I've done some walking looking for deer sheds in the spring. One place I walk along a state hwy that runs through a Missouri CA. I find dead deer 30 yds off the highway in the brush and even in the fields if there is a 1/4 acre of woods out in the middle of the field I'll find 2 or 3 dead in there. I also find that the paths where deer cross frequently get piled up with 2 or 3 deer in one spot dead.

My point is for every deer you find out by the road, I would guess there are 2-3 that made it up into the brush that you don't see.

Unless the highway workers are just pulling them up into the brush, then my hypothesis is all wrong, what do I know. But I think they normally haul them to a dumping area.