Road Kill!

[Wild One]

Alright, I have to ask this question.

Roadkill has been brought up several times by several guys here as a good source for tying materials. I live in roadkill heaven. There is not a single day that I don't drive by countless roadkill. Be it coons, squirrels, deer, or groundhogs (skunks and possums too, but I wouldn't dream of it). I've been wondering what you guys do the harvest this stuff. Do you just pull off the side of the road with the hunting knife, take what you need and toss it in the back of the truck? (zip lock bags could be very useful here, I'm thinking).

K, what do you do with it when you get home? First, how do you hide it from the wife (mine would never let me bring road kill home, EVER!)? Second, do you freeze it, salt it, tan it, wash it? How, what with?

Also, I couldn't sworn I saw on our DNR website something about having a permit to pick up road kill. Is this the case in most states? thanks in advance and happy "hunting."

[rainbowchaser]

Check with your local DNR officer about the permit thing. That will vary in eachstate or province. Only use fresh road kill. If it wasn't there when you drove that road in the morning it's probably O.K. that afternoon after work but don't handle stuff thats been laying there decomposing and gathering bugs for days. It isn't safe and won't produce good material. If you take a piece of hide then scrape the meat and fat off the back, rub a little borax into the skin to help the drying process and discourage bugs before letting it dry in the garage or a spare room. There should be little smell if you did a good job of scraping. If you take the whole animal to skin later remember to get to it very soon. In either case make sure the material is bug free before adding it to your tying supplies. This all applies also to material friom hunting. Birds carry bugs too so even if you just do some quick plucking and drive on its a good idea to dust them with borax to dry any meat left ion the quills and discourage bugs

[modocdan]

Required gear for roadkill harvest:
Sharp hunting knife.
Sharp camp hatchet
Ziplock bags.....Gallon size.
Latex Gloves (disposable )
...........All the advice previously given applies. This as well: Be discerning, this is free material, pass up all but the best and freshest. Just stretch out tails and hack 'em right off with the hatchet. Pluck feathers individually, this will give best results. Skinning is best when the animal is still warm, after it cools it gets more difficult fast, expecially with smaller animals which tend to have more delicate hide. Careful and thorough scraping is very important, then the borax thing is perfect. Stretching hides and hide patches by tacking to a board is very good till they dry thoroughly. If you are pressed for time, you can freeze them fresh and scrape them later after thawing, but this is risky because it can lead to forgetting they are there.
Always remember...Wives generally have a very low tolerance for this type of thing........ModocDan

[CaseyP]

Always remember...Wives generally have a very low tolerance for this type of thing........ModocDan

or not...our rule is if we're in my car, i can stop (have the kit in MY trunk), and if we're in his car, we don't. either sex can be quite unreasonable about this, so simple, rigid rules are our answer.

[Deezel]

Wild,

There was a time when materials and even tying methods themselves were difficult to come by. Therefore, some tiers resorted to 'roadkill'. Also, the state regulations weren't inclusive of this practice. However, with the proliferation of tying materials, suppliers and laws regulating roadkill, it's best just to buy what you need. The materials are easy to get, clean, packaged and overall reasonably priced. Roadkill requires handling what is probably an infested animal, skinning, cleaning/decontaminating, drying, scraping, and packaging. Then you hope that you've done an adequate job and no bugs show up in it as well as your other materials. IMHO, and I used to go the roadkill route, it simply isn't worth it.

Deezel

[James Smith]

About the only road kill that I will stop for now is squirrels (both gray squirrels and the occasional Fox squirrel). Even then, I only harvest them in the winter months. I simply "pluck" the squirrel to harvest the fur. It takes me about ten minutes to pluck approximately 90% of the fur with no skinning mess to contend with and an absolute minimum risk of bugs. I'll also take the tails and dry them with or without the bone in place. I use the body fur for dubbing material for nymphs and leech patterns and the tail fur for streamers.

