Roadkill Recycling in Idaho

You know how you hear that every state has there silly laws. Laws that no one really thinks about much, but when you find out they exist you tend to be a bit surprised. Yeah, I'm in that boat. After some searching around on the internet I found that Idaho has a pretty peculiar law that I wasn't aware of .According to the Idaho Fish and Game, Idaho is one of only a few states in the US where it is acceptable if you hit an animal while driving to apply for a permit and salvage the carcass for meat. I have so many questions! The roadkill law has been in effect since 2012 and the IDFG website has recorded more than 5,000 animals in their database. The process seems pretty simple. If you hit an animal you have 24 hours to go to their website and report the accident. While there you can apply for a permit to return to the site and pick up the animal to take home and use for meat, spare the antlers etc. It's said that it could take up to 72 hours to receive the permit.

While this might sound kind of crazy, it really isn't. There are so many hunters in the state and the people who know how to salvage the animal and use all the parts for good. The fish and game encourages those who participate as well to not pull over on busy roads just to pick up dead animals.

For a list of animals acceptable to pick up if hit click HERE.

Roadkill/Wildlife Salvage Permit Report

Have you ever done this before, know someone who has, or like me even KNOW that this was an acceptable thing to do? Just another reason why I love Idaho so much. -JD