California Bill Looks to Legalize Salvaging and Eating Roadkill

A proposed bill in California could amend state law and allow drivers who hit and kill wild animals or come across roadkill to collect and consume the game meat. The Sacramento Bee reports that the process would involve a wildlife salvage permit, which can be retroactively applied for within 24 hours of a collision.

Senate Bill 395, sponsored by Sen. Bob J. Archuleta, D-Montebello, would allow for deer, elk, antelope, and wild pigs to be taken by the general public. As it currently stands, only a state or local agency has the permission to remove roadkill. The passage of the bill would also rewrite the state's Fish & Game Code.


The bill's text claims that "it is estimated that over 20,000 deer alone are hit by motor vehicles on California's roadways. This translates into hundreds of thousands of pounds of healthy meat that could be utilized to feed those in need."

A wildlife salvage permit would cost nothing, and should an animal become severely wounded but not die in a collision, the bill's passage would permit the salvager to kill it "in a safe, legal, and humane manner."

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/california-bill-looks-to-legalize-salvaging-and-eating-roadkill/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=sendible&utm_term=wosfeed&utm_campaign=wosfeed&fbclid=IwAR3QWiv35mN3UWz-Kp6sme6puF-lxG0zJyNqlRiDU2nTO5uBXnQEL2FMH7s

I'm OK with this, although deer hit by cars are often such a mess, they aren't worth the trouble.

I'm kind of curious about the last line. If Quill wounds a deer, can he chase it around the side of the road with a tire iron trying to club it to death?

I'm kind of curious about the last line. If Quill wounds a deer, can he chase it around the side of the road with a tire iron trying to club it to death?

it's the human thing to do 

I normally have a shovel in the back of the ute for this reason (more likely to be a roo but we do get quite a lot of feral deer here too)
but wouldn't you know my luck the 2nd Roo I hit (2 total so far, in just over 2 years) didn't die instantly but was obviously fucked (back legs broken, probably pelvis and spine as well) it was a big male and he was still alive propping himself up on his forelimbs, I thought I need to get the shovel and then realized I took it out to get a load of firewood on the weekend and hadn't put it back in  .....   (not super keen on the idea of having to bash an animal over the head anyway...but at least a shovel is something I can ensure an instant kill with)
Just as I resided to the fact I'd need to find a big Rock or something (literally just turned my head away from him to scan the Area for anything suitable) He gave One last big exhale and dropped dead.... thank fuck for that   
So I grabbed him by the tail and dragged him off the road, he was big enough to stop/fuck a normal sedan/hatchback so it'd be irresponsible to leave him there
(female roos you are also supposed to check their pouch for a joey)

Also if had been the way home instead of the way to work, then I'd have chucked him in the back of the ute but would have probably just used it for dog food

Awww...sad. Drop a daisy along the road there for me.

Original Quill wrote:Awww...sad.  Drop a daisy along the road there for me.

quite a lot of wild flowers grow along that stretch of road (a series of crests and shallow bends through scrub land and paddocks) there is normally 2 or 3 new dead roos along there a week. over the total 70km trip,  i'd say there is on average around 3 or 4 new dead roos a day. So the Bill is quite sensible, sure road kill is not  'ideal' for humans to eat but it is silly to make it the law that it has to go to waste. Like I suggested even if it's used as dog food it's better than just being left to rot or added to landfill.


Also I'll have to remember the tire iron next time ... it never even crossed my mind

Never knew it was illegal, it's not here, as far as I know.

nicko wrote:Never knew it was illegal, it's not here, as far as I know.

it's not here, I seems to be a California thing

veya_victaous wrote:

nicko wrote:Never knew it was illegal, it's not here, as far as I know.

it's not here, I seems to be a California thing

It's illegal in many places in the US, without a note from a cop or a game warden.  

Reason being is poachers could claim they hit deer with the car when they were in fact road hunting.  

As for using a shovel, I think whacking a thrashing deer in the head hard enough with one would be a bit difficult. 

Also, the law really never banned dispatching the animal either. It banned taking the animal home.

Some years ago, coming back from "lamping" Rabbits, we came across a Lady who had hit a Muntjac Deer, and was standing by her Car in tears. The deer was "crying" loudly with it's back Legs smashed. She'd phoned the Police around an hour ago, no response. We only had .22 Rifles but a close shot to the head put an end to it . My mate took it home for his Labs. I'v heard wounded men scream but this brought me to tears !

Maddog wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:

nicko wrote:Never knew it was illegal, it's not here, as far as I know.

it's not here, I seems to be a California thing

It's illegal in many places in the US, without a note from a cop or a game warden.  

Reason being is poachers could claim they hit deer with the car when they were in fact road hunting.  

As for using a shovel, I think whacking a thrashing deer in the head hard enough with one would be a bit difficult. 

Also, the law really never banned dispatching the animal either. It banned taking the animal home.

LOL... Americans, I suppose you think i need a gun?
a shovel is sufficient to kill almost any animal (anything bigger than a cow would be hard) it's basically a polearm, it's an edged steel head on a sturdy pole. what more does a man need? and people were using less than that to kill lions and bears for thousands of years. on that same bit of land an Aboriginal would have been killing the Roo (which are more of a concern than the species of deer we get around here which are fairly small, I think they're English deer) with a pointy stick or cudgel not even a stone head..

