Listening to the most recent MeatEater podcast and the guys are discussing eating roadkill throughout their lives, and the food threads on here about eating bizarre things got me wondering - how many of y'all have picked up roadkill to take home for food?

I never have, but wouldn't be against it if I knew it was fresh and was a desirable species for food.

Never

I was driving home from Dallas County deer hunting years ago in the late 90's. I was driving up 5 just south of Centreville and there was an 18 wheeler in front of me. I look and a big cowhorn spike was coming off the hill to our right and was going to run right out in front of the semi. The deer thought better of it and tried to stop but his head got over the white line and pow..... the trucks bumper hit him right in the coconut. We stopped and inspected the deer and other than his head it didn't have a mark on it. Loaded that sucker up and took him home.


Other than that... no.

Similar situation I've done it a few times usually just cut the backstraps out

I never have but someone picked up my roadkill years ago. About 25 years ago I was on cahaba valley road (hwy. 119) where the library is and it was heavy traffic at @ 9:30 in the morning. About this same time of year also. Traffic came to a stop and I saw it was because of a doe trying to cross from North to south. She made it across and started running along the ROW when she decided to cross back across the road. Traffic was still stopped and she ran hard into the side of my pickup. She hit so hard it killed her instantly and the force caused her belly to pop and drop her fawns on the road. Two guys in a flat bed ahead of me got out and asked if I wanted her and I said no. The loaded her up and left and I carried the fawns to the ROW.

It was mid-summer and if they didn't immediately gut and skin her I'm sure that meat would sour in an hour.

Only if I saw another vehicle hit something or I hit something. Otherwise, nope.

Was riding with another member to go hunt on a WMA gun hunt. As we were enroute a spike decided he needed to cross the road and we nailed him. Proceeded to load him up and drop him at a processor that wasn’t more than 200 yards through the woods as the crow flies. Crazy how that went down and I’m pretty sure the member got some meat out of the deal. Maybe he’ll pop on here and chime in. But I certainly wouldn’t have an issue with eating roadkill as long as I knew for sure it was fresh and the meat was salvageable.

I picked up a nice buck off of Grants Mill Road that got hit one Wednesday night after picking up my son from Church of Highlands.
Took it home and cleaned it on the tailgate in my garage.

Picked up a deer that was hit couple summers ago hadnt been dead for 15 mins...skin it out and it had sum parasites or something I threw it away..may have been fine but I ain't eating somethin on a deer I've never saw before

Yep, I've picked up 2 deer over the years. Both were during the winter and rigor had not set in on either. Some of the meat was damaged from the initial hit, but I just cut around it and kept what was good.

I stopped to look at a button buck on my road that had been hit. I kicked it to make sure it was dead. Reached down and it was still warm (it was cold that evening). I threw it in the bed of my truck without opening the tailgate it was so small. Took it home and skinned it out. The only thing hurt was one of the hind quarters, I discarded it. I was able to put both shoulders in one crockpot. I never told the wife where it came from.

And here comes the hijack...

Older guy who worked for my dad would eat ANYTHING. On day he saw a deer laying on the side of the road and pulled over to see if it was fresh. The deer jumped up and stumbled around, badly dazed. He went back to the truck to get a knife. When he returned, the deer was laying down again. He put his knee down on the deers back and ran that knife into its throat. He said it was just a little button buck, so he knew he could hold it still.

He said that’s when it got real. Deer jumped up with him on its back, while he continued to stab its throat. It carried him out into traffic, then finally dumped him on the asphalt. He said when he got his senses about him, he was covered in blood and he wasn’t sure if it was the deers or his. The deer finally ran off into the ditch and died. Said he was sore for a month.

Every deer I’ve ever hit has came home with me. I’ve thrown a couple away and only salvaged parts of others. One ole nanny ran into me one night and the only part I couldn’t eat was about half the neck. I’ve also picked up ones that I see get hit.

Apparently the ole boys with the MeatEater podcast, specifically Steve Rinella and his older brother Matt, are more adventurous than most folks in here when it comes to eating roadkill, lol. Them jokers were talking about eating pheasants, squirrels, deer, elk, etc they'd seen laying on the road dead. Some they'd see get hit, others they'd see laying there with no idea when it was killed. They used the smell test and checked for body heat.

