Trophy buck- New Jersey style.

[hay rick]

I was driving on Rt. 66 in Neptune this afternoon when I noticed a deer carcass by the side of the road. This is a common sight in this area- in fact, I saw another whitetail body less than a half-mile down the same road earlier this week. Now, ordinarily I look away when I see a dead deer as my aversion to the sight is stronger than my curiosity. However, this time my first glance told me that this must be a mature buck as the carcass was much larger than the usual does and fawns that litter our roadsides at this time of year. So instead of looking away I stared at the body to confirm that it was indeed a buck and to see how big the rack was.

No rack. No head. The head had been neatly sawed off. My first instinct (besides disgust) was that someone had taken a roadkill trophy. Thinking about it some more, however, it struck me as unlikely that someone just driving by would 1) have a meat saw handy and 2) would be willing to perform the operation next to the shoulder of a busy highway. So now I'm thinking it was probably a dump job.

Any theories or similar sightings out there?

[AtheistCrusader]

1. Shouldn't this be in Outdoors?

Missing the 'gun' link. Was there a bullet hole in the buck?

[hay rick]

2. Didn't know there was an Outdoors.

Thought Guns was a better place than GD because a lot of gun owners are hunters. I didn't stop to see if there was a bullet hole- or signs of a vehicular collision. If my curiosity turns morbid I may stop and look tomorrow when I'm in the area.

[oneshooter]

3. You need to contact the local Fish and Game office.

What you saw was the result of a Felony. Contact the local Fish and Game office and tell them thr when and where. Most have a free tip hotline.

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

[CaptAmerica]

4. I've never known

A hunter that would leave a deer undressed like that.

But hey, I've never known any Jersey hunters though, so who knows?

[Euromutt]

5. What a waste of venison

From my perspective, the only valid reason to take game is for food, and if you're just going to take the head and leave the meat, you've just wasted a natural resource.

[slackmaster]

6. I blame Aliens

[monmouth]

7. I used to travel that road all of the time back and forth to Freehold.

This time of year one really has to pay attention. Sad story...

[SteveM]

8. Texas outlaws roadkill "taking." Florida does not; much more progressive (nt)