Legal to Eat Roadkill in Missouri & Illinois? It’s Complicated

You would think this would be a simple topic, but it's not. If you have the sad circumstance of running into a wild animal on a Missouri or Illinois roadway, is it legal to eat it? The answer is similar, but also different for both states. Let's explore this important vehicular dining topic.

Get our free mobile app

Let's deal with the roadkill question in Illinois first. Can you legally take possession (and eventually cook up) roadkill? It depends on several factors. The state of Illinois says (and I quote) the following:

any citizen of Illinois who is not delinquent in child support may possess and transport the deer. Non-residents may not claim a road-killed deer.

But, wait. That's not all. You also have to fill out a "Claim a Road Kill Deer" application and I'm not kidding. Just make sure you're not one of those out-of-state folks. Roadkill off-limits for you.

What about road dining in Missouri?

It's once again a bit complicated. The short answer is yes, the state of Missouri allows you to transport a deer you've hit IF you have a permit. There's no mention I can find of roadkill dining in Missouri being off-limit to out-of-staters, so the more the merrier I suppose.

Like most that have lived in Missouri and Illinois, I've sadly run into my share of deer. It didn't end well for Bambi or the bumper of my Firebird when it happened during a snowstorm years ago, but I can honestly say that getting a fork out never once came to my mind. Different strokes for different folks though.