a deputy to come out and dispatch the poor creature. No deputy was available. I asked the dispatcher if I could do it seeing that (1) it was on a state highway and (2) killing a dog is a felony in Alabama. I was told to use my own judgement.

 

[KodiakBeer]

Codes or not, the troopers wouldn't charge you for such an offense if it was done safely and not in an urban area. I'd feel pretty safe doing so, and feel pretty confident about the reasonable attitude of any trooper who showed up. AK Troopers are a pretty tolerable bunch.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

the troopers wouldn't charge you for such an offense if it was done safely and not in an urban area.

THAT is dependent entirely on the officer. The fact is(in Alabama) you COULD be charged.

 

[MinnMooney]

I had to dispatch a 6-point buck that a driver hit way before 1st light on his way to work. The driver was still there and very upset but didn't know what to do. I found a tire iron in my truck and was about to use it but I first asked if anyone (2-3 cars were stopped now w/ one woman screaming, "Somebody do something!) had anything bigger so I would only have to hit him once for a clean kill. One guy sheepishly offered, "I have a little .22 handgun in the trunk but I'm not going to use it." I said, "Give it to me. Do you have ammo?" I loaded it and walked over to the deer which was struggling to get up but having trouble what with 2 broken legs and who knows what else. I had one guy watch so no one moved into any possible riccoche cone and shot it from a foot away thru the head. I figured that the sceaming lady was going to call me inhumane or a monster but she was already leaving in her car shaking her head.
I never heard anything from the hwy patrol but I called the DNR right away and told them where the deer was 'cause they have a list of people all over the state who are willing to take fresh deer kill for the freezer. It wasn't there that evening so someone picked it up.

 

[W.E.G.]

The black-and-white state law is not going to authorize Bubba to just waddle out of his SUV and bust a cap in a "suffering animal" on the side of a public road.

There are plenty of situations where the ethics would justify exactly such action.
The problem is, ethical analysis often bears little resemblance to legal analysis.

I am aware of no law anywhere that would encourage or authorize citizens to practice animal euthanasia by any device on the side of the road. I'm sure there are plenty of rural locales that could not care less if you shoot an injured deer on the side of the road. You will know you are not in one of those locales when you get served with a summons.

 

[KodiakBeer]

Your mileage may vary, but I would trust the Troopers in THIS state to do the right thing and not charge you.

A few years ago before the CCW law got thrown out so that everybody could carry, a female friend of ours was dealing with some nasty stalking, threats, etc, from an ex husband. The local city police told her to buy or borrow a gun to carry and they in turn called the local Troopers and gave them the womans name and the info that she'd be carrying without a permit, and they were fine with that also.
She came to me to borrow the gun. I took her out for a little shooting and lent her an old Charter Arms .44 (she shot that the best) and she carried it for a while until things chilled out. She wasn't even a citizen, but a resident alien (German) who married an American GI and came home with him.

Anyway, in general, Alaska cops are not like cops elsewhere.

 

[Chisel Head]

...Codes or not, the troopers wouldn't charge you for such an offense if it was done safely and not in an urban area. I'd feel pretty safe doing so, and feel pretty confident about the reasonable attitude of any trooper who showed up. AK Troopers are a pretty tolerable bunch...

I could have said the same for Michigan troopers, some 40 years ago. Nowadays, there's always a margine of error to consider. Because, cops aren't screened like they used to be.
In a situation, like you mentioned, it can turn out to be a Damned-if-you-did, Damned-if-you-didn't scenario. For example, since you had a firearm in your vehicle, you had the means to prevent a potential disaster, through neutralizing the confused animal, if the animal would have otherwise caused a serious accident. On the other hand, had you have shot the animal, this could have opened a can of worms, for you, had the trooper ambitious desires of an arbitrary nature. Which would have sent you to the cleaners, while ambulance-chasing lawyers suck your life's blood, in court, just because the trooper wishes to find some ordinance infraction, on your part. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to first do nothing. Then, to flee from the scene, as quickly as possible

 

[luigi]

Having experience with this I would say it would be entirely possible for you to be the one experiencing suffering. Slitting a wounded wild animals throat, not for me. Especially with the type of knives I normally carry.

I would exercise some common sense

 

[Art Eatman]

Good social session about a problem, but not much about law.