Dead Truck & Road Kill

[the blur]

Dead Truck & Road Kill:

Went to visit my father in the hospital Friday afternoon, then started the drive upstate. All started Friday night… Driving up to camp, 80 miles from home, 80 miles from camp. Truck losses an alternator on the NYS thruway. I make it to a rest stop. Whip out my AAA card, make the phone call, and say, I want a tow 80 miles to my house. 5 minutes later the operator comes back on the phone. I’m sorry, AAA is not allowed on the NYS thruway.

I say excuse me, what good is the AAA??? She explains, the NYS thruway authority must tow me off the thruway, and only then can the AAA send their tow truck. Kind of like a connection flight. I need 2 tows. So I’m thinking, this will take 4 hours at best, and it totally ridiculous.

So I call my friend 1 hr away who has towing equipment. Luckily he is able to rescue me, and we tow the truck back to my garage. I get home at midnight.

8am Saturday morning, run down to the local parts store. Buy an alternator, get the truck back running again by 10am.

Figured, hey, might as well visit my father in the hospital again, and then try another trip upstate.

Finally make it to my hunting spot by 2pm, and I spend 3 hours sitting. Only lost 1/2 day in the woods. No deer anywhere, no sign, at least I got out for a bit.

So I’m driving home. Almost back to the highway, and the car in front of me blasts a doe. So I stop, the driver is ok, but stunned. The doe is on the side of the road suffering. Back legs are not working; she is trying to get up with her front legs. Either both her back legs were broken, or a spinal injury.

The car was still drivable... just some hood damage. I get the driver to call the cops, he didn’t want too. But I know he must report it. Finally the cop comes, writes the accident report, and he has to finish the deer. He decides to use his 12 gauge shotgun, rather than his pistol. Rather than shooting the deer in the head, he uses 2 slugs. 1 through the back strap, and the other through the gut. He did it from 10 feet away, and didn’t really aim. He wasn't a hunter, just a cop doing his job. I really should have advised him what to do. But I have never been in this situation before.

No one wants the deer, so I ask the cop for a tag. He gladly gives me a tag. He wouldn’t let me gut the deer on some person’s front lawn. But he helps me load the deer into my truck. So now I have an ungutted deer….thinking what is the best plan. I decided to drive 2 ½- 3 hrs to my butcher, and we gutted it at the butcher. The gut was starting to swell. The skin was cool, but the interior was still hot. I figured 3 hours is still ok not to gut a deer.

I think the meat is ok…. the butcher thinks it's ok.. Didn’t have any odors. Definitely lost 1 back-strap from the slug. At least I got meat, and everyone was happy the deer didn’t go to waste.

And I thanked the guy for hitting the deer  He didn't think it was too funny.

And I feel good about it, because I lost a doe on opening day. So at least this doe didn't go to waste.

[Jeremy K]

I pulled over one night to help a guy who hit a deer ,he used my phone to call the cops ,the cop knew to shoot in the head but the first 2 shots missed ,the third one he didn't turn his away from what he was shooting at. I never heard about the towing deal before ,i wonder what the bill is to have nys tow a vehicle off the thruway.

[shawnhu]

I pulled over one night to help a guy who hit a deer ,he used my phone to call the cops ,the cop knew to shoot in the head but the first 2 shots missed ,the third one he didn't turn his away from what he was shooting at. I never heard about the towing deal before ,i wonder what the bill is to have nys tow a vehicle off the thruway.

It's called franchise highways, and in NY, it's very common. AAA won't deny you service, but they are by law not allowed to service your vehicle on roadways that are franchised. They will, however, reimburse you the expense of a tow that you incurred due to this situation. AAA is pretty good at taking care of their members but they do have their limitations.

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