I want to tell you how you could get free meat for your freezer by getting on a Road Kill Call List. No, I don’t mean porcupines and skunks that have been sitting on the side of the road for days. I mean Deer or Moose that are usually just hours old of when they died from a vehicle collision.
What is a Road kill Call List?
In Maine the road kill list is a list of names you put your name on. You then may receive a phone call. This animal will be in your area that has recently been hit by a vehicle.
The police department was notified of an animal that has been hit and been given it’s location. It’s usually a deer but other animals like moose and bear may be a possibility. It won’t be for things like possums or porcupines. Then, they go through a list of people to see who wants to pick up the animal. If you are unable to go or pass, you get moved to the bottom of the list. Then the next person in line gets called.
Where can I legally collect road kill?
You can find articles online that tell you what states allow people to legally collect road kill. Some of these are only a couple years old. Laws can change so the lists can be different any given year.
Your best bet is to call your local police department. Ask them if there is a “Road Kill List” that you can put your name on.
Currently, I know Maine and Alaska are allowed to do this. If you want more information about what states are legally allowed. HERE is an article that’s a couple years old.
Why would you want to get road kill
A big one is, it’s free meat. You don’t have to go out and spend money and time looking for a deer in the woods. If you want to challenge yourself, you can butcher the deer yourself. Even if you pay someone to do that part, you still save money with that being the only expense.
I know the thought of an animal hit by a car on the side of the road, doesn’t sound completely appealing. Though, if retrieved in a timely manner. Then, taking note of the condition of the deer, the meat can be perfectly good to save for food.
A lot of the times when you collect the animal it may still be warm. Typically it is only hours old from the time it was hit. If it was during the winter the meat will be better to save then during the summer.
Now if you find that the intestines have burst, you will want cut out the contaminated parts. The same is usually said for any parts where the bone has shattered. You wouldn’t want to get bone fragments in your meat or bruised meat.
What are the requirements of the Road Kill Call List?
Once you are called, you are required to head out as soon as possible and retrieve it. Otherwise, you give up the opportunity. There is no waiting a few hours before you head out. If you fail to show up, the next person in line gets the opportunity for it.
I have even heard of people being on a list with friends of theirs. So, if either group of people get called, they then split the animal with each other. I believe this is to have a higher chance of being able to get some meat for the freezer.
What types of animals do you get on a Road Kill Call List?
The type of animal that you’ll be notified about is usually what is most common in your area, typically deer. If it’s a moose, it’s a possibility the people notified before you passed because of the size of the animal. They are hard to retrieve and load, let alone processing. Moose would be a higher possibility if you live in the northern most parts of the United States or Canada. Elk or Caribou would be in the Northwestern states and Canada.
Preparing to Retrieve the Animal
Most likely, you will be told what type of animal it is, deer, moose, etc. You then need to bring what you need to load the animal. You may need a truck and trailer, friends/family to help you load it. Probably rope or ratchet straps. Whatever it is you may need in order to bring it home, bring it.
I have heard of a couple going in the middle of winter with a trailer. They brought a snowmobile and a sled to help load a moose onto their trailer. They also needed a come-along to pull it the rest of the way onto the trailer. The reason they needed the snowmobile was because the moose had been hit and was thrown far off the road. I can imagine a big 18-wheeler moving fast down a road and the force behind that. Especially since an 18-wheeler is not able to stop abruptly because of the heavy trailer they are hauling.
Our First time Getting Road Kill
Last winter my husband and I were fortunate to get 2 deer that were road kill. The first one happened in the middle of the night right in front of our house along the road. Now, at this point we were not on the Road Kill List. It wasn’t something that we had thought of yet. It was about 5 in the morning and I heard a vehicle having some issues on the road in front of our house. After the vehicle left, I saw that they had hit a deer and moved it to the side of the road. Thankfully it was a weekend and my husband was home. I woke up my husband to tell him and we both went out to verify. My husband then comes up the yard pulling the dead deer up with him.
Next we called the local police department and notified them of a road kill and what had happened. Shortly after, an officer showed up and gave us a tag for the deer and the okay to do as we please.
We then hung the deer and then started to pull out the innards. Then later that day we started skinning and parting out the deer. The intestines had opened and got on some meat. So after removing the contaminated parts of the meat, we put it in our spare fridge for about a week. We then proceeded to cut up the deer as best as we could being first time deer butcherers. It wasn’t award worthy by any means but we got the job done and put into the freezer.
This is when I looked into calling a local police officer to ask about a Road Kill List.
The First time We got a call from the Road Kill List
The same winter that we got the last deer we received a phone call from the police department. It was about 10 pm, and there was a deer about 15 minutes from us. My husband went with my father and the trailer. They did have to wait a little bit for the officer to show up to give them the tag. When they got back they hung it up on a tree and removed the guts. The following morning we finished skinning and parting the rest of it.
Note to self: skin the deer right away. It is very difficult to do this when its had a chance to freeze overnight.
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