321 CMR, § 2.04

Current through Register 1536, December 6, 2024

Section 2.04 - Salvage, Disposition and Possession of Deer Killed by Means Other than by Sport Hunting

(1)Purpose: The purpose of 321 CMR 2.04 is to provide a procedure for the salvage, disposition and utilization of deer killed by means other than by sport hunting and to thereby eliminate or reduce the wastage of edible meat or specimens for scientific study. No person, except as provided in 321 CMR 2.04, shall take, transport, or possess a salvageable deer as defined in 321 CMR 2.04(2).

(2)Definitions. For the purposes of 321 CMR 2.04, the following words or phrases shall have the following meanings:

Approved Organization. Any non-profit Massachusetts sportsman's club, civic organization, church, synagogue or other religious entity, museum, natural history association, or similar non-profit organization.

Director. The Director of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, or his or her agents.

Eligible Person. The driver of the motor vehicle which collided with a salvageable deer, or any passenger in such vehicle, provided that such person shall be domiciled in Massachusetts.

Environmental Police Officer or EPO. The Director of the Office of Law Enforcement, deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers, and such other enforcement officers of the Office of Law Enforcement as may be appointed pursuant to M.G.L. c. 21, § 6.

Salvage. The lawful rendering into possession of a salvageable deer by an eligible person in accordance with provisions of 321 CMR 2.04.

Salvageable Deer. Deer killed by collision with a motor vehicle on a Massachusetts way, or by being seriously injured by such collision and subsequently killed at the scene of the collision by a law enforcement officer.

(3) Upon the killing of a salvageable deer, an eligible person who intends to salvage the deer shall immediately, upon taking the carcass of the deer into his or her possession, notify the Office of Law Enforcement (1-(800) 632-8075) of such intent and shall report to said Office his or her name and address and the date, place, and time of the killing of the deer. In the event that the Office of Law Enforcement cannot be so contacted, the eligible person shall immediately notify the municipal police in which the deer was killed, or the nearest State Police Barracks, and shall request that such police log the incident, including the name and address of the eligible person and the date, place, and time of the killing of the deer.

(4) Within 24 hours after the killing of a salvageable deer, the eligible person shall transport the carcass of the deer to an installation or field office of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife or of the Office of Law Enforcement, or, if so directed when reporting as specified in 321 CMR 2.04(3), to an Environmental Police Officer at such place and time as the EPO shall specify. The EPO or official agent in charge of the installation or field office shall cause the deer to be tagged with an official seal and shall complete and issue to the eligible person a permit which shall be issued at no charge and which shall allow him or her to possess and transport the salvageable deer. The official seal shall remain attached to the deer carcass while the carcass is being transported and until the carcass is butchered or otherwise prepared for food purposes. The eligible person shall retain the permit until all edible parts of the deer shall have been consumed.

(5) Deer or parts thereof salvaged under provisions of 321 CMR 2.04 shall not be sold, bartered, or exchanged for consideration, provided that nothing in 321 CMR 2.04(5) shall be deemed to preclude the retention for personal use by an eligible person of the head, hide, hooves, and shinbones of such salvageable deer as he shall have been permitted to possess. In the event that the salvageable deer shall be disposed of in accordance with 321 CMR 2.04(6)(a) to an approved organization for a game dinner or similar purpose, it shall be understood that any charge or fee requested by such approved organization shall be considered a donation to the organization and not a charge or fee for the purchase of any meal containing deer meat.

(6) In the event that an eligible person does not desire to salvage a salvageable deer, or if the deer is killed by a motor vehicle of which the driver and any passenger is not an eligible person, the deer may be disposed of in the following manner:

(a) by an Environmental Police Officer, who may dispose of the deer to any approved organization or to any person domiciled in Massachusetts who is otherwise ineligible under provisions of 321 CMR 2.04(3), provided that any deer so disposed of shall be tagged and a permit issued as specified in 321 CMR 2.04(4). The permit shall be issued in the name of the approved organization or person receiving the deer and shall, if applicable, also bear the name and address of a principal officer of the approved organization. Deer which shall be inedible or otherwise unsuited for salvage shall be disposed of by lawful burial or incineration or as otherwise ordered by the Director or the Director of the Office of Law Enforcement; or,

(b) by employees of a city or town or of the Department of Transportation, by burial or incineration in accordance with such permit or authorization as shall have been issued by the Director, or by disposition to such person or approved organization as shall be approved by the Director or an Environmental Police Officer; or,

(c) in the event that an Environmental Police Officer shall come into possession of a deer other than a salvageable deer or a deer which has been lawfully killed and tagged in accordance with provisions of 321 CMR 3.02(4): Hunting and Tagging of Deer, such EPO may dispose of the deer in accordance with provisions of 321 CMR 2.04(6)(a).

321 CMR, § 2.04

Amended by Mass Register Issue 1292, eff. 7/31/2015.

Amended by Mass Register Issue 1320, eff. 8/26/2016.