Can You Legally Harvest This Meat in Massachusetts?
Let’s say it’s late at night, and you’re in your truck, driving on the backroads from Greenfield to North Adams. All of a sudden, you see a couple of small bright reflections in your headlights, and a shadow seems to move. Before you can react, a deer jumps out in front of you, and BAM, you hit it. Thankfully, you’re all right but the deer has been killed. We live in the hills of Massachusetts, so this scenario has certainly happened to lots of drivers.
Did you know in Massachusetts, you can actually keep that deer meat? Well, you can…sort of.
If you hit a deer (or moose), and you’re a resident of Massachusetts, you can salvage the meat and use it for food. What you have to do first though, is call the MA Environmental Police at 1-800-632-8075. That’s because in Massachusetts, that deer carcass has to be tagged by the Mass Wildlife Office for you to officially use it. If you don’t, they can technically confiscate it, which happened some years back with a moose that was hit in Western Massachusetts. It might seem a little bizarre that you have to have it officially tagged, but Massachusetts is far from the only state where this has to be done.
Now, before you say it’s gross to eat road kill, think about it! That deer has no special hormones in it, it’s as free-range as you can get, and environmental groups generally think it’s a good way to use the meat.
No one wants to hit a deer, especially with the damage it can do to you or your vehicle. But, if you do, you can call the Mass Wildlife Office, get it tagged, and keep it for yourself!
More information can be found here: mass.gov
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Gallery Credit: Joni Sweet
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