Only have eaten something I have hit. Rabbits, squirrels and quail that I have eaten.

I’ve never been that hungry that I needed to pick up road kill. What’s the reasoning y’all have for eating Road kill? Couldn’t afford to buy meat? Didn’t harvest enough deer to last you through the summer and you like deer meat so much you’ll eat Road kill? Or just for the campfire story to say you’ve done it?

I grew up in a family with 5 kids and we couldn't get enough deer meat. If one of us saw a deer get hit or came up on a fresh kill, we took that tasty morsel home and strung it up in the garage.

No different than seeing money laying on the ground to me

The whole section of that podcast talking about Janis and placenta eating had me laughing and grossed out at the same time.

I’ve picked up a few that people hit that were fresh. I like deer meat and if I come across one that’s fresh I’ll take it home. No sense in letting the buzzards have the good parts.

I have never personally picked up roadkill. I would imagine that I probably would if I saw the kill and the animal wasn't mangled AND if had a vehicle to transport it (specifically a deer). I have known people that have hit deer with a vehicle and picked them up. Personally, I don't differentiate between a car or a bullet - save the meat that is salvageable and enjoy.

Picked up a couple of deer in the past that I saw the car hit them. Other than that... nope.

I hunted with a fellow that rolled into camp one evening with a rabbit he had hit driving down. Said the rabbit was just sitting in the road when he hit him, wasn't trying to cross or anything. He skinned it and ate it. A few hours later he got sick as a dog and stayed that way the rest of the weekend.

Another time, me and a fellow I worked with were rolling down the road, during work, and came up on a raccoon. He got out and picked it up. Felt it real good and said it hadn't been dead long. He skinned it out and took it and took it up in the black section of town. Sold it for $10.00 to the first house he went up to. The lady that bought it asked it he had any possum.

Yep. I picked up an 8 point I've been watching for 3 years behind the house. I took the kids to school one morning and on the way home I noticed he was laying on the side of the road, about a half mile from my place. Ashame to he was gonna be a good un...

In my case, I watched the deer get hit and knew nothing was wrong with him other than a scrambled brain. So option 1. was to pick up 80-90 lbs of fresh meat with nothing wrong with it that my family could enjoy, or 2. Let him lay there on the side of Hwy 5 and let him rot. Seemed like a no brainer to me.

Squirrels are plentiful around here. You can really save on the grocery bill.

When I was a starving college student, me and a couple buddies were riding around in Talladega National Forest one night just cruising around. We headed back to the crib and there was a very alive doe laying in the ditch with both her back legs broken. We drove back to my trailer, I grabbed my bow and we drove back to the deer. Probably 15 minutes round trip. We pulled up and I shot the deer. Got back to the trailer, hung her on the skinning rack, got out the good meat and went in to cook breakfast. I fried some of the tenderloin. It was so tough that you couldn't chew it. Really, teeth wouldn't penetrate it. I guess her adrenaline was pumping and she'd laid there trying to run off for no telling how long. So, I lost a whole nights sleep and still had no meat in the freezer. My first and last experience with closest thing to road kill.

Picked up a yearling deer I saw get hit on the interstate 2 years ago. Only because I saw it get hit.

You hear him tell the story about his brother eating the elk that had been in the freezer for seven years? Rinella is legit, I have been hooked on his Podcast.

I can’t stand the thought of a deer or part of a deer being wasted. If it dies because of my actions whether it be trigger pull or what I’m driving I harvest everything possible.

My dad use to work at a military academy and one of the teachers was also the mail man for this small town. He would mark all roadkill he saw on the way out to run mail and pick up anything new on the way back in knowing it was fresh. Those cadets ate everything from deer to possum. This was the same teacher who would eat dried earthworms off the sidewalk in the summer. Dad said he liked to freak out families touring the grounds by eating worms right in front of them.

Picked up a few deer that I finished off after being hit be a vehicle. Got a goose once. It was flying across 72 near Goose Pond and got hit by the wind jammer of an 18 wheeler.