HOWE, ID — Seventeen elk were killed in Howe Monday night after a semi-truck hit the animals on Idaho Highway 33.
The collision happened around 9 p.m. at mile marker 21.5, according to a news release from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.
Brian Mays, who lives in the area where the crash occurred, tells EastIdahoNews.com the elk were standing in the middle of the road eating hay bales near his haystack. The semi driver was hauling cattle. He didn’t expect the elk to be there and was unable to avoid hitting them.
“There was probably 50 to 100 head in the road. He got 17 of them,” Mays says.
Sheriff’s office reports show a 2007 Peterbilt semi was on the scene when deputies arrived.
“Some of the elk were severely injured and had to be euthanized, several others were already deceased,” the news release says.
The Idaho Transportation Department came to help clear the road, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game worked to remove the dead elk.
Clean-up efforts finished Tuesday morning. Fish and Game spokesman James Brower says most of the meat was salvaged by families in the area.
“It’s legal to salvage road kill in the state of Idaho. You have to report it within 24 hours. Elk meat is very good, and the economy being the way it is, people are all about getting some free, fresh meat in the freezer,” Brower explains.
This is one of multiple accidents in this area involving elk in the last month.
Mays says it’s common for elk to gather on the road near his haystack during the winter. It’s a remote area with an abundance of wildlife and elk come looking for food. He works with Fish and Game to help feed them.
Tara Bowen, Mays’ daughter, says they’ve made numerous calls to Fish and Game and Butte County commissioners to try and get a sign placed on the side of the road to alert drivers about wildlife in the area. EastIdahoNews.com was unable to reach a county commissioner for comment.
Mays’ primary concern is keeping the elk away from his cattle to prevent any potential infection.
“Elk can carry disease, and if they get close to my feedlot they could infect my cattle,” says Mays.
Despite his concerns, Mays says there isn’t much that can be done because his property is in close proximity to the elk’s habitat and there isn’t anywhere else for the animals to go.
“We deal with it all year long,” he says. “They’re working with me but I don’t know what we can do right now. They’re thinking maybe the population (of elk) is getting too big in this area and they might try to get a few more hunts going during the season and help alleviate the problem.”
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office is grateful to everyone who assisted in the clean-up. The crash remains under investigation.
Well, it wasn't exactly road kill, but I saw a bald eagle nail a walleye one time. As he struggled to gain altitude the fish proved too heavy for him and he released it. Some minutes later it floated in to my dock. One talon had gone perfectly into the brain is why it didn't make a getaway. Anyhow, I fileted it, breaded it in cornmeal, threw it in a pan of hot oil and it was great.
Two things. One I never expected a walleye to be on the surface on a bright, blue sky afternoon in the summer. You never know.
Two, I hated hearing about those elk. What a waste.
Well, it wasn't exactly road kill, but I saw a bald eagle nail a walleye one time. As he struggled to gain altitude the fish proved too heavy for him and he released it. Some minutes later it floated in to my dock. One talon had gone perfectly into the brain is why it didn't make a getaway. Anyhow, I fileted it, breaded it in cornmeal, threw it in a pan of hot oil and it was great.
Two things. One I never expected a walleye to be on the surface on a bright, blue sky afternoon in the summer. You never know.
Two, I hated hearing about those elk. What a waste.
Quite a few road killed deer over the years. Usually salvage the end opposite of where their body was hit. The POI is usually pretty bloodshot at you wood expect.
Friend going elk hunting. Driving up to his camp site. While still on state highway, he hit a spike bull elk. Trashed his jeep and the officer let him keep it.
Good hunter. Only elk he got that year.
Made mostly stew and burger out of it. Tasted fine.
He'd often tell know-it-all types that he killed more elk with his jeep than they had with a rifle.
His son took the antlers and made a mount using beat up license plates.
Yep. Guy on the next shift said he hit a buck on his way in. We found it and cut out the backstraps and antlers. Tested just like a deer that had been shot.
A Calf Moose was hit by a bus, it was wounded, the cops shot it, I took it home. Only thing wrong with it was a portion of bruised meat about the size of your fist, the rest was fine.
Roadkill deer is great for dried dog snacks, Usually there is at least one quarter that is not significantly damaged and during the winter it doesnt spoil, but frozen can be hard to cut up onsite. best to find it before it freezes.
Yep. My brother was driving to meet me muzzleloader hunting and hit a nice 8 pt. It went and died in someone's backyard. He waited until about 7am and knocked on the door and asked if he could get the dead deer out of their yard. They gratefully said yes. He got that packed up and headed down the road only to have to car in front of him hit a 4pt. He tossed that in the back of his truck. When I walked out of the woods, he had 2 dead deer in his truck. We took them home and butchered them. Amazingly we didn't lose too much meat and probably got 70 or 80 pounds of meat out of it.
