From Road to Skillet

[guohua]

You just have to love those Red States. 

Road to table: Wyoming’s got a new app for claiming roadkill

From the Road to you Plate! 

LANDER, Wyo. (AP) — The aroma of sizzling meat in melted butter wafts from a cast iron pan while Jaden Bales shows his favorite way to cook up the best steak cuts from a big game animal.


The deep red backstrap pieces, similar to filet mignon of beef, are organic and could hardly be more local.

They’re from a mule deer hit by a car just down the road from Bales’ rustic home in a cottonwood grove beneath the craggy Wind River Range.

Bales was able to claim the deer thanks to a new state of Wyoming mobile app that’s helping get the meat from animals killed in fender benders from road to table and in the process making roads safer for critters.

State wildlife and highway officials rolled out the app — possibly the first of its kind in the U.S. — this winter when Wyoming joined the 30 or so states that allow people to collect roadkill for food.

The doe was crossing U.S. 287 south of Lander early on the morning of Presidents Day just as Marta Casey was headed out in her Subaru to go snowboarding.

She hadn’t been snowboarding in years. A world traveler who’d only settled in Wyoming a year ago, little did she know she was in for a whole new experience in rural living.

“I tried to slow down and get around it,” said Casey. “It was very ... yeah.”

After a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper took a report and promised to shoot the injured deer, Casey was a couple runs into snowboarding when she remembered the app she heard about from Bales, whom she had just recently met.


She alerted Bales, who soon found the doe and used the app to claim it by entering the species and verifying that it wasn’t killed illegally.

Next thing Casey knew, Bales had hauled the doe home in his pickup truck and Casey was helping cut it up so they could hang the quarters in Bales’ garage.


Wyoming’s new roadkill feature within the state Department of Transportation app helps people quickly claim accidentally killed deer, elk, moose, wild bison or wild turkey after documenting the animal and reviewing the rules for collecting roadkill to eat.

Another purpose is to help people follow the rules.

For safety reasons, roadkill in Wyoming may not be collected after dark, along interstate highways or in construction zones.


National parks, such as Yellowstone and Grand Teton, also are off-limits for roadkill retrieval.


Unlike in other states such as Alaska, roadkill meat in Wyoming can’t be donated to anybody, including charities.

The whole carcass must be retrieved, not just the antlers or hide. In Oregon, which allows people to claim roadkill with an online form, people must surrender the head and antlers to wildlife authorities within five days but in Wyoming the whole animal is fair game.
Source

[Minstrel]

What are the buzzards and crows going to eat?

[GeauxHomeLittleD]

Actually I think this is a wonderful idea! After visiting Wyoming last summer I can see how it would work out well. For starters driving through the state you can drive for sometimes a couple of hours without ever seeing another vehicle- and a lot of that is through reservation land- which increases your chances of colliding with a large, edible animal as they aren't used to so much traffic that they avoid the roadways.  Add to that the temperatures, only really hot (by my standards at least) for a short time in the summer and still pretty darned cool in the morning and at night- like refrigerator cool which would keep the meat from spoiling.

No sense in letting good meat go to waste, I watch that happen a lot here where we live (lots of deer hit and killed by vehicles even in the city, it's a shame watching them rot because it's illegal to take them). 

Don't worry @"Minstrel" , there's plenty of small roadkill in Wyoming to feed the other animals that need it that humans wont bother with- not worth the effort for small amounts of meat.

I would like to add that in Wyoming the deer and antelope do still play just like the song says. We saw antelope a few times in our time there, lots of deer as well.

[BIAD]

I'll take it the Jackalope is exempt from the menu?
(I still have my hunting licence from when I visited Wyoming!)

[ABNARTY]

A lot of states have that law but I never heard of the "app" to claim it. Not a bad idea. 

Where I live, I just take 'em. If a deer gets hit by a car and flops over on my property, that is a gift from God. The Sheriff does not need to be bothered with it. 

My cousin in Colorado has some insane laws. You have to call the Fish and Wildlife to come out and "assess" the situation. They will contact the local animal control agent to come handle the dead deer or whatever. Cost is $1600+. If they find you have mice on your property, they will charge you a few hundred more to "take care of" your mice problem. She lives in the woods up in the mountains. Of course there are going to be mice. Where aren't there mice?

[Ninurta]

A lot of states have that law but I never heard of the "app" to claim it. Not a bad idea. 

Where I live, I just take 'em. If a deer gets hit by a car and flops over on my property, that is a gift from God. The Sheriff does not need to be bothered with it. 

