Got Deer? Share The Spare!

In The Spirit of Thanksgiving...Donate Your Deer This Year

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wants your meat! Launching in 2008, Indiana DNR started the Hunt For Hunger campaign, which offers hunters a way to give back to hungry Hoosiers. It's simple: go hunting, get deer, field dress deer, take deer to an approved processor, and they do the rest! The best part is that the processing fees are covered! You read that correctly...aside from the cost of enjoying the hunt, this opportunity is free to you! With over 50 participating processors, there's no reason the hunter in your family can't help out. Here's the breakdown of the process:

Go hunting.
Field dress deer.
Drop off the field-dressed deer at a local participating processor.
The processor creates healthy venison burgers to distribute to food banks.

You can find the full list of participating processors on the DNR website.

Indiana DNR Helping Hunger Since 2008

Through this unique opportunity, Hoosier hunters have donated over 500,000 pounds of venison since its inauguration in 2008. Each deer donated provides approximately 200 meals, which is a crazy amount for something as simple as enjoying a hobby. Yes, I would consider hunting a popular hobby in the tri-state. Here's what Indiana DNR said about the distribution of the burgers:

"The participating organizations notify food banks throughout Indiana when venison is ready to be collected from certified Hunt for Hunger processors. The food banks distribute venison to soup kitchens and food pantries."

Multiple non-profit organizations contribute to or are involved with this effort to feed hungry Hoosiers. As avid hunters are most likely wondering, any deer donated does count towards the hunter's bag limit. With that in mind, remember the spirit of Thanksgiving, and remember how many people you are helping, even if you're giving up a bag to do it! You can find the complete press release here.