Do you participate in programs that donate venison and other wild game to food pantries or homeless shelters? Are these programs designed to promote additional tag sales and also cause an increase in killing for sport? Don't get me wrong, I am all for charitable giving, but donating wild game? My state issues a pocket full of tags yet I know I can only use two deer a year, so that's my personal limit. Are crop damage tags that unused or ineffective at managing your local deer herds if they are above what your state sees as being appropriate populations?
I've never donated to the program but sure I will in the future. I'm single, love to hunt, if people want to look down at me because I legally kill more than I can personally eat thats cool with me. Right now I have my parents, grandfathers, and sisters freezer to fill, when they're gone you bet I'm still releasing arrows and helping someone out, I love this stuff!
Im on the fence about this issue. I am all for helping out families that are hungry and are having hard times. But on the other side I dont like the fact that people are taking there kids out to kill deer and not teaching them the proper way to care for the harvest and consume it themselves. Im just not for hunting to kill, im for hunting to hunt. You also mentioned ag taggers. In my opinion this program should be shut down. A neighboring farm to the property I hunt has these and they are a group that is only for the kill, year round. We have found numerous deer with only the backstraps removed and the rest of the deer just thrown in the ditch.
IMO, killing for sport is when the animal doesn't get eaten by SOMEONE. We have a neighbor who can't get afield anymore physically, but loves him some venison. He can certainly afford to buy his groceries, but we make sure he gets a deer every year. So.....donating to a needy person IMO is even better than the above instance. I know guys who love to hunt, but don't enjoy the meat. As long as they have someone that will use it, I have no problem with them enjoying our sport.
I have never donated venison to these programs but I have donated money. It is my impression that they need the money more than the venison. It seems many are willing to donate deer but the deer need to be processed by a butcher and the butcher does not do it for free. It has been my experience that these programs run out of money to pay the processing fees well before they run out of offers of donated venison. If you really want to help these good programs then you can donate the deer AND pay the processing fee. That way a person has an excuse to kill deer without draining the resources of good programs.
I think its a great idea. I've never donated a deer or financially, but I wouldn't hesitate to in the future. Right now, when I have an extra deer I give it to a family I know that needs it and will use it. They're happy to take any deer we give them.
Totally agree Bruce, whenever I give meat to someone in need, it's in the butchered form. In the past, I've just given a call or a note to let them know that there is a paid for box at the butcher for them or just delivered it, but I nearly always pay the butcher bill. If someone "needs" a deer, the butcher bill negates it if they have to pay it.
I've donated. To me it's no different than giving $$$ to your fav charity. I specifically like NE program. They provide a list of individuals in the area that would like meat. The individual specifies how they would like to receive the deer and how much. You make arrangements with them where & when the drop off point will be. A lot of them would prefer they do their own processing. Last time I donated it went to a retired couple. The older gentleman had a disability and could no longer hunt. He even offered his private land to hunt with the donation for the following season. Get a bad vibe... Go to the next person in the list!
I have donated deer before. It's pretty simlple in my mind.....I like shooting as many deer as I have tags for...my family doesn't need that much venison....there are people that are starving that I'm providing good protein for.
yes i have donated deer to the program. also know an individual here who runs the farmers and hunters helping the needy program and have helped him raise money to donate for processing fees.
I love venison but my family does not. I enjoy hunting and would never consider taking a deer and not seeing go to good use. Here in summit county ohio the deer has to be processed by an approved butcher. I pay for the tags, I pay for the processing. The butcher gives me a slip to use on my taxes for deductions but I don't bother. In my eyes as long as it is not being wasted who cares. Or should I not hunt because my wife and child don't like venison? Sorry but I'm doing what I enjoy.
I have donated plenty of times. to be honest,deer are overpopulated in my area and deer need to be killed.Farmer that owns our property wants as many killed as possible so we help as best we can. We as a unit have taken over 150 deer in the last 4 years and we donate all the time because no way can the 20 or so hunters that hunt our property consume all these deer. We dont pay for the lease. Farmer tells us how many he wants taken. This past year our goal was 50,we made it to 47 I believe.
i think it is great. it allows deer managers to take more deer off of a property that has too many without wasting the recource....it benefits the hunters and the people who receive the meat
yes I have. The program in my area is called S.A.H. (sportsman against hunger). I typically fill my gun tag with my bow so I donate my second deer. All I have to do is fild dress it & drop it off at any participating butcher shop & thats it.
I've donated a deer to "feeding the hungry" once... I dropped the deer off at a participating processor and paid the 'basic' processing charge. I asked them what happens to the deer and they said most of it is ground into burger and then distributed to needy families - many with children. Honestly, it felt great.... Didn't bother me in the least that I harvested an animal and wasn't going to eat it myself since I knew it was going to a good cause. I've also donated whole or partial deer I've shot to other friends and family - that didn't bother me either.... If my freezer is full and I'm continuing to hunt, I've already got a couple of people lined up that would love to take the animal... I just love to hunt - it's never bothered me that I'm not the one that may eat it long as the animal is being put to good use...
We have 4 people in our immediate family that hunt. Between bow and gun season we get 17 tags. Granted, we do not fill that many tags, but we also are not able to eat 4+deer in a year. So, before the season even starts we have a list of people that are not able to hunt for whatever reason, but would like the meat and we make sure to help them out. We do not go overboard, but we all would like like a chance to get our deer and help someone out in the meantime. I got my first deer on New Years this year and our freezer was already full. But, I knew exactly who my deer was going to go to so I was thinking about that the whole time I was out there. My brother in law didn't get to go hunting because they had a new baby to take care of, so as I was lining up for my shot, I was really excited to get my first deer and to then call my brother in law to let him know that I had venison for his freezer. It was a good feeling
