Carcass disposal

[22lex]

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

STEWARTVILLE -- Throwing eight deer carcasses into the frozen Root River northwest of Stewartville was illegal and unsightly, and hurts hunters' image, a Department of Natural Resources conservation officer said.

The eight were found more than a week ago by a local man. He called Officer Dan McBroom.

McBroom said it was one of the biggest such instances he's seen of hunters who took the meat off the deer and threw the bones and hides into the river.

"It is genuinely a problem," McBroom said.

He gets calls now during deer hunting season as well as in the spring when people find carcasses in ditches. They are often just thrown into ditches, he said.

"It puts such a bad light on hunters that we're careless and don't care what other people think," McBroom said. "Basically, it comes down to being lazy."

Hunters who butcher their own deer can throw the carcasses into regular trash assuming the amount is reasonable, he said. Or they can ask landowners if they can put them somewhere on their land for scavengers to eat, he said.

"Nature will take care of them eventually," he said.

This happened down here in my neck of the woods. How does everyone dispose of thier carcasses after butchering them? I thought maybe some ideas from other members would help out in case a new hunter runs into a "what to do with a bunch of bones" problem.

I personally drive them out to my friends farm and dispose of them there.

[JCAMERON]

Now I try to get the hides to that "hides for habitat". As for the rest of the body I just toss back in woods. Scavengers usually take care of them in short time. Then mice will eat the bones in time.

[beeker]

I usually take the hides to a bait store I know where I get gloves for them, or I donate them to the hides for habitats if I only have one or part of one. otherwise if you take a sazall or bone saw you can hack off the rib cage in quick time toss that into a black bag, then cut off the head toss that in and the spine... once you debone the quarters you can fit them in as well. it's not a ton of work, and you can fit it in one bag for the garbage man

[guythathunts]

I bring the hides into the bait shop for gloves/knives... Whatever's free. Then Bring the rest back out to the farm where I hunt. I know people figure that is the same as dumping in the ditches, but it sucks walking a ditch hunting ringnecks to find your dog gnawing on a 3 week old carcass. I know a few guys that dump theirs out on state land, but that is disrespectfull to everyone that plans to hunt that land for the rest of the year.

[lenny7]

Ours go into the garbage.  We cut the head and legs off and put them in the chest cavity, then put that into a 3mil plastic bag, then into the garbage can.  If I had my own land I'd dump them there so the remaining nutrients could used by the little forest critters.  From a practical standpoint, I think that's the best thing to do, but I understand that the anti's get their undies in a bunch when they see that.  I definitely wouldn't condone putting the in the water though.

[Go Big Red!]

If I take it in for butchering, out of my hands.  If I have time to do it, regular garbage just like lenny7.  Double bag it if needed.

Dumping in the water is  dumb.  Thanks for putting the rest of us in a bad spotlight.

[bowhunter73]

I put thing back where i found them 

[Realtree]

We always butcher our own deer and normally handle the carcass/bones  similarly to how lenny suggested. Since we hunt our own private land, we normally take the chest cavity, leg bones and head out to a designated area that we normally do not hunt and spread them out for the scavengers to take care of.

As we spend time scouting the woods over the next summer/fall if there are any large remnants left at that time we will double bag them and toss them in the garbage for disposal. All of the fat, bloody meat and such from butchering normally gets double bagged while butchering and straight into the garbage.

We always donate our hides to "Hides for Habitat" as others have mentioned that they do as well.

[dakids]

BURN BABY BURN

We butcher our own deer and as we finish a deer the whole carcass gets burned.  They burn up pretty fast and if you have a big enough fire they don't smell much at all.  Ribbs and legs are gone in 5-10 minutes,  the head takes the longest 30 minutes tops.

I used to keep 2 legs to make reindeer tracks in the snow at x-mas time.  The kids all thought that was the best when Santa landed on the front sidewalk!!

[mathews4ever]

Burn it. Hides go to hides for habitat.

[dakids]

We do bring the hides to town and drop them off at the outpost.  They would stinky VERY bad if you burned the hide also.

[jkcmj]

I usually leave mine out in the yard for the dogs to chew on all winter, then hit the remaining pieces with my mower in the spring.  Occasionally a leg or two even hangs around till next season if your lucky enough! 

This year I tried to haul most of the carcasses out to my brothers to burn in his outdoor boiler, but alas one has become yard fodder for the mower next year!

[22lex]

I used to keep 2 legs to make reindeer tracks in the snow at x-mas time.  The kids all thought that was the best when Santa landed on the front sidewalk!!

That is a great idea Dakids!

Couple more years and I will have some "spare legs'' hanging out in the man-cave!

[kenhuntin]

If I bone one out I hang it up for the woodpeckers. The wife likes skeletons of deer out her back window

[jigglestick]

I bring mine to kens house. his wife likes that

[CampYJewel]

I take the rib cage and throw it in with my chickens.  They love it!!  Then it goes to the dogs and typically within a week or two it is gone.  If anything does survive the witner it gets tossed into the burn pile. 

It's a true up-north redneck lawn ornament!!!!

The hides either go to the Habitat box or to the feed store for a new pair of gloves.

[Moving2thecountry]

In light of what I know about CWD, I wonder if it is such a smart idea to leave deer remains out in the wilderness.

[jamieheiden]

I live in the metro. So bag up the chest, leg and head if it a doe and put it out for the garabage man.

[kenhuntin]

In light of what I know about CWD, I wonder if it is such a smart idea to leave deer remains out in the wilderness.

It is not only smart but eco friendly to let the Whiskey jacks and Woodpeckers and other birds and animals do their part in taking care of natural use and decomposition of the bones and junk to us humans. Chickadees and Downeys will feed off one all winter. by spring there will be nothing but clean bones unless you leave it on the ground where a dog will haul it off. I second Jewels Redneck lawn ornament classification

[wischunter08]

My dad and I process deer during deer season, and we've done it for many years now.  We take the "deer scraps," and the hides to a mink farm just out of town.  The carcasses go to the mink, and the hides are tanned by the fellow who owns the farm.  It all works out pretty nice for us though because at the end of the year we get money back for the hides.  Made a good $500 last year on hides alone!

[thunderpout]

Yep, the wintering birds love that extra fuel from the the tallow and other stuff... the givin it to the dog part makes me nervous though, myself and others I know have had major issues with that... be careful.