Roadkill Salvage Permit

It was mid-January, and I had just gotten home with my limit of hatchery steelhead. I noticed a Facebook post in a local community group regarding a deer that died next to someone's house, presumably from being hit by a vehicle. Dan Foreman, a resident that lives in a culdesac just off from Walnut Blvd in Corvallis, Oregon said he had made several phone calls in an attempt to have it removed from his property and was running out of ideas. Republic Services waste removal said they don't offer that service. The Health Department wasn't interested either. Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said they were only interested if there were signs of poaching.

After a brief exchange with Foreman, he explained that he had opened his blinds to see the snow outside in the morning and noticed a deer had expired underneath the hedges between his house and his neighbors. Knowing the area, and that it was a nice buck, I wanted to see it for myself. I'd been curious about our state's new roadkill salvage permit process. I had also seen a nice buck in the area surrounding Foreman's address a month or so prior, and was curious if was the same deer. I rang the doorbell, and Foreman was kind enough to walk around to the side of his house and show me where the deer had died. Sure enough, it was the same buck I'd seen before driving through that part of town. I was surprised he made it that far.

"We don't normally open those blinds, otherwise I wouldn't have noticed him," he said. "The landscapers were here three days ago to trim the hedges, so he's been there for a couple days, tops." Not knowing the time of death is a bit of a gamble, but how many big game hunters have gone a day or two looking for a wounded animal and still find it in time to salvage the meat? The past few days had been freezing weather, so that was comforting. Still, I was skeptical.

I began my own amateur forensics investigation. Judging from the evidence in the immediate area, the deer had come about fifty yards from the road, jumped down from a concrete wall, and bedded down in Foreman's hedges to lay himself to rest. I noticed some droppings roughly 8 feet from the deer that appeared to have been there at least through the evening's rainstorm because there was a leaf over it, rather than under it. I felt the deer's muscle tissue, (backstraps first of course!) and it was cold, firm, but not stiff. The front left foot was swollen, and the hoof appeared to be slightly damaged. Upon closer examination of the hoof, it came right off it's foot. I checked the range of movement of the deer's extremities. The neck was very loose, no different than a fresh, big game kill. The front legs both flexed at the joint fairly easily, but the shoulder appeared to be dislodged from it's socket. Upon moving that shoulder, there was a gurgling noise in the lungs. The hind legs were stiff as a board. The side facing up was fairly dry and appeared to be in good shape. The hair underneath it was slightly matted down, but I attributed that to the storm as well.

On the fence about my decision, I called my regional ODFW office and spoke with Asst. District Biologist Anne Mary Myers for advice and a second opinion. Myers explained that if the deer had been there a while, the hair would fall out easily. "What can you tell me about the conditions of the eyes?" she asked. I told her the eyes were partly cloudy, but you could still clearly see the definition between the pupil and the iris. Myers asked if the eye was still wet and slimy. Given there was a rainstorm the night before that went through morning, it had been fair weather all afternoon and the top half of the deer was dry. The eyes were still moist to the touch, likely not due to the previous rain. "Those are good indicators, but you really just need to cut open a sample of the meat and see if there's a sour smell or discoloration."

By then, I felt obligated to do Foreman the favor of removing the deer from his property and honoring the life of the same buck I'd seen strutting down the sidewalk with a couple does only a few weeks before. It was worth the effort of due diligence to see if it was salvageable. Worst case scenario, I did the guy a favor and now have a deer to dispose of properly. At home, I took a knife to the deer's front left leg, genuinely curious about the dislocated shoulder. The meat appeared to have good color. Some of the veins were filled with coagulated blood, but overall, the meat was in great shape with no unusual odors. I noticed that the chest cavity was filled with blood. I had no intentions of gutting it, so everything stayed nice and neat. I couldn't have asked for a better situation. Neither the shoulder nor the ribs were broken, so it almost appeared as if the sheer impact of being hit had ruptured it's lungs and caused some internal bleeding, but everything was contained. With no bullet wounds, it was the cleanest deer I've ever processed. Not only that, but it was the day before trash day. After removing the backstraps and quartering the rest, I put the remains of the deer in a yard waste bag and put that in the rolling cart at the curb for Republic Services.

With the meat hanging in a shed out back, I turned the head with antlers intact in to my regional ODFW office (required by law for either sex) and got a chance to speak with Richard Green, a state wildlife biologist with the health and population lab. In Oregon, hunters can send in a tooth with a self-addressed, no postage necessary envelope that the state uses for research purposes, and those envelopes come directly to Green's office. Green then takes a cross-section of those samples to record the deer's age. "It's just like looking at the rings on a tree," says Green. His office in Adair Village, which just happens to be minutes from my house, receives all the samples statewide. Between hunter submissions, roadkill, and poached animals recovered by OSP, his office submits ten thousand teeth for age analysis per year to a lab that contracts it's services to multiple states. Green says the waiting time for results usually takes about 8 months. "We notify hunters of their kill's age with a postcard in the mail." I made a special request for the same postcard to notify me of the age of my salvaged buck. Green said nobody had asked him to do that before, but would oblige. Along with testing for age, the head is also used to track the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease.

