# Could I eat a deer I hit with my car? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124 "2006-11-04T21:59:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/1 "2006-11-04T21:59:08Z")
Okay, there’s a thread in MPSIMS about deer-on-car accidents spiking at this time of year. Let’s say I’m a poor college student who happens to smack into some poor doe just outside of town. The car still drives, but I want to make the best of a bad situation and strap Bambi to my roof, so I can make her into steaks. Can I? If not, is it because of legal or health reasons? Assume I have no conscience. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/2 "2006-11-04T22:02:29Z")
In California the state Fish and Game Department takes the deer. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/3 "2006-11-04T22:06:27Z")
Sure, I’ve eat deer that have been hit by a car. Many of the good parts are usually undamaged by the trauma. Sometimes it doesn’t take much damage to kill a deer and you have to finish it off. If the have broken a hind leg, they are sometimes hard to string up, skin, and gut. You can always make hash out of the parts where the blood hasn’t hemorraged into the meat too bad. I have witnessed several car v. deer incidents and have first hand experience. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/4 "2006-11-04T22:08:08Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] In California the state Fish and Game Department takes the deer. [/QUOTE] How do they know when someone runs into a deer? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/5 "2006-11-04T22:19:54Z")
I’m assuming the cops contact them. You’re fortunate if you’ve had a collision with a deer that didn’t involve significant damage to your vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/6 "2006-11-04T22:24:07Z")
I believe in New York it is legal to keep and consume a deer that you hit by a car. But only if the accident occurred during a legal hunting season and only if you had a hunting license. The theory seems to be you already had the legal right to kill a deer and it’s your business if you decided to use a car rather than a gun to accomplish this. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/7 "2006-11-04T22:37:31Z")
My brother, the state Fish and Game Warden, has fielded several calls like this: Caller: I, uhh, hit a deer out on highway M. Him: That’s too bad…I hope everyone is ok…So do you want the deer then? Caller: Well I hit it with my grain truck. Him: Oh, I guess we’ll have the county vacuum up what’s left. Sometimes, they want to claim the deer, so he fills out the paperwork and they get to eat what’s left. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/8 "2006-11-04T22:45:52Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] I’m assuming the cops contact them. You’re fortunate if you’ve had a collision with a deer that didn’t involve significant damage to your vehicle. [/QUOTE] Why would someone call the cops? If there’s too much damage you call someone to come get you or walk. If the vehicle is still working you drive on home or whereever you are going. I’ve hit four deer on differnt occasoins and have had varing amounts of damage. Deer are really overpopulated in thsi area. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/9 "2006-11-04T23:04:36Z")
I’m thinking it’s legal to keep the deer in Maine. When we lived there, my wife struck and killed a deer with her car. When the Sheriff’s Deputy who responded asked her if she was going to keep it, she declined, so the Deputy took the deer for himself. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/10 "2006-11-05T00:05:11Z")
As I understand it, it is legal in PA to do so if you contact the Game Commision. I hit a dear almost 10 years ago and a cop went looking for it so he could take it home. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/11 "2006-11-05T00:10:02Z")
I don’t know if they still do it but in Indiana you could keep the deer and if you didn’t want it there was a place that butchered them and gave the meat to the food bank or some other charity. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/12 "2006-11-05T01:52:41Z")
[QUOTE=hlanelee] How do they know when someone runs into a deer? [/QUOTE] You only know if the damage is enough that you can’t drive off. I’ve seen an occasional deer that someone has hit and just left. Unless you have a big freezer and can butcher the deer yourself, you will have to go to a storage locker and have it butchered and they are going to want to know where you got it. In season you need a deer tag. Out of season you aren’t supposed to have one at all. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/13 "2006-11-05T02:35:20Z")
Moose roadkill up here is given to local Native tribes, if they want to come and pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/14 "2006-11-05T02:40:40Z")
In Ohio, you can keep any deer you hit. (There’s no law that says you can’t keep the deer, therefore you can.) But good luck finding a processor. There’s a big sign in the processor I go to that says, “Will not accept road kill deer.” So in Ohio you’ll probably have to process it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/15 "2006-11-05T02:47:44Z")
In Wisconsin, not only can you take a deer you hit with your car, you can take a deer you hit with your airplane. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/16 "2006-11-05T03:09:44Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] In Wisconsin, not only can you take a deer you hit with your car, you can take a deer you hit with your airplane. [/QUOTE] How do you hit a deer with an airplane? Get into a game of chicken mid-air with Santa? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/17 "2006-11-05T03:11:49Z")
[QUOTE=brianjedi] How do you hit a deer with an airplane? Get into a game of chicken mid-air with Santa? [/QUOTE] On the runway. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/18 "2006-11-05T03:41:26Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Moose roadkill up here is given to local Native tribes, if they want to come and pick it up. [/QUOTE] Huh. Down on the Kenai Peninsula, everybody signs up on the roadkill list. You butcher it, half goes to the food bank, and you keep the rest. Anybody is eligible. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/19 "2006-11-05T04:10:26Z")
In Virginia, you used to be able to keep it. In fact, since it is illegal to keep deer as pets, or such, it can’t be anyone’s legal property until it is dead, so you don’t have to fill out any forms or anything. You get to have your car fixed by your insurance company, but they never want the deer either. The average rural tow truck driver in VA has a side business in road kill. (By the way, nothing in the world is wrong whith a road killed deer that would not be wrong with a deer with a bullet in him. And, you can get doe meat that way.) I hit one right in the head, once. He stuck his head out from behind a bush on a tight corner, and whap. The cop called a friend of his who came, and took it away, brought me ten pounds of venison a couple of days later. (All wrapped and ready to freeze.) The real danger in road kill is how long was it dead before someone did the necessary things to keep it from going bad. In this case, it was less than twenty minutes, a lot less time than it takes to hump one out of the forest into a gamecheck stand. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124/20 "2006-11-05T05:59:33Z")
In Minnesota, when you report it to the authorities, you are given the option of taking the deer. (It’s hardly sufficient compensation for the damage done to your vehicle, though.) If you don’t want it, they take it. I believe then it is usually donated to a local charity, like a food bank, homeless shelter, etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-eat-a-deer-i-hit-with-my-car/379124.md?page=2)