Not the Onion-> Montana Bill Would Legalize Roadkill Dining

[sasha031]

By passing a bill last week that allows motorists to eat their roadkill, the Montana House of Representatives may be on their way to legalizing the ultimate drive-through experience.

State Rep. Steve Lavin originally introduced the bill into Montana's House to allow "game animals, fur-bearing animals, migratory game birds and upland game birds" who have been killed by a car to be harvested for food.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/montana-bill-legalize-roadkill-dining/story?id=18549790#.USabra71xL0.twitter

[Sekhmets Daughter]

1. Sure, why not...

maggots are reputed to be an excellent source of protein....and, of course no one has ever become sick from eating putrid meat. Sheesh.

[immoderate]

5. And if you live, there's nobody to sue!

--imm

[Sekhmets Daughter]

7. Sounds like an attempt to cull the herd...

the human herd.

[Bucky]

10. It's cruel to let the herd get overpopulated, I think.

Good tamelife management shouldn't be any different from wildlife management.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

11. Oh Bucky...that's just wild!

[loli phabay]

2. good. i always allow anyone who asks if they can take the roadkill deer. why not if its salvagable

Usually you can at least get the backstraps out of them.

[htuttle]

3. I had a fine roadkill dinner out in Montana years ago

It was billed as a 'Wild Meat Dinner' as a benefit for some organ of the Forestry department at U of M, but most of it died because it was hit by cars. Caribou, Moose, Antelope, even a bear -- lots of good stuff, all barbecued to perfection.

If it's 35 degrees outside and only sits there for an hour, there's nothing wrong with it if properly cleaned and butchered.

[joeybee12]

4. It's an ok idea, but usually predators take care of what's left...nt

[Mugu]

6. One of my neighbors had just gotten his van back from the shop from a previous deer encounter

when a doe stepped out of the woods and he clipped her head with the passenger side headlight. The impact killed her on the spot, but otherwise the carcass was unspoiled. Nobody was around to see, so he loaded her up, took her home, butchered her, and put her in the freezer.

At the time (the law has now been changed) what he did was technically illegal, but to my way of thinking, the only way to have some good come from a unfortunate accident.

[postulater]

8. It's expected in Wisconsin.

You just have to report it.

It saves the DNR from having to come out and pick them up.

Our town dump used to have a pit that was 8 feet square and deep and would fill up in a couple months just from the local ones.

If it's fresh and you don't mash it up too bad there is usually some meat that is salvageable. Nothing like corn-fed venison!

[Bucky]

9. How is it illegal now?

Shit, you kill a critter, it's a sin to let it rot. It oughta be illegal to run down a beast and not do something with the body. Animals have a life and a purpose on this planet and not eating 'em is an insult to their dignity.

[EOTE]

14. +1

I read all these comments about what an awful thing this is and wonder what these people would suggest doing with the body.

[surrealAmerican]

12. So long as it doesn't cause people to ...

... intentionally run over animals with their cars in order to kill them, it sounds alright.

[Brickbat]

13. It's "funny" if you assume that someone's walking down the side of the road picking up

three-day-old meat. However, what it means is if you hit a deer and pull over and there's something to save, you can save it. Which is not a bad idea.

[Recursion]

15. The fact that you find this funny tells me...

... you didn't grow up where I did. People do this.

[2naSalit]

29. Already happens out here in MT, and WY just passed a similar law

Now everyone will be getting those cattle-pusher bumpers for their pick ups. Look at it this way, thousands of elk and deer and moose end up as roadkill every year... for those of you who want to rid the world of guns, this is a way to keep the hunting crowd happy by letting them do their subsistence hunting on the road legally. Covers several issues all in one fell swoop. Besides, the MTFW&P manages big game for surplus to accommodate hunting in the first place because it brings in revenue.

As it is, in the part of MT where I live, the HWY crews have to go pick up the carcasses so that bears won't get hit while feeding on the roadside at a roadkill site. It'll save the state money and that will make all the teabaggers happy...

[Go Vols]

16. I hear people all the time

on the scanner hitting deer and the cops will call whomever to come get it while its still fresh to clean and eat.

[d_r]

19. i thought the rule was

that the car following the car that hits it gets first dibs on it.


eta well its not the law. guess its just local custom. www.eregulations.com/tennessee/hunting/general-hunting-regulations/

[timdog44]

17. Where I live

here in Illinois, the library has a roadkill cookbook.

Actually I think as in Wisconsin, roadkill deer is yours as long as you report it. The better thing to do would be donate it to a food pantry.

[Bigmack]

18. How many Montanans...

..... does it take to eat roadkill? Two. One to eat, and one to watch for cars. Mmmmm.... Flat Raccoon Kebabs...Pavement Possum Pie...Shake and Bake Snake.....

(save the snark... I've eaten lots of hiway venison. The secret? Get it fresh.)

[badtoworse]

20. I didn't know it was illegal

But I never ran over anything worth eating, so it never came up.

[Peter cotton]

21. Why would it be illegal in the first place?

[Zoeisright]

22. Because there are a lot of food safety issues

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/04/roadkill-and-food-safety/#.USgh9-g1dz8

Deer often have chronic wasting disease (mad cow diseaes) and toxoplasmosis. Wild animals often carry infections and have E. coli 0157:H7 and other nasty pathogenic bacteria. Being hit by a car can also cause internal damage that could spread bacteria in the gut and colon through the meat - in other words, feces.

[bluestate10]

23. Anyone that eat wild game assume certain risks. I don't eat game, but feel that

anyone that wants to and are willing to assume the potential health risks should eat what they want to eat.

[JVS]

25. One of the issues of hunting (or any meat harvesting) is ensuring a clean kill of the animal.

In slaugherhouses the deathblow is usually delivered to the head. Similarly, in hunting a head-shot is ideal (except for trophy hunters who want the head preserved). What you don't want to do in either case is open the animal's gastro-intestinal tract in the process of killing it. This literally fills the animal up with shit and puke and also makes infection a serious likelihood. An automobile hitting the side of a deer is going to crush the ribcage and apply force along the entire GI tract.

In hunting a major separator between experts and amateurs is how they handle the carcass. In the medieval Tristan, it is Tristan's expertise on how to handle a deer carcass that initially wins him the approval of the Cornish court.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

24. About 20 or 30 years ago

there was a big controversy because they were using road kill deer as food for prisoners in the Washington State Penitentiary.

[BlueStreak]

26. Larry, Darryl and Darryl

[pinboy3niner]

27. They recommend Betty Trucker...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

32. So what's better?

That or sketti.

[2naSalit]

30. Sometimes they hand it off to the tribes or the food banks... nt

[ZombieHorde]

28. This is how Montana zombies get most of their brains. nt

[2naSalit]

31. You'd be surprised how many Montana

non-zombies eat roadkill. And then there are a lot of folks who would rather eat organic elk meat instead of that stuff that comes wrapped in cellophane. I hardly ever eat meat but when I do I prefer something that came out of the river, lake or out on the range that isn't sporting a branding iron tattoo.