Texas: Could I have kept the deer that hit my car?

[AdoptedTexan]

For Texas cops only:

Last November, a medium sized white tail doe smacked into the side of my car and AFAIK, died. Is there any legal way I could have kept it?

I didn't cause the accident, and the deer was dead. In retrospect, it seems like a waste (especially since the deductible to fix my car was way more than I would have spent on any kind of meat).

Any Texas cops have an answer for this? It was out in Burnet.

Thanks!

[exComptonCop]

I can't answer your question, but while we're awaiting a Texas state LEO...

CLICK HERE--->Who gets the deer?

...sorry, couldn't resist

[AdoptedTexan]

Oh goodness

OK, I got it. It may have cost me half a grand of deductible, but I wasn't in the phone booth whining about the deer biting me in the neck.

[JSD73]

I'm not a Texas Wildlife Peace Officer so I am not really sure, but I was always told no, you can't, you have to contact the TxPW and advise them. Last time we did that, they told us to move it off the road and they'd come get it. It sat there for a week....

I say take it, nobody but you and nature knows...and you're right, it's a waste of meat. I mean don't take it..........take it.........don't take it..........take it........

[DACP]

Why would you want the thing? More then likely most of the meat is no good.

[CruiserClass]

Why would you want the thing? More then likely most of the meat is no good.

Not true, as long as you get it field dressed and butchered in the same time frame you would any other kill. Obviously you don't want one that's been on the side of the road for two days and is nicely bloated, but a fresh kill is a fresh kill if done with a bullet or a Buick.

Indiana lets you keep the deer if you want it. When I worked for a smaller dept as a dispatcher we had a "deer pickup list" and people would sign up to be on call for roadkill deers. The motorist got first dibs, and then we worked down the list until we got a taker. If you refused to pick up a deer your name was removed from the list.

[AdoptedTexan]

Why would you want the thing? More then likely most of the meat is no good.

The deer ran SMACK into the side of my car and probably broke its neck, but it was fresh. I don't think any of it was damaged except for the broken neck.

[417Lt]

I wasn't going to say anything but I have to now.
You don't want to eat road-kill. There's a huge difference between a bullet and a Buick when it comes to the meat. Deer digest their food by bacterial action, not by acid reduction like other mammals. If the rumen is broken in the collision and that bacteria is circulated by the bloodstream before the deer's heart stops beating the whole animal could be toxic to people. I've skinned plenty road kills too as we use the skins to freshen up our mechanical decoy deer. They are nasty inside. Sometimes they are one giant hematoma with not a mark visible on the outside.
I know there are plenty of people that will read this and say, "Sheeeet. What's that game warden talking about? I've et plenty of road kill and I never got sick"
It's not a chance worth taking. And I don't know about Texas but picking up road kill would be illegal in California. Every state is different. Arizona had a road kill salvage permit you could call for last time I was there.

[blackhorse]

Back many years ago, you could not automatically harvest the deer if it was taken out of season. The responding officer would normally make a decision at the roadside whether or not you could take the deer. Guess it depended on how low his freezer was when you hit the deer. I use to hunt Texas in the '70s. All that may have changed over time.

[M-11]

An NY Trooper gave me the antlers off a deer I shwacked with my mom's Minivan.

Rest got shoved into the ditch, and a little orange ribbon tied on the mile marker sign.

M-11

[Matthew5_9]

I'm not sure about Texas but I know here in Oklahoma we usually just call our local Game Warden. It seems to me that as you do the work yourself (gut, clean, and skin) then you can take it with you. If you plan on having it processed then thats a different story.

[pujolsfan146]

In Illinois the law states the person who hit the deer has rights to it. We carry paperwork in our squads for people who want to keep the deer. There is a number to call and other information in regards to the wreck on the paperwork.

We actually have people, who have scanners, call 911 after they heard the wreck and ask if they could have the deer.

[phillyrube]

When I hit a deer with my Harley a few years back, the VDOT crew took it down to theri garage and dressed it out. I got a nice chunk of loin the next day. I equate it with hunting deer with a $21,000 gun. One shot, then throw the gun in the river.....heheheheh.

Wasn't bad meat, tho.

[MarineVet89]

And I don't know about Texas but picking up road kill would be illegal in California.

Everything fun is illegal in california!

[amw315]

Sounds like you need to move to Missouri....

I get a call for an accident at the southern end of my beat near the sticks. Vehicle vs. Deer. I show up...I see a few cars off to the side of the road...I don't see a deer. Ok, good, I don't have to put the thing down. I am talking to a few people, find out who was driving the car that struck the deer. I then turn my attention towards the other people and ask them why they stopped to make sure they also weren't involved in the collision. One of the guys has a backpack on his back, and says "I stopped for the deer!" About that time I noticed the hoof sticking out of the backpack, and sent him on his way.