# Got a roadkill tag! (warning: graphic)



## Draugr (Jul 8, 2011)

Hit not even a quarter mile from my house. Nobody wanted it so I claimed it . Just a little button buck but I managed to cut a decent amount of meat off him. Samson was gnawing on the carcass the entire time I was cutting it up which made for a rather interesting experience, hehe.



































I tried to get a picture of when he was gnawing on it but by then the sun had set and I was working by flashlight. Not too much went to waste but by the time I got down to the neck area the mosquitoes were getting heavy and I'd been without sunlight for quite awhile so I decided to call it quits. Had no way to keep the carcass cold so I had to bury the rest the next morning. I kept the front hooves to use as chews this winter . I think I will give them to Samson and his best buddy Jake for Christmas.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

What a great way to get free RAW food for the dog! Do you have to pay for the roadkill permit?


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

I think it depends on your area. Here, you just give your name to the local Sheriff's office and ask to be added to the list. They call people off the list anytime a deer is hit by a car (provided the driver doesn't want it). They just call down the list until someone says they want it.


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## Draugr (Jul 8, 2011)

Freestep said:


> What a great way to get free RAW food for the dog! Do you have to pay for the roadkill permit?


Nope, it's free. A deputy just has to sign off on it and verify that it actually was a highway kill and not poaching.



Dainerra said:


> I think it depends on your area. Here, you just give your name to the local Sheriff's office and ask to be added to the list. They call people off the list anytime a deer is hit by a car (provided the driver doesn't want it). They just call down the list until someone says they want it.


That's a good idea. I didn't even know there was a list! I should check and see if my county has one. Thanks! My dad was right behind the woman who hit the deer so that's how I got this one.


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## smithie (Aug 25, 2011)

blimey, I'm just trying to imagine my neighbours face if I had something like that hanging in my back garden while I merrily chopped away at it lol. Great free food though.


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## Draugr (Jul 8, 2011)

smithie said:


> blimey, I'm just trying to imagine my neighbours face if I had something like that hanging in my back garden while I merrily chopped away at it lol. Great free food though.


Hehe, well out here everyone and their grandmother (not joking about the grandmother part either) hunts deer, and almost always guts/skins it too. Some of them even process it themselves but usually they send it elsewhere for that to get it done professionally. Since this was going to the dog I didn't much care how the cuts of meat looked . Samson isn't too picky about that, hehe!

I haven't actually hunted deer before, personally, but I've been around it enough to sort of fumble my way through it and figure out what I was doing .


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

my husband used to hunt, they'd hang the deer or hang them in a shed, the dogs knew where those deer were hanging I'll never forget once, hubby ws dragging one across the lawn, my old gsd Jake, jumped on the thing, hubby stopped iin his tracks wondering why the deer wasn't dragging, turn around there is Jake on top of the thing..Kinda funny at the time

Venison great for the dogs, no fat..I used to cook up the liver/heart as well, couldn't bring myself to give it to them raw..


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## Draugr (Jul 8, 2011)

JakodaCD OA said:


> my husband used to hunt, they'd hang the deer or hang them in a shed, the dogs knew where those deer were hanging I'll never forget once, hubby ws dragging one across the lawn, my old gsd Jake, jumped on the thing, hubby stopped iin his tracks wondering why the deer wasn't dragging, turn around there is Jake on top of the thing..Kinda funny at the time
> 
> Venison great for the dogs, no fat..I used to cook up the liver/heart as well, couldn't bring myself to give it to them raw..


Hehe, awesome! I had a moment like that too, I was trying to cut a hunk of meat off one of the rear legs and all of the sudden the deer started moving - I look down and there was Samson, teeth locked on one of the rib sides, pulling away at it so hard the deer was almost at a 45 degree angle . He was also munching on the grape vine leaves since they were covered in blood from me draining it, heh. He didn't eat much though, mostly just licked the leaves.

I didn't save the liver/heart because I've already got tons of it in the freezer, and like you, I would be nervous feeding organs from a game animal, I'd be too worried about parasites (well without cooking it first, I mean).