My cousin in Colorado has some insane laws. You have to call the Fish and Wildlife to come out and "assess" the situation. They will contact the local animal control agent to come handle the dead deer or whatever. Cost is $1600+. If they find you have mice on your property, they will charge you a few hundred more to "take care of" your mice problem. She lives in the woods up in the mountains. Of course there are going to be mice. Where aren't there mice?

That's insane. They charge YOU 1600 bucks to haul away something they should be letting you put in your freezer? And forced mice removal? I had a mouse just this morning outside playing on my deck! Little bastards are everywhere! Ain't no wonder my nephew hauled ass out of Colorado and moved to Alaska!

A few years ago, when my son was just a baby, we lived in a fairly rural area of NC near a rich folks' housing development. One night, I heard a horrific crash and looked out the window just in time to see a pickup truck careening away. I went out to see what had happened, and sure enough there was a deer accompanied by several truck parts beside the road. The deer was still alive but immobile, so I went back inside and got my rifle to put it out of it's misery, but then thought better of it - they might have arrested me for "hunting out of season". Fish and Game are a bunch of tight asses like that. So I called the sheriff's department to report it, and they sent a State Trooper out to finish it off. By the time he got there, however, it had already expired. So he asked me if I wanted it, and I said hell yeah, so he wrote me out a permission slip to have an out of season deer in my freezer.

More recently, in the fall of 2016 I think, I was living in Buchanan County VA. Bow season was in, and some dumbass shot a doe with a crossbow on the hillside above my house, but she got away. The bolt severed her spine, so she had to drag herself through my yard using just her front legs. The asswipe that shot her either didn't follow up, or was afraid to come into my yard after her, knowing he wasn't supposed to be hunting my place anyhow. So she made it to the ditch, and created a commotion with the cars going up and down the road. same thing - I wasn't going to shoot her and get accused of rifle hunting in bow season, so one of the guys there called the sheriff's department, who sent a deputy out, and the deputy shot her with his service sidearm. He also asked if anyone wanted her, and one of the guys piped up and said he did, so me and the deputy helped him load her up into his truck bed, no permission slips required. I couldn't eat her anyhow - that same doe woke me up every morning grazing in my yard. She was almost a pet.

.

[ABNARTY]

A lot of states have that law but I never heard of the "app" to claim it. Not a bad idea. 

Where I live, I just take 'em. If a deer gets hit by a car and flops over on my property, that is a gift from God. The Sheriff does not need to be bothered with it. 

My cousin in Colorado has some insane laws. You have to call the Fish and Wildlife to come out and "assess" the situation. They will contact the local animal control agent to come handle the dead deer or whatever. Cost is $1600+. If they find you have mice on your property, they will charge you a few hundred more to "take care of" your mice problem. She lives in the woods up in the mountains. Of course there are going to be mice. Where aren't there mice?

That's insane. They charge YOU 1600 bucks to haul away something they should be letting you put in your freezer? And forced mice removal? I had a mouse just this morning outside playing on my deck! Little bastards are everywhere! Ain't no wonder my nephew hauled ass out of Colorado and moved to Alaska!

A few years ago, when my son was just a baby, we lived in a fairly rural area of NC near a rich folks' housing development. One night, I heard a horrific crash and looked out the window just in time to see a pickup truck careening away. I went out to see what had happened, and sure enough there was a deer accompanied by several truck parts beside the road. The deer was still alive but immobile, so I went back inside and got my rifle to put it out of it's misery, but then thought better of it - they might have arrested me for "hunting out of season". Fish and Game are a bunch of tight asses like that. So I called the sheriff's department to report it, and they sent a State Trooper out to finish it off. By the time he got there, however, it had already expired. So he asked me if I wanted it, and I said hell yeah, so he wrote me out a permission slip to have an out of season deer in my freezer.

More recently, in the fall of 2016 I think, I was living in Buchanan County VA. Bow season was in, and some dumbass shot a doe with a crossbow on the hillside above my house, but she got away. The bolt severed her spine, so she had to drag herself through my yard using just her front legs. The asswipe that shot her either didn't follow up, or was afraid to come into my yard after her, knowing he wasn't supposed to be hunting my place anyhow. So she made it to the ditch, and created a commotion with the cars going up and down the road. same thing - I wasn't going to shoot her and get accused of rifle hunting in bow season, so one of the guys there called the sheriff's department, who sent a deputy out, and the deputy shot her with his service sidearm. He also asked if anyone wanted her, and one of the guys piped up and said he did, so me and the deputy helped him load her up into his truck bed, no permission slips required. I couldn't eat her anyhow - that same doe woke me up every morning grazing in my yard. She was almost a pet.

