Hunters are enjoying near record-high deer populations across much of the whitetail’s range. The antlered buck harvest has only topped 3 million three times this century, and they’ve all been since 2020. However, the national antlerless harvest is a much different story. The current five-year average is 12% below that of the early 2000s, and we’ve shot more bucks than antlerless deer five of the last eight hunting seasons. That works well to grow deer herds but not to maintain or reduce them to be in balance with what the habitat can support.
Currently, state wildlife agencies report 40% of nationwide wildlife management units (WMUs) are above deer-density goals. There are simply too many deer on the landscape in many areas – not everywhere, but in enough places to make this one of the largest deer management issues for many state wildlife agencies.
Why Aren’t We Taking Enough Deer?
Partly to blame for high deer numbers are hunter harvest rates. Only 41% of hunters harvest a deer annually, down from 48% in 2011, and only 16% of hunters shoot more than one deer each year. This is not a bag-limit issue, as states range from allowing one to six bucks annually with an average of 2.3 bucks, in addition to allowing one to 10-plus antlerless deer each year with a national high of 35 in Maryland.
“Today, the barrier is not hunting opportunity, it’s hunter selectivity. Far too many hunters choose to not shoot antlerless deer.”
It’s also not a season-length issue as the 2024 muzzleloader season averaged 22 days, firearms season averaged 41 days, and archery season averaged 102 days. Rhode Island and Georgia have 90-plus day muzzleloader seasons, Florida and South Carolina have 140-plus day firearms seasons, and Arkansas, Delaware, New Jersey and Rhode Island have 150-plus day archery seasons. Hence, hunters currently have plenty of days to hunt deer. In 2024, the average hunter spent 12 days afield chasing deer. Unfortunately, they averaged 15 days to harvest a deer.
We currently shoot around 6 million whitetails annually, and that provides approximately 1.2 billion high-quality meals. Hunters consume most of that total, but research for the Hunters’ Leadership Forum shows they share at least 20% of it with friends outside their household, food banks and hunger relief organizations. Also, they are willing to share more if there was an easy and inexpensive way to do so.
Today, the barrier is not hunting opportunity, it’s hunter selectivity. Far too many hunters choose to not shoot antlerless deer. The problem is not deer numbers, tag availability, or season length. Rather, it’s access to venison processors and outlets for surplus venison. I grew up processing our own venison and thoroughly enjoy doing so today, and several National Deer Association staff teach venison processing workshops each year, but the majority of hunters require access to venison processors to get that high-quality table fare into their freezer or someone else’s. Deer hunters eat a lot of venison, but there simply aren’t enough hunters eating enough venison to meet the necessary annual antlerless deer harvest.
The Solutions
Venison processors often play a crucial role helping hunters and acting as facilitators between hunters and food banks. Their involvement supports local communities and helps combat hunger. The problem today is there are fewer processors and a lack of hunter awareness of and funding for donation programs. The solution is hunters need resources.
NDA’s interactive venison processor map fills that void by connecting hunters with local processors and food banks. This map includes the location and contact information of each known venison processor and highlights whether they participate in their state’s venison donation program. This is a great resource for hunters and removes a barrier to harvesting more antlerless deer.
Next, hunters need a reason for shooting one or more antlerless deer. Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC) and Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry have a shining star example in their school snack-stick program. The state encourages hunters to donate antlerless deer to their program, and they turn that meat into venison snack sticks that are distributed to schools.
AGFC’s Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) coordinator Jeremy Brown loves his job and proudly admits delivering the snack sticks to kids is one of the most rewarding parts of it. Having a program like that is extremely helpful, and Arkansas takes it a step further by having a team of DMAP biologists assisting. Through a partnership with AGFC, NDA has a DMAP biologist in each of Arkansas’s eight DMAP regions that assist DMAP clubs with technical assistance, harvest recommendations and more. Their direct involvement helps AGFC meet the state’s antlerless harvest targets, increase hunter satisfaction, and feed kids and needy families. That’s a win-win for everyone.
Finally, hunters need a funding source. State venison donation programs routinely run out of funding before donation goals or antlerless harvest quotas are met. Plus, many processors accept reduced payments for processing donated venison. These are not recipes for increasing processor numbers or interest in donation programs. Fortunately, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) within the Farm Bill includes federal dollars that can be used for venison donation programs.
NDA’s Director of Policy Catherine Appling-Pooler is working with many states to connect the TEFAP and venison program dots to increase program funding. Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife does an excellent job with this and is actively growing the state’s venison donation program and number of participating processors in part because they are fairly compensated for processing donated deer. That encourages them to promote the program and ultimately ends with more venison in food banks.
The Recipe for Success
We have the workforce: hunters. We don’t have as many as in the past, but we still have 8 to 9 million hunters chasing deer annually. We also have the resource. As stated earlier, 40% of WMUs in whitetail country have deer densities above goal. Finally, we have the opportunity. Every state provides adequate seasons and bag limits for hunters to harvest the appropriate number of antlerless deer annually. Hunters simply need to make the choice to pull the trigger or release an arrow more frequently.
To increase antlerless harvests, we need to remove barriers, and our interactive venison processor map helps that. Next, we need to provide a pathway. Many states have examples, and Arkansas’s school snack stick program is an excellent one. Hunters can participate in their state’s program or just donate locally. Finally, we need to make it free to hunters. Donations to state venison programs help, and TEFAP dollars can be instrumental to filling the void.
NDA is helping with all of this, and you can too. Do your part by donating an antlerless deer to your state’s venison program or to a neighbor or needy family this year. That helps increase the health of the deer herd, the habitat, other wildlife species and provides food for needy families. That’s a win-win scenario all the way around, and it makes hunters the champions of your community.