Every state has different laws. Here's a list to help get you started if you're interested in salvaging roadkill in your state:

• Alabama: Only non-protected animals and game animals during open season may be salvaged.
• Alaska: Individuals are not allowed to salvage animals, but animals may be distributed through volunteer organizations. Individuals can also sign up for a roadkill salvage program for moose.
• Arizona: Permit required, and only big game animals may be salvaged.
• Arkansas: Unprotected animals can be salvaged under a hunting tag. Salvage must be reported to the Game and Fish Commission.
• California: Legal in some areas under a "wildlife salvage permit" under a pilot program.
• Colorado: Deer, elk, and antelope can be kept, but Parks & Wildlife must be notified. All other species may be kept under specific circumstances, to be determined by Parks & Wildlife.
• Connecticut: Deer, moose, and bear can be kept as long as it is reported to police.
• Delaware: Deer can be kept with a tag. If a driver doesn't want it, the animal must be donated to a public or charitable institution.
• Florida: Deer, fox, raccoon, opossum, and squirrel can be kept in season. Out-of-season salvage requires notification of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
• Georgia: Native species may be salvaged. You must notify the state of road-killed black bears.
• Hawaii: No legal clarification.
• Idaho: Legal, but you must report the salvaged roadkill within 24 hours to the Department of Fish and Game.
• Illinois: Furbearers can be kept, but a hunting or trapping license and/or habitat stamp is required,
• Indiana: Permit required.
• Iowa: Deer can be taken with a salvage tag.
• Kansas: Game animals and furbearers can be possessed in season with proper licenses. Big game and turkeys can be possessed out of season with a salvage tag.
• Kentucky: Reporting the type of animal and location is required.
• Louisiana: Illegal.
• Maine: Legal, transportation permit needed for big game animals.
• Maryland: Permit required.
• Massachusetts: Permit required. You must submit the roadkill for state inspection.
• Michigan: Salvage permit required.
• Minnesota: Permit required.
• Mississippi: No information found.
• Missouri: A Wildlife Dispensation Permit from the Missouri Department of Conservation is required.
• Montana: Salvage tag required
• Nebraska: Legal, with salvage tag.
• Nevada: No specific laws, but roadkill is considered state property and salvagers could face poaching charges.
• New Hampshire: Legal, first offered to the driver.
• New Jersey: Permit is required and only deer may be salvaged.
• New Mexico: Permission from local conservation officer required.
• New York: License or tag may be required, depending on the species.
• North Carolina: Legal, but must register the animal over the phone with the Department of Natural Resources.
• North Dakota: Permit is required, the process is different for different species.
• Ohio: Offered to driver first, accident must be reported to wildlife officer within 24 hours.
• Oklahoma: Legal, but local game warden must provide a receipt of possession first.
• Oregon: Legal for deer and elk, a permit is required.
• Pennsylvania: Reporting to the State Game Commission within 24 hours is required.
• Rhode Island: Rhode Island allows roadkill salvage for specific eligible species, including deer, turkeys, and coyotes, with a required permit obtained within 24 hours of collection from the Department of Environmental Management
• South Carolina: An incident report is required to prove the deer was killed by a vehicle, but the state does not require a special permit to claim the carcass if you are processing it yourself. 
• South Dakota: Proper notification and authorization are required to pic up deer or elk. Other species are illegal.
• Tennessee: Legal if law enforcement or wildlife resources agency is notified within 48 hours.
• Texas: Illegal.
• Utah: Permit for protected species such as deer and elk is required.
• Vermont: Possession tag for big game and furbearers is required.
• Virginia: Legal for the driver to salvage a deer if it reported to law enforcement and inspected. Salvage permits also available.
• Washington: Deer and elk may be salvaged, depending on the county. Permit required.
• West Virginia: Reporting within 12 hours of a salvage is required.
• Wisconsin: Legal, but must register the animal over the phone with the Department of Natural Resources.
• Wyoming: Approval is required from Fish and Game prior to collection. 

In Oregon, I was able to fill out the forms online from the Department of Fish and Wildlife website, or pick up hardcopies of the paperwork at the nearest regional office while turning in the head within 5 business days of recovering the salvaged animal. I submitted one form, and filled out the tag paperwork on the spot, then kept the tag for as long as I stored the meat. Green says that over 1,500 permits were issued in 2019 after the new legislation went into effect in January. "How many permits can you issue to one person for this?" I asked. "There's no limit, but if you show up every day with a new dent in your bumper, you're probably going to be investigated."

This article was published in the March 2020 issue of Northwest Sportsman Magazine