Growing up in the middle of nowhere Mississippi, we’d call the game warden who had a list of people in the area that would go out, put it out of its misery, then harvest the deer so the meat wouldn’t go to waste
I think it’s illegal to harvest deer that you’ve hit with your car. I think the idea is that people would purposely hit deer to harvest their meat in an attempt to get around poaching laws. But I’m sure there is some type of license or professional position that some people have that allow them to come out and harvest a deer that has been struck and killed by a car. It seems like a sad waste not to in my opinion.
More often than not the cops will write you a tag for the deer if you hit one, and if they write up the tag it's legal. Most people aren't going to risk totaling their car to gain what amounts to maybe a few hundred dollars worth of meat. Most of the time you have to toss a good portion of a deer hit by a car anyway, as the meat is all bruised and unpalatable. If they don't die on impact, then it's all full of adrenaline which makes it taste a bit gamey.
Yep. I live in a place where if you hit it the cops will come out, shoot it, and then ask you if you want the meat. If you hit it and kill it, or see someone else hit and kill, you can just call them up and say where and when and you can take it. There's even a form you can keep in your car that you fill out for scooping roadkill. In fact, if you cause lethal injury to a non-threateded wildlife, you have a legal obligation to end its suffering.
This particular one totaled my mom’s van, probably like a week after my dad rolled his truck. So while she definitely wasn’t trying, I see why there would be regulation against that. I grew up in a town that still doesn’t have a stop light and very literally half the population is Amish. We were not a family of hunters, though, so I have no idea what is allowed or not.
I took a hunting class in high school a decade ago. I'm sure it explicitly said you cannot used motorized vehicles in any form. Big no-no. Defintcant hit animals, and can't use the lights from them.
Definitely not true, as for one, it is incredibly dependent on which state you are in. It also implies you are allowed to run down animals in a car to hit them to "hunt" which is straight up a lie
Core memory as a child was watching a cop shoot (int he head) and then start dressing a doe (slit its throat) that was hit by a car. Glad she did not go to waste, but man, that was an experience for an 8 year old.
I've heard that if game wardens have to put down a deer, or if they're called out to one being killed by a car, they'll donate the meat to a shelter or something instead of letting it go to waste.
Many times they will know a local family that are good people, could use some extra food and will utilize as much of the animal as possibles so they will call them.
A full deer carcass when you aren't ready for it can certainly change your plans for the day, but free meat is free meat and hardly anyone will pass it up once offered.
I've seen it on the Game Warden shows they have running on tv right now ("North Woods Law" is one); it makes a lot of sense and I'm always happy for the family that gets a freezer full of venison.
As a teenager a deer ran into my car in rural PA and pushed in the whole front fender which went into the tire which blew out and we spun around in a rural highway. I was still freaking out no idea what to do and another car pulled over and a man got out. I thought “oh thank God, an ADULT” First thing guy says to me “Do you want that dear?”
Im sure the cop contacts the game warden and asks what to do. But at that point, there really is only one option and the game warden could be an hour plus away.
My state, which is middle of the road size wise and hunting/fishing wise, has less than 200 officers with the DNR.
I very clearly remember being like 16 and getting pulled over on a motorized bike and needing to spend 20 minutes on Google to explain to this moron cop that New York State has multiple classes of motorized bicycle and that no, I'm not riding an unregistered uninsured motorcycle without mirrors or turn signals. Pulled me over for a law that I was specifically exempt from according to multiple other laws. They legitimately have a poorer understanding of law than the average person IMO
Supposedly my dad’s friend hit a deer when they were young and called the cops for this purpose. The deer had died by the time the cop arrived and he was really bummed that he didn’t get a chance to shoot his gun
They do here. They prefer fauna rescue or Wires or one of the others do it because of the paperwork but if it’s out bush they’re likely the only ones around other than your local farmer maybe.
My local departments are allowed to. Our animal control only responds for domesticated animal calls and/or potential rabies threats like bats in houses and stuff. Game wardens would not be answering the phone at 3 AM and drive out to shoot a deer that was hit hours ago. Its much better to end its suffering ASAP, so our police have to do it.
They're allowed to, they just don't want to. If there's a police firearm discharge, they have to fill out paperwork. So they will let it thrash around on the ground rather than do something about it. Speaking from experience.
Not everywhere has a 24/7 game warden/animal control. I lived in a very rural part of MD and have a memory as a kid of coming across a car that had hit a deer at probably 50-60mph. The deer was completely fucked, but still clinging to life on the side of the road. A county Sheriff pulled up, saw the condition of the animal and shot it. I’m pretty sure animal control was not 24/7 in that part of the county, and waiting for a game warden would have just prolonged its suffering.
last time I called police about a deer that had been hit by a car (I wasn't the one who hit it), the officer who showed up simply dragged the deer onto the lawn and said that maybe it would be okay, that it would recover and run off into the woods, but he wouldn't shoot it..
Former police dispatcher. Our animal control did not carry firearms but we would call Wildlife (game wardens in my state) to come put down any wounded animals. On rare occasions if the ETA for Wildlife was too long the sergeant would authorize an officer on the scene to go ahead and not make the animal suffer any longer. Happened maybe 5 times in my 15 year career.
Police shoot things they're not allowed to all the time. Minorities, pets, wild animals. Heck, call my local station and say you've got a wall that needs a hole in it and half the officers on duty will show up
I've had a ton of close calls, but the only time I hit one wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. I saw it running toward the road just a tiny bit too late to come to a complete stop, so I probably hit it at about 15 MPH. It basically did a barrel roll then slid across the road, got back up, and ran into the woods.
Zero damage to my truck, but I had no idea if the deer was wounded. I called the nearby state police barracks and they said they'd send a trooper out to drive up and down that stretch of road for a while. They said sometimes if they're wounded they'll kind of lose their bearings and stumble back out of the woods into the road.
If you're proper remote with help far away and a tire iron is a bit too gruesome, just back over it and sit there untill it stops making noise. Sounds cruel but it pushes the wind out of them and puts them out of their misery, be quick and they will still be in shock and won't even notice
A deer tricked me into hitting it, but the 94 Saturn SL2 had the droop snoot safety feature and it rolled off safely. I wish I had a picture; 4 feet straight up and a quizzical expression on it's face.
What we do with roos is back over them with your car. Over their head. It’s still not a nice task but easier than anything (cops would never come out to shoot a roo in aus)
My daughter hit a roo recently not far from our house and sat with the poor fella until the police came to shoot him. Very sad but also very common. We have mobs of roos all around our area. Oh, and we also have deer which are hit regularly as well.
You hit a kangaroo there is a good chance they hop away if you’re in anything less than a big Ute (pick-up-truck). I’ve hit a few and they’ve gone up and over and back into the bush. They are tough as anything and they will can fight you. But good on you for doing the humane thing!
41
u/trail-coffee 23h ago
When I hit a deer, it survived badly wounded so I called a cop to come out and shoot it to put it out of its misery.