Eugene weekly., November 21, 2018, Page 13, Image 13

Canada and Washington that you might have seen shared
on social media get all the attention, Bowman says current
bridges can be converted into pseudo-undercrossings,
allowing animals to get across the road unscathed.
Another inexpensive fix is using technology like an
animal detection system in which radar triggers a warning
light for drivers.
But for you Lane County drivers who don’t want the
answer to the question of “Who killed Bambi?” to be
“Me!” but who won’t be seeing deer trotting over a wildlife
bridge on Marcola Road anytime soon, there are things you
can do to avoid creating roadkill.
Bowman says those deer whistles you can buy and
mount on your car don’t work. Instead she says, drive
carefully and be alert; when possible use your highbeams
— the light will reflect off an animal’s eyes — and when
you see a deer, honk to spook them to move. Finally, don’t
swerve, hit your brakes and hit the deer.
The ODOT poster cheerfully adds, “Watch for the rest
of the gang. If you’ve seen one, you haven’t seen them
all!”
There are good reasons not to swerve, despite it being
human nature to most of us to not want to plow into the
wildlife. Deer are unpredictable in their movements, and
you risk causing a bigger accident by braking, hitting
another car, guardrail or tree.
Also, you might want to know that if you swerve and
hit something else, then insurance-wise, that will fall under
your collision coverage. If you hit the deer, the damage is
under comprehensive coverage. According to the Oregon
Department of Financial Regulation, your comprehensive
deductible is generally lower.
Thanks to the buck I hit, my Jeep was totaled and
insurance covered a new (used) car.
Who Ate Bambi?
When it comes to hitting a deer or elk, Michelle Dennehy,
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson,
reminds drivers it is still illegal to purposefully hit an
animal. And if you hit and injure a deer and you put it down
to alleviate its suffering, “only you can salvage it.”
However if you come across a roadstruck deer someone
else has hit, you are OK to salvage it (Tip: make sure it’s
fresh). “No one want to see waste,” she says. “If the animal
can be used, great.”
But because Oregon doesn’t have game meat inspection,
it’s eat at your own risk. When it comes to eating, “You’re
totally on your own,” Dennehy says. And she warns,
roadstruck deer are “not always fit to eat.”
Also, you won’t be seeing deer and elk sold at any
roadkill cafés anytime soon, because Dennehy says,
“roadkilled deer and elk cannot be sold.”
More than two-dozen other states allow the salvaging
of roadkill, and talking to many of my friends born and
raised in Oregon, it’s clear the law hasn’t stopped them
from eating a deer with a little bumper burn. But the new
change in law is the result of SB 372, which was passed
by the 2017 Oregon State Legislature and goes into place
Jan. 1.
If you were thinking, “Hey, this roadkill thing opens
up a whole new area of meat-eating for me!” think again.
According to ODFW, under Oregon law, the only people
who can keep non-deer and elk roadkill are “licensed
furtakers,” (hunters and trappers), and even then only
animals that are classified as furbearers: bobcat, gray
and red fox, marten, muskrat/mink, raccoon, river otter,
beavers and some only at certain times of year.
Game animals aside from deer and elk — like bear,
cougar, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain
goat “that are found as roadkill may not be kept by anyone,
including licensed hunters,” ODFW says. Basically, this
discourages poaching-by-pickup-truck.
On the other hand, if you have an undiscriminating
palate, ODFW says, “Unprotected animals can be picked
up by anyone. Examples of unprotected animals include
coyotes, skunks, nutria, opossum, badger, porcupine, and
weasel.”
Let me know if nutria tastes like chicken.
On second thought, don’t.
Venison on the other hand I’ve heard tastes pretty OK.
Bowman of ODOT says the animals her agency deals with
“are pretty well decimated” after being hit by a semi-truck,
as ODOT is dealing with highways. The deer and elk you
encounter on county roads “may be in better condition.”
Dennehy says within 24 hours of killing and salvaging
your deer, you need to go online with ODFW and fill out a
free permit. This actually could help Bowman in her research
as this could yield more data on the animals being struck.
