In this case the animal was completely in tact (minus the head). It had only been dead about 2 or 3 days. I think he issued the salvage tag because it did have meat on it. It was not bare bones. I agree with you completely. You do not need to keep a tag for the racks that you find in the woods or have hanging on the wall. All I know is that is the way they handeled the situation and they weren't going to argue with the officer when he issued the tag. I think that in some cases the officer is unsure of the exact rules and to be on the safe side in this instance he did issue a salvage tag.