What's for dinner? Montana considers legalization of harvesting roadkill. BON APPETIT!

From AP via yahoo:

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Elk, deer, antelope and moose: If Montana residents can scrape it up, they can eat it.

State lawmakers are poised to say just that after the Senate gave its initial backing Wednesday to a bill that would allow people to salvage roadkill for food. The measure is now a final vote from heading to Gov. Steve Bullock.

It makes no sense to let the carcasses of big-game go to waste on Montana's roadways, supporters said.

"It really is a sin to waste a good meat," said state Sen. Larry Jent, D-Bozeman.

The measure calls for law-enforcement officers to issue permits to individuals who would be allowed to remove the carcasses of elk, deer, antelope and moose off the state's roadways. An earlier version would have allowed fur-bearing animals, upland game birds and migratory game birds to be scraped up, too, but it got canned.

Opponents question whether the meat would be safe and whether it would create liability issues for food banks that accept it. Sen. Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, said law-enforcement officers are not qualified to decide whether roadkill is safe to eat.

"Despite its good intention, it doesn't pass the smell test for me," Van Dyke said.

Cattle ranchers like Sen. Jim Peterson, R-of Buffalo, questioned how roadkill could be harvested for food when the cattle industry must follow strict federal regulations.

Montana is not alone in considering the usefulness of roadkill. Illinois allows people with a furbearing permit to remove roadkill for pelts and also allows for the salvaging of meat.

Alaska Fish and Wildlife Protection Troopers run a program that divvies approximately 820 moose carcasses to charitable organizations, like churches and nonprofit organizations, who cook up moose meat for needy people.

The Montana measure would defer to the state's Fish, Wildlife and Parks agency to regulate how the roadkill is actually salvaged.

But as to whether the measure would create a new weapon for hunters — the car — Jent said he doesn't see that as plausible.

"We don't have very many suicidal drivers," Jent said.

The Senate voted 33-15 in favor of the measure. A final vote could be scheduled as early as Thursday.

Bullock didn't have an immediate comment on the bill.

URL @ http://news.yahoo.com/montana-looks-...233952764.html

"Despite its good intention, it doesn't pass the smell test for me," Van Dyke said.

DOH!!!!

I don't know if it is still the law in Texas, but it used to be that if you hit a deer, you had a legal obligation to stop and call the police. The deer would then be processed and sent to the local orphanage or food bank.

I dunno about stopping and scraping a deer up off the freeway when you have no idea how long it's been there. A dead deer in August in Texas is gonna go bad pretty quick. Yuk.

I hate venison anyway, it tastes like shit.

I don't know if it is still the law in Texas, but it used to be that if you hit a deer, you had a legal obligation to stop and call the police. The deer would then be processed and sent to the local orphanage or food bank.

I dunno about stopping and scraping a deer up off the freeway when you have no idea how long it's been there. A dead deer in August in Texas is gonna go bad pretty quick. Yuk.

I hate venison anyway, it tastes like shit. Originally Posted by timpage

still is a law .. Police or Game Warden .. Ive never heard of processing animals struck by cars here in Tex. Im pretty sure scraping dead animals off the concrete isn't the jist of the article. If I hit an Elk in Montana and a Game Warden came to the scene to make a report and told me I could salvage meat, I wouldn't have any problem harvesting the hindquarters and back straps for future consumption.

i was raised in an orphanage in texas in the country many years ago

we ate road kill

if a deer was hit within i dont know how many a mile radius....

the texas high way patrol (sometimes a game warden), what became known now as the DPS, would bring it out to us.

i was awakened many nights as a teenager to gut, skin, get the band saw out and cut up the deer, wrap it and put it in the freezer ....by the time i did all that, no sense in going back to bed because we got up at 4 a.m. every morning but sunday when we got to sleep to 5 a.m.

nothing new to poor people