.

Getting the "permission slip" is not a dumb idea. It demonstrates why you have venison in your freezer and never registered a deer killed during the hunting season. 

Don't get me wrong. What I have in my freezer is no one's business, especially the state. However, you nailed it with the Fish and Game types. There is no arguing with them. It's a  waste of breath. They are there to generate revenue and it's time to open your wallet. 

Had a run in this winter with one. The discussion was birdseed falling off the bird feeder where the deer can get at it. That is illegal where I live for some reason. I pointed across the street to a corn field not 200 yards from my bird feeder. He informed me the corn field is "naturally occurring" so it was OK. Naturally occurring corn fields? At that point you know you are at the end of the discussion. Just nod your head and make affirming noises, hopefully he'll leave.

[Ninurta]

Getting the "permission slip" is not a dumb idea. It demonstrates why you have venison in your freezer and never registered a deer killed during the hunting season. 

Don't get me wrong. What I have in my freezer is no one's business, especially the state. However, you nailed it with the Fish and Game types. There is no arguing with them. It's a  waste of breath. They are there to generate revenue and it's time to open your wallet. 

Had a run in this winter with one. The discussion was birdseed falling off the bird feeder where the deer can get at it. That is illegal where I live for some reason. I pointed across the street to a corn field not 200 yards from my bird feeder. He informed me the corn field is "naturally occurring" so it was OK. Naturally occurring corn fields? At that point you know you are at the end of the discussion. Just nod your head and make affirming noises, hopefully he'll leave.

Seems to me that bird seed falling off a feeder would also be "naturally occurring" then. It happens in the course of the birds scratching through the seed, naturally. Birds don't typically use tractors, plows, and combines during an average meal.

I've had several folks around here try to tell me that a game warden can search your house without a warrant. I said no, no they can't, but folks insist that they can. So I had to amend my statement to "well, what I mean is, attempting to search my house without a proper warrant is not an exercise I would recommend, for anyone" which seems to have horrified them. They said "you wouldn't shoot at a cop. would you?" So I had to inform them that I'll shoot ANYONE trying to break into my house without proper legal authority. Anyone, badge or not, who tries to get into my house without the proper legal paperwork is just another home invasion robber to me, and would get dealt with accordingly.

There is a reason the Constitution and Bill of Rights were written as they were.

Since those conversations, I've moved to a county where at least the sheriff's department knows I mean exactly what I say. They tried it with a SWAT team, and failed to gain entry. Turned out they were trying to raid the wrong house, but it got exciting for a bit until we got that fact established and everything sorted out.

.

[guohua]

What are the buzzards and crows going to eat?

Lost Hikers??
Influencer's with Selfie-Sticks visiting the Grand Canyon!!??

[Chiefsmom]

What are the buzzards and crows going to eat?

Lost Hikers??
Influencer's with Selfie-Sticks visiting the Grand Canyon!!??

LMBO!  There are plenty of those recently.
Here in MI, you are suppose to call the police when you hit a deer, and generally they will ask you if you want it.   But there are a ton on the side of the road right now.
They keep claiming they aren't picking them up, because of chronic wasting disease, but we haven't had a case of that around here in a few years.

[guohua]

What are the buzzards and crows going to eat?

Lost Hikers??
Influencer's with Selfie-Sticks visiting the Grand Canyon!!??

LMBO!  There are plenty of those recently.
Here in MI, you are suppose to call the police when you hit a deer, and generally they will ask you if you want it.   But there are a ton on the side of the road right now.
They keep claiming they aren't picking them up, because of chronic wasting disease, but we haven't had a case of that around here in a few years.

Yes, the Buzzards, Mountain Lions and Cayotes eat pretty good.,

I think they are to Lazy and really don't want the mess in the bed of the truck.

In Arizona (well Maricopa County) You can call the Sheriffs or Game & Fish. 
First thing they asked us 12 years ago, "Are you hurt, need assistance?" "Replied No." "Do you need a report for your insurance or well your pictures of the accident do?" "Reply no."
"Is the Animal Dead, Wounded or ran off?"  "Reply, Dead." "Do you want it or do we need to contact a person who does?" "Reply, we don't." 
"Okay, give us your best guess at your location and we'll send someone to retrieve the Deer."

Takes all of 5 minutes and you can leave.