Man ordered to return head of roadkill deer

A court has ordered a Wisconsin man to return the deer head from roadkill he found on the side of the road.

According to the ruling from the 2nd District Court of Appeals, John Longo found a dead deer on the side of the road near his home in February 2008. He loaded it into his truck, took it home and ate it. He had the deer's head mounted and hung it in his home, court documents show.

Longo, now 69, didn't immediately return a message left at a residential listing for him today.

The state Department of Natural Resources gave Longo a ticket in June 2008 for removing a deer carcass from the road without a permit and fined him $208, according to online court records.

Racine County Circuit Judge Allan B. Torhorst found him guilty in a bench trial, online court records showed.

Torhorst fined him $1 and ordered the DNR to give him a permit if the agency didn't retrieve the head by Halloween 2008, the appeals court ruling said.

The DNR argued Torhorst's order was improper. The DNR's chief attorney, Mike Lutz, said the agency felt the deer belonged to the state and judge couldn't order the agency to issue a permit.

Longo never responded to the DNR's appeal, the ruling said. The appeals court found he had abandoned the case, and it decided to reverse Torhorst's decision.

The appeals court sent the case back to the circuit court with orders that Longo return the head to the DNR immediately.

First, why does the state want the deer head? What are they going to do with it? Second, he found a deer on the side of the road and ATE it? EEW!