Rules guide hunters disposing of game carcasses

HUNTING – State laws require hunters to salvage all edible meat from their big-game animals in the field so they can butcher and wrap the meat on their own or take it to a processor.

Nearly all hunters will dispose of the unwanted bones, hooves and head properly, said Phil Cooper, Idaho Fish and Game Department spokesman in Coeur d’Alene.

“Others will take the bones out and dump them in poorly selected locations,” he said. “It does not take many improperly dumped and highly visible carcasses to generate strong negative reactions.”

The unusable animal parts can be double-bagged, securely tied, and put out for garbage collection or taken to transfer stations, Cooper said.

“Dumping fleshed out game carcasses along roadsides is littering,” he said. “It is also inconsiderate of nearby residents. It reflects poorly on all hunters and damages the image of hunters among those people who do not hunt.”