Yep. My brother was driving to meet me muzzleloader hunting and hit a nice 8 pt. It went and died in someone's backyard. He waited until about 7am and knocked on the door and asked if he could get the dead deer out of their yard. They gratefully said yes. He got that packed up and headed down the road only to have to car in front of him hit a 4pt. He tossed that in the back of his truck. When I walked out of the woods, he had 2 dead deer in his truck. We took them home and butchered them. Amazingly we didn't lose too much meat and probably got 70 or 80 pounds of meat out of it.
Yep. My brother was driving to meet me muzzleloader hunting and hit a nice 8 pt. It went and died in someone's backyard. He waited until about 7am and knocked on the door and asked if he could get the dead deer out of their yard. They gratefully said yes. He got that packed up and headed down the road only to have to car in front of him hit a 4pt. He tossed that in the back of his truck. When I walked out of the woods, he had 2 dead deer in his truck. We took them home and butchered them. Amazingly we didn't lose too much meat and probably got 70 or 80 pounds of meat out of it.
Rut must have been on big time!
Opening muzzleloader usually falls perfectly during the rut.
Was going moose hunting and while driving down a farm road to get to my hunting spot I saw a calf moose tangled up in the fence on the side of the road, mom was nowhere to be found. There were magpies eating it's eyes and it was still warm and recently dead.
I called fish and game and reported what I found and asked if I could keep it, and they said sure. So I loaded it up, then went hunting and shot a nice bull as well that day.
I butchered the calf and it was outstanding. Will be the only calf I will ever eat, because this will never happen again, and I would never shoot a calf.
Lotsa times for deer. One evening Carol and I closed out the Dew Drop, playing the jukebox and darts and pool. On the way home, about 3 miles from the house, I saw a car on the side with the flashers blinking, so I went back. That guy hadn’t hit it, but he had a tire iron trying to dispatch a doe. Being a redneck, I slit the throat with my knife. The legs were busted up, but the rest of her looked okay. I said to the guy, this would be a good one to take home, and offered to help him load it. He didn’t want it, and I had Wifey’s Sunday go to meeting car, so I went home for the Jeep. Me and The Old Man had it hanging and were back in bed by 3:30. I’m like some of you other guys, I hate like hell to see them go to waste. Besides, deer season is more fun and relaxing if you’ve already got one or two in the freezer! 7mm
Was following a large snowplow one afternoon on our way to do the annual deer hunt. The plow wrapped up a grouse that had flown in front of it and spit it out on the roadside. It was still fluttering when I picked it up. Never had grouse before that one. It was great eating.
Lotsa times for deer. One evening Carol and I closed out the Dew Drop, playing the jukebox and darts and pool. On the way home, about 3 miles from the house, I saw a car on the side with the flashers blinking, so I went back. That guy hadn’t hit it, but he had a tire iron trying to dispatch a doe. Being a redneck, I slit the throat with my knife. The legs were busted up, but the rest of her looked okay. I said to the guy, this would be a good one to take home, and offered to help him load it. He didn’t want it, and I had Wifey’s Sunday go to meeting car, so I went home for the Jeep. Me and The Old Man had it hanging and were back in bed by 3:30. I’m like some of you other guys, I hate like hell to see them go to waste. Besides, deer season is more fun and relaxing if you’ve already got one or two in the freezer! 7mm
Dew Drop! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Classy!
Few years ago it was sold again. They remodeled, made it semi nice. Good food, still no room. Remember the deer mount that looked like it was brought over on the Mayflower. Bet that thing had 100# of nicotine soaked in it. Good thing it couldn't talk!
A lot of moose get hit by cars (and sometimes trains) in Alaska. I lived in Eagle River for 8 years, and the church I belonged to was one of the charitable organizations that the State Troopers called when they had a moose down. Usually the moose just had a broken leg and the Trooper had to shoot it in the head to end its suffering. Requirement was that a recovery team was on scene within 30 minutes or they called the next organization on the list. Those of us who picked up the moose (trailers and winches were the preferred method) and took it somewhere to break it down and cut it up shared a portion of the meat and we gave the rest to needy families. Road killed moose was a big contributor to our freezer in those days, and it was good.
I would feed all the students in the village road kill moose when I taught at Mentasta Lake. They would haul me a road kill moose about every two weeks and I would have my students cut it into cuts that we stored in a huge walkin freezer. I would use government eggs, cheese and potatoes to spice it up. Attendance was the best that people had ever seen.
Was going to the farm opening day of deer season with the wife....halve way their truck coming the opposite way has a deer run in to the back side of a truck and they kept going .....I stopped turn on the 4 way flashers pulled the deer to the back of my truck it only had a bloody nose gutted it and put it in the back of the truck.... That morning the Wife and I both shot nice bucks .....skinned out the one hit by the truck not an ounce of bad meat just a bloody nose and a broken neck.... Picked up in the same spot a couple years later a deer lost a little meat that was badly bruised .....over the past 10 years I've picked up in the same area 5 deer .....