For those pondering salvaging a deer and eating it, you
probably won’t mind cutting off its head considering you
are about to butcher the deer. You must surrender the head
and antlers of all salvaged animals “to an ODFW office
within five business days of taking possession of the
carcass.”
So let’s say you’ve taken out the deer (accidently) and
you are ready to take advantage of Oregon’s new law.
I called Clint Epps, a professor in Oregon State
University’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. We spoke as
he was wrapping up a hunting trip — his daughter had just
bagged her first deer.
Epps dove right into the nitty-gritty, and I decided to not
tell him I’m more of a tofu-consumer.
“The trick with any large animal is getting it cooled
down quickly and getting the viscera out of it,” he tells me
over the phone. “Start with a basic field dress: Cut around
the anus to separate the large intestine,” which you can tie
off with grass or string, then “flip it belly up and unzip
from the pelvis to the start of ribs.”
You’ll want to start with a knife with a sharp tip, and
avoid cutting into the rumen or intestines and getting
digesta everywhere, Epps says. If you do, “it’s not the end
of the world,” as long as you clean it off.
“Cut the diaphragm away, snake your hand into chest
cavity and work in the other hand with knife and cut trachea
and esophagus,” he explains. “At that point the whole mass
can be guided out.” When that's done, he says, “You have
reduced the weight of the animal significantly.”
Since under the new Oregon law you can’t leave the
gut pile on the side of the road and the right of way, you do
have to take that pile away with you. And unsurprisingly,
you need to get your salvage operation out of the way, too.
Epps recommends skinning the animal immediately if
the weather is warm. His preferred method is to put a loop
around the deer’s neck, hang it and split the hide down the
center and the center of the legs.
When it comes to butchery, Epps says, “You can talk
to 20 different hunters who have 20 different approaches.”
He also points out, and I verified that the first time
roadkill butcher can learn about the process by watching a
surprisingly large number of YouTube videos showing the
deer butchering process.
“My butchery is all seam cut,” he says, meaning he
preserves individual muscles or muscle groups rather
than chopping the meat all up. “I remove muscles whole
because they can be cooked whole.”
At this point, he says, “I do something pretty irregular.
I put it in a mild saltwater solution for a couple days; it
draws out the blood and reduces gamey flavor.” He then
wraps and labels it.
“I know hunters who have the whole thing made into
pepperoni because they don’t like to cook,” he says.
Epps, on the other hand, apparently does like to cook.
He recommends boning out the neck meat, “which makes a
fine chili,” cubing it and sautéing it with hot oil, garlic, onions,
garlic and “all the spices,” then adding canned tomatoes and
stock. Turn down the heat, Epps says, and “walk away.”
Backstrap he sears in a cast iron skillet. Shank meat
can be boned out or cooked with the bone in a crockpot or
Dutch oven “low and slow” so the connective tissue and
sinew “turns into butter.”
When it comes to deer fat, he says try it first and see if
you like it. It’s thick and sticky, a hard fat that gets solid
when cold. He prefers to slice it off and use pork fat instead
if he’s grinding the venison up. Because of the fat issue, for
ribs (if they can be salvaged, since you hit the deer with a
car, after all) he suggests cooking in the oven or crockpot
then grilling and eating hot.
Overall, if you are going to butcher your own deer, he
says practice basic food safety and keep your knife clean
and sharp.
“Believe me, it’s daunting when you get one of these
things in your hands,” Epps says of deer carcasses. “But if
you mess up the cuts and they are all ragged, so what? You
will do better next time.”
On a final note, as a hunter, Epps makes a point of using
every part of the animal he kills, but for roadkill, “cars do
a number on them.” If there is blood-damaged or bruised
meat, don’t use it.
And remember, ODFW says, “The state of Oregon is
not liable for any loss or damage arising from the recovery,
possession, use, transport or consumption of deer or elk
salvaged.”
Good luck. I’m hoping never to hit another deer, but if I
do, let me know if you want to eat it. ■
eugeneweekly.com • November 21, 2018
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