Also keep in mind it is what i use to protect myself from hyper-venomous snakes and other bush nasties so I'm not 'slow' with it.

veya_victaous wrote:

Maddog wrote:
It's illegal in many places in the US, without a note from a cop or a game warden.  

Reason being is poachers could claim they hit deer with the car when they were in fact road hunting.  

As for using a shovel, I think whacking a thrashing deer in the head hard enough with one would be a bit difficult. 

Also, the law really never banned dispatching the animal either. It banned taking the animal home.

LOL... Americans, I suppose you think i need a gun?
a shovel is sufficient to kill almost any animal (anything bigger than a cow would be hard) it's basically a polearm, it's an edged steel head on a sturdy pole. what more does a man need? and people were using less than that to kill lions and bears for thousands of years. on that same bit of land an Aboriginal would have been killing the Roo (which are more of a concern than the species of deer we get around here which are fairly small, I think they're English deer) with a pointy stick or cudgel not even a stone head..

Also keep in mind it is what i use to protect myself from hyper-venomous snakes and other bush nasties so I'm not 'slow' with it.

I think a nine iron might work better than shovel. 

It's not really a good weapon for delivering a blow.  Chopping a snake yeah.  You're not going to cut a deer's head off with one or anything.  Well, maybe after several attempts assuming the deer isn't going apeshit with you trying to remove its head with a shovel. 

But you use whatever you like.

I can usually find at least a 410 in the safe in my van..............

Maddog wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:

Maddog wrote:
It's illegal in many places in the US, without a note from a cop or a game warden.  

Reason being is poachers could claim they hit deer with the car when they were in fact road hunting.  

As for using a shovel, I think whacking a thrashing deer in the head hard enough with one would be a bit difficult. 

Also, the law really never banned dispatching the animal either. It banned taking the animal home.

LOL... Americans, I suppose you think i need a gun?
a shovel is sufficient to kill almost any animal (anything bigger than a cow would be hard) it's basically a polearm, it's an edged steel head on a sturdy pole. what more does a man need? and people were using less than that to kill lions and bears for thousands of years. on that same bit of land an Aboriginal would have been killing the Roo (which are more of a concern than the species of deer we get around here which are fairly small, I think they're English deer) with a pointy stick or cudgel not even a stone head..

Also keep in mind it is what i use to protect myself from hyper-venomous snakes and other bush nasties so I'm not 'slow' with it.

I think a nine iron might work better than shovel. 

It's not really a good weapon for delivering a blow.  Chopping a snake yeah.  You're not going to cut a deer's head off with one or anything.  Well, maybe after several attempts assuming the deer isn't going apeshit with you trying to remove its head with a shovel. 

But you use whatever you like.

Golf clubs bend   not great for whacking anything with mass, they are designed to be light and sacrifice strength to achieve it (this is knowledge from experience )

I have a plumbers shovel, it's built with the exception you're going to use it to leverage pipes out of the ground etc and use it with quite of lot of force. it also has a flat rectangle head with sharpish edges for digging trenches to lay pipes.

Frankly, I think Vic's suggestion of a 410 is best.

Original Quill wrote:Frankly, I think Vic's suggestion of a 410 is best.

it's illegal here, I'm pretty sure even LF is only supposed to have it in his van if he is actually going hunting.

veya_victaous wrote:

Original Quill wrote:Frankly, I think Vic's suggestion of a 410 is best.

it's illegal here, I'm pretty sure even LF is only supposed to have it in his van if he is actually going hunting.

nope...all the law rquires is that if its not in use its kept "secure" and whilst this is usually taken to mean in a cabinet in the home....If I'm out and store it in a secure cabinet in the van, out of sight and the bolt separately hidden and secured, and provided I reasonably secure the van on leaving then I am held to have met the "reasonably secure requirement....on the principle that.....my van is no more likely to be burgled than my home...I'm likely to be away from my van a shorter time than my home, the safe is no more likely to be found that the one in my home and is of the same standard (in fact its better) the van is tracked and electronically secured with rather more than standard alarms and locks (remember I'm an eletch and an evil genius) attempt to break into my van...it wont sound the alarm...it screams "rape" in a very convincing female voice.......(and I dont take it (the gun) shopping or on trivial trips...I'm, not likely to run into a deer in my local shopping center........)

recipe for road kill rabbit

run it over.....reverse over it to make sure and flatten it out...this also helps to remove the bits that dont taste so goo

wrap it in "roadkill cooking foil "

place on exhaust manifold for 50 miles check and if not quite done drive another 20

serve with a good strong beer and a splif

serves 2 hungry rednecks........

Lord Foul wrote:recipe for road kill rabbit

run it over.....reverse over it to make sure and flatten it out...this also helps to remove the bits that dont taste so goo

wrap it in "roadkill cooking foil "

place on exhaust manifold for 50 miles check and if not quite done drive another 20

serve with a good strong beer and a splif

serves 2 hungry rednecks........

There are Rednecks in England? Bullsheit.

Tommy and smelly??

oh and quill there are still whole communities where yer dads yer grandpa too.......and areas where fathers day cards are 4 foot square so everyone can find room to sign it

Lord Foul wrote:Tommy and smelly??

I wasn't aware you had let them back in...they were so busy in St. Petersburg.

social media you know .....

Lord Foul wrote:oh and quill there are still whole communities where yer dads yer grandpa too.......and areas where fathers day cards are 4 foot square so everyone can find room to sign it

Lord Foul wrote:Tommy and smelly??