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Record roadkill rack big trouble for groundskeeper

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 11:30 am
by Ed Mahmoud
This is maybe 2 miles from where I live, as the crow flies. I have seen roadkill in my subdvision with decent racks, I have seen live deer, I have not seen live deer with antlers near my home.

FM 1960 has three lanes each direction plus a center turning lane, don't know what that buck was thinking.

Mystery of the Northgate Buck

If the deer had been hit and killed by a vehicle, whoever took the deer had violated state law.

Under Texas law, roadways (including the road right-of-way) are closed to taking of all wildlife resources. The law is primarily aimed at poachers and others who intentionally take wildlife resources from roadways. But it also applies to wildlife accidentally hit and killed by motor vehicles.

A deer or any other wildlife hit and killed by a vehicle can’t be legally possessed. And that applies to all parts of the animal.

“You can’t use a tag off your hunting license on a road-killed deer, and you can’t just take it or any part of it, including the antlers,” Skeen said.”

Plot thickens
Also, the Northgate Buck was of interest to law enforcement because of its potential to make a considerable amount of money for whomever possessed it.

Antlers of deer legally taken and possessed in Texas can be bought and sold. And antlers the size and configuration of those of the Northgate Buck could be worth thousands to a collector.

Of course, the Northgate Buck’s antlers couldn’t be legally sold, as it hadn’t been legally acquired.

Through determined investigation, Skeen eventually found the man who retrieved the buck. He was a maintenance worker at the nearby country club who was on the scene when the buck was hit by a car.

“We never have found out who actually hit the deer,” Skeen said.

The worker, who spoke no English, eventually admitted to Skeen that he had taken the dead buck.

The antlers?

He had sold them. For $400.

Skeen eventually located the antler purchaser. The man, who at first thought he’d done nothing wrong, eventually surrendered the antlers when convinced they had originally been taken in violation of state law.

The man who had taken the road-killed deer faces a couple of Class C misdemeanor charges — taking a deer from a closed area and illegal sale of white-tailed deer parts, each of which carries a $500 maximum fine.

The antler buyer got off with a warning.

“We were not out to crucify anybody, but when there’s a clear potential violation of the law, we have to follow it up,” Skeen said.


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Re: Record roadkill rack big trouble for groundskeeper

Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:38 pm
by vbhoutex
Somehow, knowing the area and its' surroundings and for that matter the number of avid deer hunters in our area I still doubt this story. A deer that size would have totaled any vehicle that hit it unless it was a semi. And I am also very doubtful that a buck that size could have existed in that area. As far as the rest of it goes, if the groundskeeper did actually find the deer and do as he said, I don't think he should face any charges unless the man who bought them does too.