This page has been moved to http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/field-notes
If your browser doesn’t redirect you to the new location, please visit The Field Notes at its new location: www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/field-notes.
Nevada Wildlife Chief Feels Barbecue Backlash
Eleven antelope accidentally died during an aerial netting capture by Nevada state biologists recently. Apparently not wanting the meat to go to waste, Wildlife Director Ken Mayer suggested using some of it for an upcoming barbecue for legislators and department staff.
So what’s the problem?
From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
"For Joe Blow citizen, if one of them would have done that, I would have knocked on their door because it's property of the people of the state it belonged to. I would have just said, 'Hey, turn it over. We're going to dispose of it,'" [game warden Rob] Buonamici said.
Check out the full article and tell us what you think.
While I recognize the game wardens point, if the deaths were an accident, I think some common sense needs to come into play here:
A) How is the public's loss lessened if the antelope are discarded as opposed to eaten? Either way, the bottom line is that the public has lost 11 antelope.
B) What is common practice when someone hits a deer with thier car? My understanding is that oftentimes, the hitter is allowed to take the deer. I dont see how this situation should be handled any differently.
Posted by: Bob | March 25, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Talk about an overblown story! What's the difference, whether or not the animals were eaten?
No one maliciously killed these animals, they died in an accident. Why not use the meat?
YooperJack
Posted by: YooperJack | March 25, 2008 at 01:00 PM
Use the meat.
Posted by: Mike Diehl | March 25, 2008 at 01:05 PM
Bob,
They do let you take the deer if you hit it with your car. They've let me take a deer that hit a car in front of me once.
Yoop,
I agree why not use the meat. This is one of those stories that is blown way out of proportion, aren't there more important things to focus on? Who cares what they did with the meat, the animals ain't comin' back to life.
MPN
Posted by: MPN | March 25, 2008 at 02:40 PM
The is no sense letting it go to waste. Score me an invite too.
Posted by: Jason | March 25, 2008 at 02:51 PM
If you read the whole article. Mayer did the right thing. He also asked the head game warden to write regulations for future incidents to prevent waste.
Posted by: John R | March 25, 2008 at 06:26 PM
If they died during netting or transporting, you can bet they died of stress. That has got to be some gamey crap!
Unless they were bled immediately, it will be some bloody, gamey crap!
I'm sorry, I just don't think it would be fit to eat.
Fella brought me a deer once that he found caught in a fence and he killed it! The raw meat even smelled atrocious, much less try and eat it. I did use the meat though, my dogs thoroughly enjoyed it!
Bubba
Posted by: Bubba | March 25, 2008 at 07:42 PM
I couldn't agree more with you both, Bob and YooperJack.
Posted by: John Russo | March 26, 2008 at 08:27 AM
The difference is;
the animals are "cash" in the pockets of the taxpayers in regards to license and tourist income!
If they were to use the meat, it should have been processed and taken to any number of facilities such as orphanages, homeless shelters and the like. Hell, even a prison, anything to relieve some of the taxpayer's burden, regardless of how small!
To have used the meat to feed "legislators and department staff" reeks of kickbacks and bribes.
In this era of anti-hunting sentiment, you would think that a "State" director of a wildlife managing entity would stop and think about the consequences of such an act! I'm not "angry" at him, just wondering what was running through his mind!
Bubba
Posted by: Bubba | March 26, 2008 at 10:14 AM
good point bubba,and the meat shouldnt go to waste. what time is lunch? ha,
Don
Posted by: don m | March 26, 2008 at 10:23 PM
Excellent point Bubba. The only problem is that the tax payer likely would have ended up paying for whatever else these legislature big-wigs BBQed as a necessary expense for a "business meeting" anyway. I kind of chuckled as I imagined a bunch of stuffy suits eating gamey meat and getting some nasty gas from it.
Posted by: William | March 28, 2008 at 01:08 AM
You're right William, if those animals died of stress, as I stated earlier, that had to be some nappy stuff! Not only that, bar-be-queing is NOT the best way to prepare wild game. It's too dry!
Just what I'd like to feed my "honored" guests! Gamey, stringy, dried out tennis shoe soles!
Bubba
Posted by: Bubba | March 28, 2008 at 07:46 AM
Anybody ever heard of FHFH. Its Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry, a non profit organization that acccepts meat donated by hunters to be given to food kitchens. Cash donations from you and I pay for the processing and people who are less fortunate get to eat. Look up your local chapter or start one at www.fhfh.org After reading on their website how they got started I wept unashamed. I will never let another animal sit in my freezer forever uneaten and if I fill multiple tags in a season I know exactly where its gonna go since I know it wont fit in my freezer.
Posted by: anonymous | April 03, 2008 at 04:07 PM