Hunters against Hunger?

[OkieKubota]

I know many of you are on some type of management program or just really like to limit out or something so I am going to ask this question. Every year myself, my wife, and grandson hunt and my wife and I stop at 4 deer on a really good year. Last year we got 2 deer, this year we are at 3 but every deer we kill is a big deer so they make a lot of meat. It cost us $80 each deer in basic processing so in my mind we only kill big deer 130# dressed and above because it is a hard pill to swallow to take a 75# doe to be processed for $80. We eat quite a bit of deer meat and most all hamburger recipes are made with venison and we really like the steaks. My grandson has gotten 2 deer this year and their family of 4 are eating those and they love it as well and before the year is out we will be giving them some as well. When my folks were alive some years they would ask for me to get them a deer so I would get one, tag it, and pay to have it processed for them. We still give out a few packages to family and friends here and there but due to freezer space we just stop hunting at some point because we are completely out of room and we couldn’t eat it in a year anyway.

We have 3 hunting properties and 2 of them have a lot of does on them (Home 10 and our deer lease). We can’t use any additional meat but “Home 10” in particular you could see 30 does at a time on and it is very difficult there to get any regeneration. Not many doe hunters over there. I have seen some folks post on Facebook that I guess every deer they kill they donate to some type of hunters for the hungry or something like that. I always get perturbed when folks kill a meat animal yet have no intention of eating it. To me that is bloodlust because my father taught me to not kill unless I planned to eat unless I was killing vermin or furbearers. It is hard to get beyond that for me so it has been years since I took a doe. I looked at our “Hunters against Hunger” program and it looks like there are no processors in our county that are enrolled and I called the closest ones to our county that are 50+ miles and they are not taking any more this year. It looks like I would have to drive a deer over 100 miles 1 way to donate it so this may be a reason many in our area wouldn’t kill a doe? Our program it says requires a $10 donation but many won’t drive that far to even drop a deer off. I am thinking about taking a doe with my .44 S&W model 29 during our holiday antlerless season over on home 10 but the drive is definitely a consideration on that...

Do the rest of you have these issues where they have a program like this in place? Long drive?

 

[E_308]

I usually donate at least one a year to MO's Share the Harvest program. Costs us $10 to drop one off, but like you I only go through so much deer meat and don't want to waste it. Maybe ask your local Conservation Agent if he has a list of folks that want a deer. Or the local sheriff dept may have a list of people for road killed deer? Kind of make your own donation program.

Other note for $80 a deer x3 you could buy yourself some pretty nice processing equipment if you have the time to cut them up yourself.

 

[lakngolf]

Grandsons and I are not at capacity yet but when we get there our processor has a tie in with a Food Bank and will take deer for donation. For me I will have them process the does for us and give the bucks away.

 

[BoneCrusher20]

I would imagine if i posted something on facebook for my friends/family to see that i can harvest them a doe that is skinned & quartered i might draw up some interest from folks, which is not a lot of extra work.

 

[dogghr]

Don't shoot does like I use to as the numbers are down. My processor charges by the pound, so no problem for me as to size. People used to really like you give them a deer but these days they want you deliver, butcher , wrap , and I guess cook it for them, so I no longer do that.
But I've donated to feed the hungry programs at least 1 to 7 deer since the early 90s. We don't have to pay but sometimes I do just foot the bill. Its a donation in a lot of ways in my mind. I've given processed meat to people in need personally and it was very much appreciated by them, makes hunting seem even more worthhwhile. Personally I prefer my fat clover/alfalfa fed does in my freezer and a buck goes to the donation. I don't do mounts hardly ever so no worries about keeping the head but usually cut off the horns to pile in the garage and closet.

 

[Deer Stuffer]

I usually donate to feed the hungry...the hungry right there at my own house that is.
I have a family of six not counting the three foster children we have so essentially a family of nine. I haven't taken a deer to the processor in many years so I don't have that expense. It's hard work but it saves money plus there is a level of satisfaction that comes with eating your own processed organic venison. When you process your own meat it makes you think twice about pulling the trigger. I will use a processor on certain occasions but haven't on deer in long time. I have used them on bear, moose, audoud sheep because I wasn't real sure the best way to process the meat.
This year we have put in the freezer an audoud sheep, three antelope, two deer, and a hind quarter off a moose my friend gave me. I think I'm out of bear but still have some wild turkey left also.

 

[Mennoniteman]

We process all of our own deer, the pay a butcher would get costly, and with the right stuff it doesn't take long, most competent hunters can skin and quarter a deer and put it on ice in something under an hour. Like deer stuffer said, when you process your own deer it makes you think twice about pulling the trigger.
In the middle of the summer we decide how many does we need to take to balance the herd, then we subtract how many we need, then we allow some friends that we can trust in to get tags and take the balance. We are very fussy with who we invite, it must be someone who doesn't get grumpy if they see a big buck and can't shoot it, someone who will follow our instructions and only hunt when and where we tell them so that it doesn't interfere with our buck hunting. This system works very well for us.

 

[Jeff H]

I've given a deer to people who can't hunt any longer or don't have a place to go. I shoot it, tag it and deliver it whole. They do the skinning and butchering. Very grateful people. It's really not hard to find someone in need.

