Taking roadkill...bad or good?

[T Bone]

Here is a scenario:

an unidentified person is driving at dusk on a remote open range road (blm land,no fences, grazing cattle)and happens on an accident scene.

A little red Mazda Miata has hit a yearling steer. The occupants are OK and the vehicle is drivable. You see them on their way and you eye the freshly killed steer.

It was a clean kill. Half of its head is caved in, and nothing else is apparently damaged. This unidentified person quickly field dresses the steer and gets it into the bed of the truck. It fills his empty freezer nicely with tasty beef. It feeds him and his family over the next year.

What's your take? Is this guy a thief or a saviour of rotting beef?.

What if it was a deer or an elk?

 

[kiwi hunta]

Yep take it all

I have a little red miata and I doubt it would survive a clash with a cattle beast but I did run into three wild jake turkeys with it last summer and they fitted into the boot ok

 

[Nut]

Well to be honest I would leave the steer because the owner would have the rights to it.

A deer might be something different though.

 

[BuzzH]

Take it, just figure you're getting back some of your tax dollars you've paid out to welfare ranchers...

 

[powderburn]

I'm with Nut on this one, besides I need all the room I can get in my freezers for venison.

 

[guppie9]

Not sure how it is down there, but in Alaska, road kill moose are given to charity. Charities such as churches and food kitchens sign up on a list and whenever there is a kill, the State Troopers call the next one on the list. The charities go out and salvage whatever meat they can.

 

[JoseCuervo]

If it truly is "Open Range", then the guy in the Miata owes the Rancher for the dead steer. It is the guy in the Mazda's responsiblity not to run into the Ranhcer's property. Taking the steer would also be known as "rustling", and I think in some parts of Nevada, they still use ropes and nooses for justice.

 

[Delw]

Same here elkgunner, guy on the road is at fault


Delw

 

[Hunterman]

Same in Washington...Its the ranchers beef, and the Mazda owners messed up car...Plus he he just bought the steer...You take it and your a rustler,,,no better than a poacher....

Hunterman(Tony)

 

[kiwi hunta]

Mmm open range, ok we dont have no stinkin open range here but if an animal is outside the farmers fences and causes damage to a vehicle, the owner of the animal is culpable for any damage caused on the common roadway to its users, so I can tell ya they won't be running up to claim a beastie thats been hit by a motor vehicle.

 

[Elkhunter]

Not my steer, so it would not go into my freezer.

 

[The Viperess]

I would have to pass on it. it not mine and I dont think it would be right to take it.
And we have the same law here as kiwi hunta.

 

[TheTone]

Take that sucker as illegal as it is. Serves the cow right, if the rancher cared about his cows getting hit he'd fence them. Open range laws suck.

 

[Elkhunter]

So the driver needs not take any responsibility?

 

[JoseCuervo]

In Theory.... The driver of the Miata needs to take responsiblity for killing the rancher's steer. As such, he should notify the owner/authorities of his misdeed.

The driver of the pick-up, in theory, has the responsibilty to notify the authorities of the incident, just like he would if he witnessed any other act against private property.

 

[danr55]

I believe that critters are kind of like pedestrians. They have the right of way. If you hit a critter on the street in Arizona, you are at fault. Arizona has a crazy law that requires the operator of a motor vehicle to be in sufficient control to be capable of operating that vehicle in a safe manner at all times. (kind of a catch all law that puts the reins in the hands of the judge). The "at all times" provision of that law applies to open range as well as public thoroughfares.

As for the butcher and freeze part of the question, I believe "rustling" is still illegal in Arizona. The fact that the steer is dead does not change ownership of it. It still belongs to that guy with the shotgun and the rope with the funny noose in the end.

 

[Whiskers]

Kinda like finding a wallet full of money in someones backyard. Does it belong to the findee? I think not.

 

[2fastnaz]

So T-Bone hows it taste??

 

[T Bone]

Was it that obvious?!

The scenario was as described. The lady in the Miata had a bloody nose from impact, but the airbag didn't deploy, which surprised me.

The hereford steer was tempting. I sat there for a good 15 minutes thinking it over......not a single car came by. Then I got in the pickup and drove away to let it rot.

Rationalize as much as I did it still came down to this: If I pilfered the beef I'd be stealing.

Most of the time the line between right and wrong is clear.

It's kind of like when a couple friends from work invite me to lunch at a Nekid lady dancer establishment......I'll ho-hum around about it then do the right thing (for me) and decline. (but if they force me I have no choice.)

As for informing the rancher his property was damaged, that didn't even occur to me.

 

[BuzzH]

If I hit a cow, and was able to drive my vehicle, all that rancher will see of me is a dust trail...and a dead cow.

Open range laws are ridiculous and in serious need of updating.