Most hunters wrap up their season once their freezers are full and miss out on the opportunity to continue contributing to wildlife management while helping neighbors in need. Many aren’t even aware they can donate deer through a venison donation program.
November is National Wild Game Donation Month and is the perfect time to learn more about these programs and plan your donation.
How to Donate
- Locate a processor near you that participates in your state’s venison donation program. Use NDA’s National Venison Processor Map.
- Pro tip: call ahead to make sure they are accepting donated deer! Some only take a certain amount each season, and NDA’s map also lists contact information for each processor.
- Field dress your deer, then drop it off at the processor you picked.
- Your part is now done! From here, the processor will coordinate with the donation program or a local food pantry to deliver the meat.
What’s a Venison Donation Program?
Most states have a venison donation program, run either by the state wildlife agency or an independent nonprofit organization. These programs operate under various names — Hunters Against Hunger, Share the Harvest, Hunters for The Hungry, and others — but they all share the same mission: to encourage hunters to legally harvest additional deer and then take them to a participating venison processor for donation. Once processed and packaged, the meat is picked up by a local food bank or food pantry for distribution.
Why Donate?
- By harvesting an additional deer, hunters play a direct role in maintaining balanced deer populations. Many areas across the country have an overabundance of deer, which can lead to crop depredation, increase in deer-vehicle collisions, and degraded wildlife habitat. Many state agencies encourage additional doe harvest to maintain a healthy buck-to-doe ratio.
- These programs also ensure that no meat goes to waste by coordinating with processors and food banks. By donating their deer, hunters provide a clean, lean protein to families who rely on local food pantries.
Just one pound of game meat can provide four meals, but, currently, less than 3% of harvested game meat is donated. With 34 million Americans facing food insecurity, donations are needed, and hunters can help.
Consider taking one more trip out into the woods this season and enjoy the thrill of trying to harvest another deer, and if successful, consider donating it to your state’s venison donation program. You can find more information about your state’s donation program and a map of processors who accept donated deer visit our website at deerassociation.com/deer-processors.