Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 321 CMR - DIVISION OF FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE › Title 321 CMR 2.00 - Miscellaneous Regulations › Section 2.04 - Salvage, Disposition and Possession of Deer Killed by Means Other than by Sport Hunting

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(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).