Road kill venison?

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  • bwframe

    Loneranger
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    Feb 11, 2008
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    I seen a quick glimpse of a critter in the road in front of my house this morning. Went out to see what was up and right off the bat startled a bald eagle off of the power line. Wow, eagles are nearby and fly over, but are rare hanging out right here.

    A little deer got hit in the road. I think what I seen initially was it's twin? The deer was just out of the road, but had been hit hard. Pretty broken up and splattered all over the road and my mailbox.

    Crows were eating the innards and it looks as if the eagle was gonna be next. Hard to tell for sure how long the deer had been there, but was still warm under the hide. Innards were all around inside, but I took a chance and went ahead and cut out the backstraps. I hosed the backstraps off, which was likely a mistake. The gook didn't readily wash off and the water changed the color of the meat (oxidation?) I had to end up trimming a lot.

    I got the backstraps in the fridge pretty quick. I wonder though how to tell if the meat had laid too long or had been contaminated by the internals?
     

    yetti462

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    My last road kill deer was one I ran over, after it I swore to never mess with another. every part of her was battered up and bruised even though the body looked good. Plus I was trying to do things right and get a road kill permit from county police and was given a ton of s-*t and was accused of poaching it.
     

    Flingarrows

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    I butchered up a deer that I hit. The front was a bit messed up, but got lots of good meat. That was about 10 years ago


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     

    Mgderf

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    My last road kill deer was one I ran over, after it I swore to never mess with another. every part of her was battered up and bruised even though the body looked good. Plus I was trying to do things right and get a road kill permit from county police and was given a ton of s-*t and was accused of poaching it.
    I have picked up and butchered more road kill deer in Indiana than I can begin to count.
    I have been on my county road kill list for more than 30 years.
    It's one of the reasons I have not purchased beef for my freezer for more than 30 years.
    Experience will tell you pretty quickly how much meat you're apt to get from any given carcass, generally speaking.
    Every now and again I would pick one up that you couldn't get more than a hamburger or two from.
    They had been hit that hard.
    On the other hand, I got 9 deer in one year from the road kill list. This was years ago, and I had to give a lot to relatives and friends because I ran out of freezer space.

    On the whole, road kill has been incredibly valuable to me.
     

    Hawkeye7br

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    I've done the same thing bwframe did. Given how cold it was last night, meat should be fine.
    I've done 3-4 roadkills. One was mangled and I regret it, the others were ok.
    One was a young one that had been just killed, I think hit in head or broke neck. Dressed it on the tailgate, innards we're all intact, never spilled blood until I cut the trachea at the end.
     

    bwframe

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    I have picked up and butchered more road kill deer in Indiana than I can begin to count.
    I have been on my county road kill list for more than 30 years.
    It's one of the reasons I have not purchased beef for my freezer for more than 30 years.
    Experience will tell you pretty quickly how much meat you're apt to get from any given carcass, generally speaking.
    Every now and again I would pick one up that you couldn't get more than a hamburger or two from.
    They had been hit that hard.
    On the other hand, I got 9 deer in one year from the road kill list. This was years ago, and I had to give a lot to relatives and friends because I ran out of freezer space.

    On the whole, road kill has been incredibly valuable to me.

    I was looking down at the busted up deer, thinking about your posts about this over the years.
     

    bwframe

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    I've done the same thing bwframe did. Given how cold it was last night, meat should be fine.
    I've done 3-4 roadkills. One was mangled and I regret it, the others were ok.
    One was a young one that had been just killed, I think hit in head or broke neck. Dressed it on the tailgate, innards we're all intact, never spilled blood until I cut the trachea at the end.

    I wasn't out much on this. The deer had to be moved out of the path of the mail man off the edge of the road anyway. Couldn't leave it laying in my front yard either, so like any other road kill, it got drug into the pasture behind the barn.

    I got the backstraps and was only on the hook for the time it took to cut them out in the freezing wind, plus the inside trimming time.

    No signs of crows or the bald eagle, after dragging the deer a couple hundred yards into the pasture. A big giant hawk and a buzzard got to work on the carcass pretty quick though.

    An FYI to everyone reading; This might just be in my neighborhood, but this afternoon I watched another car have a near miss on a deer sprinting across my road a few houses north of me. Just after that, I proceeded up the road to have to brake hard for a couple more crossing in front of me.
     
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    schapm

    Sharpshooter
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    Feb 26, 2009
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    I processed one with a friend about this time last year. It was on the road he lives on and he had driven past recently enough to know it was no more than an hour old. That plus the cold weather gave us a great deal of confidence that the meat was good. I’ve left them overnight in warmer weather when I had to give up tracking a deer I shot and come back to find it in the morning. On this particular deer all the damage was at the front end. One shoulder was so mangled as to be not worth messing with, and the other only contributed a little meat to grind. Back straps and hindquarters were in great shape though, and it was a nice mature doe with a good amount of delicious meat even with losing the shoulders. I’d do it again, though I usually am lucky enough to fill the freezer to full capacity during the hunting season, so late winter would be the earliest timing for me to be able to fit more meat in.
     

    bdybdall

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    About 10 yrs. ago, I was riding with a guy from work. A deer came out of the ditch and her head hit headlights but the body wrapped around the side of his pickup. After getting an accident report and a possession permit he dropped me and the doe off at my house. With the neck broken, the deer never had a chance to bleed out. Also, the innards had burst and there was green crap forced into the hams and such. It got eaten but it was liverish and the worst deer I've eaten.
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
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    Dec 7, 2011
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    About 10 yrs. ago, I was riding with a guy from work. A deer came out of the ditch and her head hit headlights but the body wrapped around the side of his pickup. After getting an accident report and a possession permit he dropped me and the doe off at my house. With the neck broken, the deer never had a chance to bleed out. Also, the innards had burst and there was green crap forced into the hams and such. It got eaten but it was liverish and the worst deer I've eaten.
    Yeah I would have passed on that meat.
    Worms gotta eat same as crows.
     

    Jsomerset

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    Jan 31, 2016
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    Picked up two road kills one deer & one coon both in the same week. Deer was clobbered and tossed in the side ditch. I saw it hit so I didn’t think it was beat up to badly. Got it home and it had been shot with an arrow in the rump. Didn’t mess with that quarter but kept the rest. Threw that first steak in the pan and you have never smelled such raunch. All the infection must have traveled throughout the rest of the carcass. Never picked up another RK deer.

    The coon was a prime jumbo and they were fetching $25 - $30. Had the family with me as we were on some kind of outing. Several hours later got home changed And ready to skin it out. Popped the trunk grabbed it by the tail to slide it closer to grab a leg, well when I tugged on that tail it set off a jet pack and that sob came out of that trunk at the speed of light ran across my chest, across the yard and down the street. So friends always be prepared when it comes to road kill you just never know what you will get.
     

    hoosierdaddy1976

    I Can't Believe it's not Shooter
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    Mar 17, 2011
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    I hit a deer about a dozen years ago that came home with me. Almost missed it, ended up plunking it in the head, so it was DRT. The only internal damage was a collapsed lung. Backstraps and tenderloins were removed and the rest was ground (only way I could get the wife to eat it). I was completely satisfied with the quality of the meat, might have to think twice about one that was a bit more splattered.
     

    Cameramonkey

    www.thechosen.tv
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    May 12, 2013
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    On a related note, start carrying chalk with you when you go to town. When you come upon road kill circle it.

    On the drive home, if you find anything dead that isnt circled, its fresh. Grab it. :laugh:
     
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