Thanks to the people that responded to my post..i just think we should let some of the new people aware of some things..especially things that may be illegal.
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Your tooling down the road and come across a real nice specimen - coon, skunk, coyote, whatever and you have to leave it there to rot. NO WAY! I will probably get skewered for this but I will pick them up as I suspect a lot of people would do. It just aint right leaving a real nice animal there by the road to go to waste. Opinions on this?
Name withheld due to DNR moles trolling this site.
Everyone knows the intent of the laws regarding picking up roadkills, and from that point of view ALONE, it is proper. However, from another view, picking up roadkill is a practice of good conservation(wisely using a resource), and NO ONE with any common sense would find fault with that. From the conservation standpoint, leaving roadkill to rot is wasteful. This is a situation where each of us has a choice to obey the law and waste a specimen, OR break the law and practice good conservation. Strange...eh?
Just remember when picking up roadkill to do so in a sake manner! If you stop on a hwy. that it is a major safety issue be very careful. One time when I worked road const. I had to travel 400 miles in one day in a co. truck, I picked up 4 coon that day and sold them in my season catch for a $20 average. I was young and stupid and would not do that now, but at the time I did not think about that. It is a shame to let a resource go to waste. Be careful!
Here in Missouri if you come across a road killed specimen that you would like to have to mount you can contact the conservation and obtain a death report from an agent so that you may posess the specimen. Of course there are exceptions protected species and such.
The first animal I ever skinned and tanned was a racoon I found on the side of the road. Still have the hide after 15 years and still in excellent shape. The side of the road is where alot of us find some of our best specimens. Illegal or not I don't like to waste.