MT Wildlife Chairman Salvages Roadkill Deer, Slapped With Hunting Violation

It’s always embarrassing (and usually costly) when you get popped with a wildlife violation due to ignorance of the law, but it’s especially embarrassing when you’re the head of the agency responsible for setting those regulations.

From this story in the Washington Post:

_The head of the commission responsible for setting Montana’s hunting regulations has found himself at the receiving end of one of the warnings his agency issues for illegally salvaging road kill. The Independent Record reported Tuesday that Bob Ream of the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission got the warning after he tagged a deer struck by his car on Nov. 12. The commission chairman says most of the carcass was salvageable, so he took it for processing.
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He says he didn’t realize that was illegal until he mentioned it to a game warden. Wildlife officials say statutes limit hunting to firearms and archery during times and do not specify scenarios in which game might be taken illegally. Ream says he may seek to clarify the regulations. The warning required him to donate the meat to a food bank.

Whoopsie. Well, if the regulations need to be clarified (and it sounds like they do) at least Mr. Ream is the guy to get it accomplished, right? What are your state regulations for tagging or harvesting road-killed deer?