As the price of food skyrockets, Illinois is encouraging hunters to donate their deer to feed the hungry.
“Hunters have big hearts,” said Pam Smyers, owner of Henry County meat processor Woodhull Lockers.
Woodhull Locker is part of the Hunters Feeding Illinois set up by the Illinois Department of Natural resources that accepts donated field-dressed deer.
Smyers business and 31 other designated meat processors throughout the state process the deer as part of the statewide effort to assist local food pantries and soup kitchens.
“It doesn’t cost the hunters anything,” Smyers told The Center Square.
Churches United and Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry help direct the effort. The processors grind and package like venison in packages, the way hamburger is packaged. The venison is then delivered to soup kitchens and food pantries.
“We call Churches United in the Quad Cities,” Smyers said. “They seem pretty excited about it when they come down and get it.”
Last year Woodhull Locker handled 30 deer for the program, Smyers said. All kinds of hunters donate deer to the program. There are beginning hunters and longtime hunters.
“We have one family that comes in and they say that their first deer of the season always gets donated,” Smyers said. “I think that’s pretty cool.”
Woodhull is in the northwest part of Illinois. Out-of-state hunters are not allowed to take the meat out of state, so they donate, Symer said.
“They keep the rack or the head. They are glad to know that the meat will go to people who need it,” she said.
One in ten people in Illinois struggles with hunger every day, the Illinois Extension said. Ground venison is a lean protein from a local source that is healthy and wholesome. Hunters Feeding Illinois encourages hunters to donate their entire deer harvest to the program.
Deer must be field dressed. Questionable meat is not accepted. Roadkill is not accepted because the time of death of the animal cannot be reliably determined. A list of processors who work with the program is available at Hunters Feeding Illinois on the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Hunters Feeding Illinois web page.
Tax deductible donations to help offset the cost of meat processing can be mailed to IDNR. Make checks payable to the Illinois Conservation Foundation. Write “Hunters Feeding Illinois” on the check memo line. The address is: One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL 62702-1271