Dump your big game carcasses properly

November 15, 2017

By Phil Cooper IDFG Wildlife Conservation Educator When you're done butchering a big-game animal, there's usually bones, hide and other inedible parts that should be double-bagged, securely tied, and put out with your household waste for garbage collection. Hunters are required to remove and care for all of the edible meat from hindquarters as far down as the hock, the shoulders as far down as the knee, and meat along the backbone. There is also a lot of meat in the neck and covering the ribs that make good ground or stew meat. When you take your harvested animal to a professional meat processor, you can deliver the clean carcass and your work is done. Perhaps the best part of paying a professional meat processor is the shop disposes of the bones for you. When hunters do the processing themselves, there is a pile of bones, hide, and a head that need to be disposed of. If you're quartering the animal in the field and in a remote area, these will be cleaned up by scavengers in short order. If you bring an animal out whole and need to dispose of the inedible remains, a transfer station will accept animal carcasses for no charge from residents who live within that county who pay the solid waste disposal fee. When disposing of game animals, hunters should consider the consequences of their actions. It only takes one improperly dumped and highly visible carcass to generate strong negative reactions from the public. Unwanted big game carcasses that end up on the side of the road or other visible areas become eyesores and public health issues. They can even be hazardous because they attract dogs and scavengers, which become dangers to drivers who swerve to avoid hitting them. People who see improperly dumped carcasses not only have negative impressions of hunters, it can result in well-intended, but mistaken, reports to Fish and Game as possible poaching incidents. Often, there is no way to tell if the dumped carcass was legally taken or poached, but it takes a Conservation Officer's time to check each one reported. Dumping fleshed out game carcasses along roadsides is also littering and inconsiderate of people who live or recreate nearby.