A Pennsylvania Road Kill
Posted: Wednesday, September 21, 2011
by Jack H. Schick
My friend, Al Stonebach, was on his way into town. He was driving south on Mountain View Drive through the state park and game lands during the late October deer rut. He was following a safe speed and distance behind two middle aged women in a small Toyota. He saw the whole thing. A big whitetail doe came out of the woods on the west side of the road, hesitated for a moment, then charged down the grassy embankment, intent on crossing the highway and getting into the brushy strip along the lake on the other side. The Toyota driver was not quite attentive enough. She braked at the last minute, but hit the deer squarely. Al saw pieces of plastic and glass fly.
There are about 40,000 deer road-kills reported each year in Pennsylvania (total estimated deer herd is 1.5 million). That does not include deer that are injured, escape from the accident scene and die later. Some estimates of deer killed annually by vehicles in the state is as high as 100,000 (hunters kill about 300,000 per year). There are as many as 100 deer killed each year on the streets of Philadelphia. Nationwide estimates for annual deer road-kills is 1.5 million animals accounting for, according to insurance companies, about $1 billion in damages.
Al thought the Toyota was close to being a total wreck. He hung around trying to calm the women down. As a witness, he had to submit to quizzing by the police, giving his name address and phone number. Al was a hunter, himself, so he asked the police if he could keep the dead animal. The women, who technically “owned” the meat, had no problem if he did. The carcass was blocking a lane of the road, so the police were more than willing to give him the go-ahead. He wrapped it in a plastic tarp and threw it in the back of his pick-up truck.
Al didn’t have much experience butchering deer so he called me. When we got the hide off we found that the carcass was quite a mess, which wasn’t really unexpected, it having been hit pretty hard. We lost some of the left hind quarter and the entire left front half. There was still enough meat to make it worth while, though. It took us about an hour to bone it out. Al gave me the heart and liver and one back strap to cut chops out of for my assistance.
I reminded Al that he had to report the deer to the game commission and get a road-kill permit. In the old days, it was illegal for a civilian to pick up a dead deer off the highway. The animal was considered to be the property of the Game Commission. Too often the carcasses went to waste, so the road-kill permit system was instituted. Unethical people have been known to poach deer and claim they found them on the highway. To reduce this problem, the state requires that the head and skin of a road-kill deer be delivered to a Game Commissioner, usually dropped off at a game land gate for him to collect. If it’s a buck, the ‘finder’ may keep the horns if $10 per point is paid. It further discourages the temptation to poach a big one and file for a road-kill permit.
Well, Al’s sort of lazy and irresponsible. I reminded him about the permit a few days later when I talked to him, but he never got around to calling it in or applying for the permit. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, in some circumstances, has more authority than regular law enforcement officers. A State Trooper requires reasonable cause to search a vehicle or enter a home, uninvited. When a hunting license is purchased and signed, some rights are relinquished. A Game Commissioner can make a licensed hunter open the trunk of his vehicle to check his bag limit.
The local Game Commissioner got a copy of the accident report. It indicated that Al had taken the carcass. When no record of a road-kill permit showed up for a month or so, he headed over to Al’s place. His address was on the accident report, of course. Al made the mistake (in addition to not getting the permit), of keeping a couple of the deer’s feet nailed to the side of his shed. When Al opened the door, the Commissioner had a scowl on his face and said, “I want to talk to you about those deer feet.” He wrote Al a ticket for $200 for illegally possessing a deer.
When I happened upon a road-kill a year or so later, I made sure I jumped through all the hoops. The permit was mailed to me, and I had to drop off the head and skin at the Rock Hill Road entrance to Game Lands 361. I got about 35 pounds of venison out of the deal, and one of those 40,000 car accident victims didn’t go to waste.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Here in the mountains, we have a problem at dusk, when they try to cross the roads for water. I don't know about any policies, since I am not a hunter. However, we use something called 'deer horns', that emit a signal of some sort, to prevent them from jumping in front of the car/truck. The 'deer horn' is a gadget attached to your vehicle, if you live in a particular area of deer accidents.
Enjoyed the read.my wife got some after her accident (see my next essay-Venison Feast...Not)- thanks for reading and commenting
This happened to my brother once someone hit and killed a deer close to his house and he took the deer and cut it up for his own personal use. I guess here in Florida it must be legal because he never needed a permit of any kind.Thanks for reading and commenting
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