Jim Smith

[rainbowchaser]

Here in West Michigan we are seeing a lot of wild turkey road kills. I have a couple pairs of seconday quills and some tail feathers from them that represent a considerable savings over fly shop prices for just the few secdonds it took me to pluck them. Less often you will get chances to gather pheasant, grouse or duck feathers. I'm still using muskrat fur from a big male that didn't make it all the way across the road in front of my house over twenty years ago. I just like gathering my own materials and also use stuff from my own and other"s hunting. I have bought birds at the small animal auction and from local farmers too. It's an aspect of tying that may not be for everyone but if you use common sense it doesn't have to present a health hazard or an undue risk of infestation in your materials.

[Deezel]

Here in West Michigan we are seeing a lot of wild turkey road kills. I have a couple pairs of seconday quills and some tail feathers from them that represent a considerable savings over fly shop prices for just the few secdonds it took me to pluck them. ... I ... also use stuff from my own and other"s hunting. I have bought birds at the small animal auction and from local farmers too.

rainbow -

I would agree with your assessment. My initial response when I hear 'roadkill' is picking up the body. Stopping to pluck a few good feathers or cutting off a tail is different (at least IMHO). Also, using the rewards of hunting or an animal bought at a market or farm isn't the same as roadkill.

Deezel

[David Parker]

Here in my part of rural Ontario Canada I see lots of the same as you other fellows with the exception of the possum (I know they are here but have never seen one). I have been collecting road kills since my very first trip to a fly shop and saw the huge $ being charged for such a tiny piece of fur. Being a past hunter, I learned in my younger years the importance of knowing proper procedures to look after wild game and with having a close friend who runs a trap line in winter taught me when it is best to harvest skins and properly prepare them for safe keeping. I never touch a road kill until late fall. This eliminates handling one that is crawling with little critters and also provides a skin that has the best quality of hair/fur (trappers only trap during late fall/winter to get the best quality and most $ for the skin). When I come upon a kill, I safely pull off to the shoulder of the road and go to investigate the condition of the kill. As you all know, they are not always in perfect condition. I will usually only take an animal that is in pretty good condition and one no larger than a coyote. I put on a pair of disposable glove for handling the animal (in my glovebox roadkill kit), place the animal inside of a large clear plastic bag and onto the rubber cargo mat in the back of of my SUV. This method contains any mess and blood that might drain inside of your vehicle. I do all of this as quickly as possible so not to attrack too much attention from passers-by. Once I get the critter home, I goe thru the skinning steps, then wash the skin with warm water and borax to remove all blood and dirt, then set it out to dry on a large piece of plywood in the garage. I usually will salt the skin to dry the hide, for its the hair I want, not the skin. The drying time depends on the temperature, but once the salt has done its job, I cut the finished skin into workable size pieces. Deer, Moose and Black Bear skins have been provided by my hunting friends and I follow the same process with them as well. For deer tails, remove the tail bone and do the same process. I have done this same process over the years and have such a large inventory of fly tying materials that I rarely venture to a fly shop anymore. By the way, I must add that not all wives disagree with our collection methods.............my wife brought me home my first ever Coyote a few years back. It was a beautiful winter female that had been shot by a local sheep farmer whose wife is a friend of my wife. I had to hang it in the garage for a few days until the temperature warmed up enough to skin it properly, but the skin turned out so nice that I am very reluctant to cut it into pieces. Yes my wife thinks I'm a little crazy about the road kill thing, but she understands the value of saving $ so she can spend it...............doesn't yours???????????

[EdD]

There have been at least 3 cases of rabies confirmed within a mile of my house so far this year, and I live in the heart of Nashville's residential suburbs. I don't touch roadkill. Note: Most of Middle Tennessee has been "hot" for rabies for at least a decade. Bats become rabid and bite other mammals, although seldom humans. The other animals bite people. This from the state wildlife folks who dealt with the rabid skunk in my next-door neighbor's backyard.
BTW, care to guess why I park close to either the front or back door at home?


Ed, who is drawing up a list of people to bite if and when....