I get beef liver for $1.09/lb, pork liver for .89/lb, and beef heart for .89/lb too, so it isn't too terribly expensive. But, if I was running low, I definitely would have saved it and bagged it for the freezer, just written on the bag that it needs to be cooked before it was fed.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

Draugr said:


> Hehe, well out here everyone and their grandmother (not joking about the grandmother part either) hunts deer.


that does sound like "your grandmother wears army boots" 

the dogs don't care how messed up the meat is. They'll eat it. It's good practice for when you do go hunting!


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## Draugr (Jul 8, 2011)

Dainerra said:


> that does sound like "your grandmother wears army boots"
> 
> the dogs don't care how messed up the meat is. They'll eat it. It's good practice for when you do go hunting!


Yep! That's what I figured. I'm going to try and get one this winter during shotgun season. First winter I've fed raw, so I've got a very good reason to go out and hunt - I'm not *too* fond of venison but I'll eat it. And I'm not too picky about how it looks either hehe. As long as it is cooked .

I'll probably save a few lbs for me if I do get one .


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

I have an awesome recipe for venison steaks and gravy. 

If you soak the meat in salt water before freezing it, that will help take away a lot of the gamey taste


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Dainerra said:


> I have an awesome recipe for venison steaks and gravy.
> 
> If you soak the meat in salt water before freezing it, that will help take away a lot of the gamey taste


So does trimming the meat really well. It you trim the fat off before you wrap or bag it, it isn't nearly as "gamey" as it is if a lot of fat is left on it.

To the OP, what is the outside temperature there?


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## Draugr (Jul 8, 2011)

BlackGSD said:


> So does trimming the meat really well. It you trim the fat off before you wrap or bag it, it isn't nearly as "gamey" as it is if a lot of fat is left on it.
> 
> To the OP, what is the outside temperature there?


Right now it's been in the upper 70s, creeping into the very low 80s during the hottest hours of the day. It *might* have been okay to leave until the next morning (cools off to the mid 50s after 2-3 hours of darkness) but I'm not really sure I would have trusted it, particularly since it's hanging out in the open and not inside a shed or anything.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

The Wildlife Biologists told the woman who owns the property that my husband leases for hunting that she needs to cull out at least 70 doe this year. There are 7 guns on the lease. Because of the drought, the deer are pretty much starving. 

If the land owner provides that many permits, it would be difficult to consome that much deer meat. Hubby and I decided we'd freeze a bunch for the dogs. But friends of hubby's are asking for a deermeat if he has any extra. Sort feel bad that we'd feed it to the dogs instead of giving it to the humans. Told hubby we'd play it by ear. If the deer are starving, they'll be small anyway.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

lots of areas have a program to donate deer meat to the food pantries


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## Draugr (Jul 8, 2011)

Dainerra said:


> lots of areas have a program to donate deer meat to the food pantries


We have a big cat park nearby that takes in like retired circus animals and stuff and lets them live out the rest of their life in peace. They are always willing to take donations and I know in deer season they get VERY well stocked. So there's that as well, if you have anything like that nearby.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I don't like venison. I only worry about wasting disease and if dog's can get that from infected meat. 

this reminds me of Dogs in Elk, a must read.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Draugr said:


> Right now it's been in the upper 70s, creeping into the very low 80s during the hottest hours of the day. It *might* have been okay to leave until the next morning (cools off to the mid 50s after 2-3 hours of darkness) but I'm not really sure I would have trusted it, particularly since it's hanging out in the open and not inside a shed or anything.


That is pretty warm. Here it is a lot cooler this time of year. We virtually never cut up the deer the same day they are shot. But we have big buildings/sheds they hang in and it is in the 50s for the HIGH, and that is on a "warm" day (30s and low 40s at night. ) Modern firearm season starts next saturday.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Lilie said:


> The Wildlife Biologists told the woman who owns the property that my husband leases for hunting that she needs to cull out at least 70 doe this year. There are 7 guns on the lease. Because of the drought, the deer are pretty much starving.
> 
> If the land owner provides that many permits, it would be difficult to consome that much deer meat. Hubby and I decided we'd freeze a bunch for the dogs. But friends of hubby's are asking for a deermeat if he has any extra. Sort feel bad that we'd feed it to the dogs instead of giving it to the humans. Told hubby we'd play it by ear. If the deer are starving, they'll be small anyway.


Do you guys cut it up yourselves or send it out to be done?


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