NORTHEAST MISSOURI – Hunters across northern Missouri will have new opportunities to donate venison this deer season through a pilot program designed to make participation in Share the Harvest more convenient. (MDC)
NORTHEAST MISSOURI – Hunters across northern Missouri will have new opportunities to donate venison this deer season through a pilot program designed to make participation in Share the Harvest more convenient.
The Missouri Department of Conservation and Share the Harvest have established five new deer drop-off freezer locations in Carroll, Macon, Putnam, Pike and Randolph counties.
Officials say the sites will help fill gaps in areas with fewer participating meat processors, while still giving hunters a convenient way to donate harvested deer.
Jake Hindman, Share the Harvest’s expansion coordinator with the Missouri Department of Conservation, said surveys showed many hunters wanted a donation location within about a 30-minute drive.
“We learned through our surveys that hunters really wanted to drive about 30 minutes to drop a deer off,” Hindman said. “In some areas, there may not be participating processors, so we wanted to set something up.”
The new freezer sites are located in:
Hale in Carroll County
Macon in Macon County
Unionville in Putnam County
Bowling Green in Pike County
Moberly in Randolph County
Hunters using the new drop-off locations must ensure their deer is legally harvested, telechecked and field dressed before donation. The deer must be delivered whole with the skin on and with the head and neck attached.
Hindman said those requirements are important, because donated deer will be sampled for chronic wasting disease in accordance with current disease-monitoring guidelines.
The freezer units are open daily from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and contain tags, zip ties and instructions for hunters. Donors will need to attach a completed tag to their deer before placing it inside the freezer.
Once deer are collected, program staff will arrange transportation to participating processors.
Hindman said organizers also hope to keep the benefits local.
“If you donated a deer in Putnam County, for example, we’re going to take every opportunity to try to get that same amount of venison back to the Putnam County food pantries through our food distribution partner Feeding Missouri,” he said.
The venison is processed and distributed to food pantries and hunger-relief organizations through Share the Harvest’s partnership with Feeding Missouri, which helps provide protein to families in need across the state.
Officials encourage hunters to visit the Share the Harvest website for a complete list of participating processors and donation locations before heading afield this season.
The Missouri Department of Conservation says the pilot program will help determine whether additional drop-off locations could be added in the future while making venison donations easier for hunters and increasing food assistance for local communities.
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