Several. One, Bus Stop Bambi humiliated my daughter. Last one my brother gave me broke me of the habit. Bullet wound to the neck proved to be a pus filled fang mark. But I was too excited to realize nothing looked right between the skin and the meat until frying up some back strap with my bloody finger bandaged up. (super sharp knife cut.) Had to get so many shots I forgot what for. No need for rabies series in our area, thankfully!
Yes, for any years. I grew up in whitetail country, NE Wisconsin. We lived along a busy rural highway with forested areas on both sides of the highway that acted as a deer funnel. Quite often we would here the screech of brakes and a crash and a few minutes later someone would be knocking on our door, asking to use our telephone. We would ask if they wanted the deer, the usual answer was "no".
Regarding bruised or bloodshot meat. Our mom taught us an old farm method to save the meat. For example, a bruised hind quarter on a road kill. The blood is trapped between the various muscle groups, so we would separate the muscles, wipe away the blood, and soak the meat overnight in a salt water bath in the refrigerator. In the morning the saltwater would be blood red and the meat would be clean and clear. This only works if done soon after the kill. If you wait a day or more, the blood will have soured the meat.
This method also works great for firearms kills. Example is the the blood trapped between the layers of meat on the ribcage and front shoulder. Promptly separate the layers, cut away the meat around the bullet hole and soak in salt water overnight.
Road kill. Been quite a few years now but one time when I was on the way to pick up a date for dinner and a movie, a guy passed me going like a bat out of hell. Then I see brake lights and he comes to a stop. He'd hit a deer. Well the car seemed drivable with one fender mangled up. The deer looked like its neck had been broken but otherwise in good shape I threw the deer in the trunk and went on to pick up my date. Told her we'd be getting a late start and went back to my place so I cold hang the deer and do a quick gut job. I was lucky as only the head and neck were messed up.
Years later the wife and I were traveling from Tucson to Eugene Oregon and while going through Northern California saw more dead deer at the side of the road than one would believe. My wife started counting and quit at 100. Most were antlerless but there were a few spikes as well. About all I could say was what a waste. Made me sick to the soul. Dunno what the rules are on road kill in California but that was a serious lot of meat going to waste. PJ
A buddy and myself took a cow elk one time that we saw get hit. It appeared to be just a strike to the head and neck, instant kill. When we cut her up all of the meat had countless little “blood spots” or specks in it like every little blood vessel had burst throughout the muscle. We cooked some up and it ended up not being fit to eat.
40 years ago in NE PA when I ran EMS, people would listen to scanners for a "vehicle hit a deer" call, and then try to be first on site to claim the deer. Never witnessed any fist fights. But several "spirited" conversations... Local LEO's always gave driver first right of refusal...
If you smack a deer in Upper Michigan, the first vehicle that comes by will stop and you will hear 3 questions. 1. "Are you OK?" 2. "Do you have cellphone service to call for help?" 3. "Do you want that deer?"
Most UP families can home process a fresh killed deer.
We just acquired the privilege here in Oregon about 2 years back. Have not sampled any yet, but some of the less fortunate have contributed to my fly-tying supplies.
ROADKILL HUNTING!! Get yourself a can of lime green or orange day glow spray paint. Drive along your chosen stretch of hiway stopping to paint the carcasses of all the dead critters you see. The next morning you can just drive along and pick-up the unpainted critters as they are the fresh ones from last night's carnage. Enjoy!!
Only once that i remember. Watched a 40 pound doe get hit but a car next to uncles pasture. Knocked the headlight out. Car didnt stop. Went up to get it out of road and only looked like it was hit on head. Took it back and skinned it. Not a mark on its body. 40 pound deer taste good.
This goes back about 20 years. I and a friend were shooting PDs in South Dakota. One morning we were driving on an asphalt highway and saw a road kill rooster pheasant in the middle of the highway. It was already 80 plus degrees and sunny. That afternoon the the temperature approached 100 degrees. About 6 pm we were headed back to town and saw a car parked on the highway. As we approached that vehicle, we saw a guy grab that rooster, toss it in his car and speed away. We presumed the pheasant was to be eaten, but it must have been very fermented. And I’ve not eaten road kill, but nothing wrong with doing that.
Hell yes I have, and I'm not bragging about it either. I was sent to live with my grandparents in Arkansas when I was in kindergarten. We lived in a cabin with no electricity or water. Anytime we were on our way home from anywhere we picked up the dead critters that weren't dead on the way to our destination. Coon, grinners, snapping turtle,possum on the half shell,deer if we were lucky. It didn't much matter. Lots of crock pot surprise in cream of mushroom soup or the cheapest bbq sauce available. That was 50 years ago and ain't gonna happen again
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