Lend a hand by donating your deer to those in need
Hunters are encouraged to donate Wisconsin-harvested deer, through the DNR’s Deer Donation Program. The program supports Wisconsin residents in need, by helping stock food pantry shelves with ground venison made from donated deer.
“There are many individuals that face food insecurity and the Deer Donation Program is a wonderful opportunity for hunters to help those in need,” said Marcus Rufledt, DNR Wildlife Program specialist. “There remains a high demand for the venison this program provides, and we hope hunters continue to donate deer and make a difference in their communities.”
Since the program began in 2000, hunters have donated over 98,000 deer, for nearly 4 million pounds of venison, to help Wisconsinites in need. A network of venison donation partners, including county land and water conservation departments, food pantries, charitable organizations, USDA-Wildlife Services and participating meat processors, all help administer and implement the program.
According to data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, more than 900,000 Wisconsin residents, received food assistance in 2023.
Hunters interested in donating a deer, should follow these steps:
• Field dress the deer.
• Register the deer through GameReg. When dropping it off, the registration confirmation number is needed.
• Test the deer for chronic wating disease (CWD), before taking the deer to a processor, if harvested from a CWDaffected county.
• Contact a participating processor before dropping off the deer, to ensure they have the capacity to accept it. More processors may be added later in the season.
• Take the deer to the processor. If donating a deer being tested for CWD, inform the processor and provide the CWD barcode number. The processor will not distribute the deer until the results are known.
Hunters and non-hunters may also support the Deer Donation Program, through a monetary donation at any license sales location or online through their Go Wild account.
Deer harvested with lead bullets have been shown to have tiny lead particles or fragments remaining in a portion of the processed meat. Some of the lead fragments may be too small to see during processing. Although research has not linked lead in venison to human health effects, hunters are encouraged to use non-lead ammunition.
