MAY 2016 • NEBRASKAland 5
Brent Rising sent in this image of a stare-off between a white-tailed deer and a
raccoon from a trail camera in Douglas County.
Kirk Noller caught this coyote on a trail camera in February northeast of Kearney.
Richard Jones took this photo of a barn and star trails at Haythorn Ranch in
Maxwell.
Deer Carcass Disposal
Mark Kimball of Callaway,
Nebraska, recently sent Nebraska
Game and Parks Commission
Big Game Program Manager Kit
Hams a question about where
hunters could legally dispose
animal carcasses after a hunting
trip. Here is Kit's response:
Mark,
Once you have taken a carcass
home, the only legal method of
disposal is on private land with
permission of the landowner or
in your trash can, assuming your
commercial trash hauler will take
it. The local landfill is usually
an option also, which I have
routinely used in Lincoln.
Private land disposal is legal
with permission of the landowner.
However, once you take a carcass
home from public land you cannot
take it back to any public area.
With small carcass remains
(turkey, deer leg bones for
example) I just bury them in my
garden. They eventually break
down, but the leg bones last many
years. (They make good row
markers!)
When I harvest a deer, I usually
leave the spine, ribcage and
hide where I killed it and carry
the quarters and head out to my
vehicle as is legally required. I
usually try to hide the ribs, spine
and skin from view (not visible
by a road or trail and not in a
creek). Coyotes usually find the
parts and consume much of the
remains. This method is both legal
and natural and generally good
for soil, birds, scavengers, insects,
microorganisms and vegetation.
