LE policy on found deer

how many were laughfing when i asked woody if his buddys rack was legal

I know where a decent outside the ears 8 point is laying right now, I think it was hit by a vehicle, but it could be EHD......don't know.

Anyway, when we found him my son said we should cut the head off and keep the antlers.....I asked if he wanted to put his buck tag on it because I didn't. He said "but I didn't kill it"......it don't matter, it's DEER SEASON and it's a fresh kill, if we get stopped I don't want any questions.

Now, I did suggest that we leave it lay and check it in the spring, if the antlers are still good we would take them then....is that wrong?

Interesting. Wouldn't the antlers still be valid for B&C record book? (If they met the min. requirment). Maybe I need to do some walking Muscatatuck Refuge.

I don't know about public property but if I found a dead buck on "my property" then the antlers are going straight into my barn without a word being said.

I have picked up racks,cut racks from dead deer that were found either in the field ,along side the road probably for over 45 years now and never once..not once has anyone said anything about it being illegal to do this..not even a game warden!!!!!!!!
Personally I think it's a law that is not on the side of the sportsman but allows game wardens to take a deer rack that they have no use for away from the sportsman...whyif I found a dead deer would I have to put a tag on the rack just to get it home...doesn't make any sense to me at all!!!!!

Clarification from the IDNR...


My question...

I understand that the Law Enforcement division has established a policy that all bucks that are found dead must be legally tagged if a person wants to keep the antlers.

I can see the problem you all might have with seperating a poached deer from all the "found deer" from EHD. Is that the rationale behind this policy?

My question is - Will the COs still be able to issue possession permits like they have always been able to do in the past or are we supposed to leave those antlers in the woods?

If the COs don't or cant issue permits I think there will be a lot of law breakers

Their answer...

That is the rationale. There are literally hundreds of deer dead from EHD and the concern is that some not so sporting sportsmen will take their deer and then pass it off as a found deer in order to continue hunting for bigger racks.

It has never technically been legal to take parts of a deer from the wild that was not legally harvested and tagged. Our officers have used good discretion in the past related to this concern and as always we have asked the officers to use sound discretion duing this season.

Hopefully we won't have to deal with huge numbers of dead deer next year.

I then questioned...

Then COs can still issue possession permits?

They answered..

Yes, as they always could.

We wanted to get everyone on the same page due to the unusual number of requests we will receive this year. The point remains that the practice of removing parts from a freshly killed deer causes a decision and depending on the circumstances that decision could not be what the hunter expected. The only way to be absolutely clear is to use a tag. Obviously we don't want to make violators out of those who were not intentionally breaking the law.

Guys and gals,

If you find a dead one that you want to salvage the antlers by all means call your local CO and get a possession permit.

Pretty simple..

Don't murder teh messenger guys. Greendeem didn't have to let you know. Several years back, somone shot a deer from a road-before daylight, and before cellphones. Walking back to my truck I happened upon the dead deer. It had run a few hundred yards before dying. I went home called the sherriff's office. I was issued a road kill tag, and took it to be checked in- free venison. Another time, the sherriff reserve officer that lives across the street from me called and asked if I wanted a deer that had been hit. While not much of it was in good condition- I was able to cut out the back straps. Best part- I didn't have to gut it too- just cut along teh back bone and lifted them out. Had a tag waiting for me at the sherriff's office, since my neighbor called ahead. It's a phone call guys, not your 25 dollar buck tag!

I'm sure the CO's don't like to have to enforce ridiculous stuff like this on law abiding citizens, considering they have worked their hind ends off to become one of the state's most elite and highest ranking enforcement officers. I agree, don't blame the messengers.