Where I'm from, the officer comes and checks out the roadkill, makes sure it's dead, then lets you take it if you want it. That's it. What you do with the animal from that point on is all okay.

Rules are Rules, if you don't like them, try the appropriate channels to get them changed....or be smart enough to not get caught....

Sucks, but I think that the state just wants the mount. Must have been a big one. Stupid things like this dont go to court and if they do the fine is more than $1.

As the prosecutor who conducted the original trial, I can tell you that I tried everything I could to be as fair as possible and not have this be a story. I agreed to allow Longo to keep the meat AND I would dismiss the ticket outright if he would surrender the deer head. He refused. Allowing people to keep deer not tagged opens up problems with poaching-and, as a prosecutor, you can't allow someone to just thumb their nose at a valid state law. All he had to do was make a call DNR an he knew it. The appeal was initiated by the DNR (not over possession of the deer head, but a judge creating an order for a law enforcement agency).

the rules on this in SD are a little overkill IMO. any buck that is considered a "trophy" cannot be kept by anyone because they assume it was hit intentionally because of it's size. the same rule goes for "picked up" deer that you could find shed hunting, etc., because it is the state's opinion that you cannot prove you didn't poach it....

Volume One posted a short blog about the incident too, check it out on their site here:
http://volumeone.org/blogs/The_Daily_Shakedown/post/826/Wisconsin_wants_...

I will throw my hat in with Jay also. Most counties are pretty easy going. They will let you pick up the deer as long as you call it in. You can pick up the tag later. And again most taxidermist's won't mount the deer without a legal tag. This guy should probably just chalk it up as a lesson learned and be glad he was only fined a $1. Wisconsim is notorious for $200.00+ minimum fines for improper tagging.

In Colorado you can possess roadkill EXCEPT trophy parts. The main reason for the exception for roadkill came after Samson was killed in Estes Park.

An example of what could happen in Colorado: Hunter Joe goes hunting in Colorado and shoots a legal deer, but forgets to put his carcass tag on the animal. A wildlife officer goes to Hunter Joe's house to follow up on the ticket he was issued for failure to tag, and Hunter Joe invites the wildlife officer into his house.

Inside Hunter Joe's house is a beautiful, perfectly typical 26" wide 4x4 mule deer mounted European style. The wildlife officer, in casual conversation, asks Hunter Joe where that deer came from. Hunter Joe tells the wildlife officer it was a roadkill deer that he found on Highway 40 last fall.

Wildlife Officer than asks Hunter Joe if he has the donation certificate from the deer that should have been issued to him when he picked the deer up. The donation certificate issued by the Colorado Division of Wildlife makes Joe's possession of the animal and all parts thereof legal. Hunter Joe tells the wildlife officer that he didn't get a permit for the deer because it was late at night and he was on his way home when he picked it up.

Reasonable suspicion is now raised and the investigation continues...

Long of the short, Hunter Joe could be facing a ticket that could cost anywhere from $700 to approximately $10,000.

It could all be prevented with a simple phone call to the State Patrol, who will in-turn get a wildlife officer to the scene, and we will gladly give anybody who wants the roadkill a permit for it.

MAKE THE PHONE CALL AND DON"T COMPLAIN ABOUT IT!!!!!

MC34 pretty much summed it up. A deer head must be tagged in one form or another.

Is it that hard to have a little common sense? I agree he should have been smart enough to get a tag, but it is a deer that is roadkill. When did it become so hard for a person to look at a case and use their head? If he was a poacher he wouldn't have messed around with the meat he would have sawed the horns and left the body. I think that the state just wants the horns because they are a trophy. If it was a bambi they wouldn't have done anything. what a joke.

That guy was just plane dumb. Here in KS a cop is always only a few minutes away. We call them on the cell phone. They come by and give a tag and the deer is yours. Couple years ago I saw a guy get a huge 8 pointer that way.