Wisconsin Deer Donation 2008

Once again deer hunters have shared their bountiful harvest with hungry families across the state.

Wisconsin deer hunters across the state donated a total of 7,627 deer to Wisconsin’s venison donation programs during the 2008 deer hunting seasons.

Wisconsin has a network of venison donation efforts including: Hunt for the Hungry, which operates in the Green Bay area; Target Hunger, which handles donations from the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone; and the Wisconsin Venison Donation Program, which covers all remaining areas of the state. A total of 140 meat processors representing 65 counties participated in the programs in 2008.

“This kind of generosity is appreciated by many,” said Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank. “Hunters are helping in several ways when they participate in these programs. The venison is a welcome source of high quality food for needy families and is very popular; the extra dollars hunters donate really help in funding the donation program and the extra deer harvested helps move the herd closer to healthy population numbers.”

Hunters from across the state also voluntarily donated $17,183 to partially cover the cost of processing the deer at the time they purchased their deer hunting licenses.

“In nine years of operating this statewide deer donation program hunters have donated over 69,000 deer which have provided over 3.1 million pounds of ground venison,” said Laurie Fike, who coordinates the donation program for the Department of Natural Resources.

“Staff in the 55 participating counties outside of the CWD management zone, US Department of Agriculture – Wildlife Services, Lee Dudek of Hunt for the Hungry, Green Bay, and hundreds of volunteers helped to distribute the processed venison to pantries across the state all contribute to this effort,” added Fike”.

Buffalo County hunters led the donation count in 2008 with 653 deer, followed by Trempealeau County hunters who tallied the second highest total for this year at 466.

View the Wisconsin Deer Donation History. [PDF 14KB]

Please contact Laurie Fike at 608-267-7974 for more information.

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