 

[OkieKubota]

I think several of you have gotten off what I am getting at...I am asking about the program and whether you have issues finding an open processor that will take the deer?
I do not have an issue getting a deer processed for myself. Also As dogghr mentioned I can’t even give deer away here unless it is fully processed even to folks that act like they are really needing it. They want it processed in neat white packaging before you bring it over. No way you can give a deer or a ham or anything to them because they will tell you they thought it would be done already and if you leave it with them they will throw it out or feed it to the dogs. BTW all, I have a commercial grinder and sealer and do on occasion process my own but I am not interested in killing deer and processing them with no freezer space in the hopes I can find someone who wants it.

So again...does anyone else have issues when it comes to donating to the hunter for the hungry programs whether it be they are not accepting any additional deer or the donation place is many miles outside your area?

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[j-bird]

Indiana has a similar program.

It can be difficult to locate a participating facility.

What I found when I looked into it....the number of deer being donated exceeded the funds provided. As such many lockers either don't participate if it's a PITA for them in some way....OR....they push the funding off on to the "donating" hunter as well. That is what I ran into. They wanted me to "donate" my deer....AND for me to pay the full processing fee as well. I was glad I asked before I had "extra" deer to "donate".....those deer I left to hunt next year. Not that I have a "too many deer" problem as it is.

Like many good programs....good idea, just not enough funding to fully support it.

 

[OkieKubota]

Indiana has a similar program.

It can be difficult to locate a participating facility.

What I found when I looked into it....the number of deer being donated exceeded the funds provided. As such many lockers either don't participate if it's a PITA for them in some way....OR....they push the funding off on to the "donating" hunter as well. That is what I ran into. They wanted me to "donate" my deer....AND for me to pay the full processing fee as well. I was glad I asked before I had "extra" deer to "donate".....those deer I left to hunt next year. Not that I have a "too many deer" problem as it is.

Like many good programs....good idea, just not enough funding to fully support it.

That’s exactly the type info I was looking for! Thank you for that.

 

[lakngolf]

I am fortunate to have a Processor 12 miles from the farm, and another 26 miles, who participate.
If I had your situation I would not drive that far to give the deer away.

 

[OkieKubota]

I would imagine if i posted something on facebook for my friends/family to see that i can harvest them a doe that is skinned & quartered i might draw up some interest from folks, which is not a lot of extra work.

I would have to specifically make an audience for this as many of my “friends” would go all “Bambi” on me...and then it would just be me trying to guess at who would want one...

 

[OkieKubota]

I am fortunate to have a Processor 12 miles from the farm, and another 26 miles, who participate.
If I had your situation I would not drive that far to give the deer away.

I agree...I/2 tank of gas to give a deer away...

 

[Kwood]

In my area about 1/3 do it. Typically you cover the cost to skin it (if you don’t yourself) and $25. I don’t kill enough to do it often but when I do it costs me $25-50 depending on whether I skin it myself.


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[Mennoniteman]

I would have to specifically make an audience for this as many of my “friends” would go all “Bambi” on me...and then it would just be me trying to guess at who would want one...

I guess what I was trying to say to answer your question was that there's so much demand for venison in our area that we have never checked whether a program exists in our area. Do you have any Amish type people in your area? Those type of people would take a whole deer no questions asked, and you would know that they appreciate it and that nothing will go to waste. Its not easy feeding 17 children...

 

[OkieKubota]

I guess what I was trying to say to answer your question was that there's so much demand for venison in our area that we have never checked whether a program exists in our area. Do you have any Amish type people in your area? Those type of people would take a whole deer no questions asked, and you would know that they appreciate it and that nothing will go to waste. Its not easy feeding 17 children...

There are mennonites and Amish about 30 miles from here. I don’t know any of them at all though...
All the folks that always ask me about deer meat don’t want to butcher themselves nor pay for it so I have to give it away ready to go...

 

[OkieKubota]

In my area about 1/3 do it. Typically you cover the cost to skin it (if you don’t yourself) and $25. I don’t kill enough to do it often but when I do it costs me $25-50 depending on whether I skin it myself.


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I usually skin everything myself because I don’t want the capes messed up. My processor is weird and at first tried to charge me extra for skinning my own deer because they sell the hides but they finally realized they would be giving up the. Only on at least 4 deer a year so they don’t even mention it now when I bring them in skinless...

 

[dogghr]

In response to some of the issues some have doing this.... this has been an option for prob back into the 80s here. I can’t remeber. As I said I’ve donated as many as 7 deer per season and there is no waste and I have never been asked to donate by the processor. It’s a good semariton thing and the food is never wasted even if it has be sent to other states or disasters.
We have in our church each fall took special offering to donate to the cause but other than we hunters choosing to do that have never been asked by any org in WV to donate money.
Not all processors are members but their are plenty. My guy has made plenty money off of my cattle and deer over the years for sure. Great family business of several generations. Cleaner and more sanitized than most ERs.
Sounds like their needs to be some community action in some states to care for this generosity and make it more accessible. Against the law here to leave deer field unused.


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[massey]

Can’t believe y’all put all the time, money and effort to doing all the habitat stuff, post on here 26 times a day and don’t process your own deer? This does not compute I really thought everyone on this site would process their own meat. Not judging, just really really surprised.


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