Wisconsin Deer Donation 2009 - Our 10th Year!

The Wildlife Damage Deer Donation program will be marking a 10-year anniversary this fall. Since the program began in 2000, hunters have donated nearly 70,000 deer which were processed into over 3.1 million pounds of ground venison. The voluntary venison processing donation code added to the ALIS system in 2002 has netted more than $123,000 from some 40,000 hunters.

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. USDA - Wildlife Services staff also help administer the programs in 49 counties. 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.”

The Target Hunger program will again be administering the program in the CWD Zone. Groups supporting Target Hunger include:

• Southwest Community Action Program, Dodgeville
• Community Action, Inc., Janesville
• Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Madison
• Central WI Community Action Coalition, Wisconsin Dells

Hunters, you can help feed needy people throughout Wisconsin this fall by taking 5 simple steps:

• Donate any legally harvested deer taken outside the Chronic Wasting Disease Zone by dropping it off at a participating processor by January 4, 2010. Deer taken outside the CWD Zone are registered with a silver metal tag. Only silver tagged deer may be donated to this program.
• Field dress the deer and register it at a Wisconsin DNR registration station prior to donating the deer.
• Call First! Contact one of the participating processors before dropping the deer off to verify the processor has space to accept your deer.
• Donate the entire deer to receive the processing for free. (Head and/or antlers may be removed for mounting.)
• When dropping your deer off at a processor, please sign the simple log sheet indicating your desire to donate the deer. We’ll do the rest. The donated deer will be processed and the venison will be distributed to charitable organizations to help feed Wisconsin’s needy.

Please check our website for updates. Information on participating processors will be updated as soon as counties complete the contracts and forward this information to us. Thank you for your interest and good luck hunting!

Thank you for your interest and good luck hunting!

Links

• Find out more information on the 2009 dropoff stations

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

Questions for Wildlife Management