Nothing stays the same. Over the years, the only constant is change itself. It is said that without change, everything remains stagnant, and thus, change is a good and necessary thing. As a hunter with over seven decades under my belt, I have witnessed and experienced a great deal of change regarding the image hunters present and how the non-hunting members of our communities interpret them.
Back in the 1960s, during my teenage years, it was a common sight to see a vehicle driving slowly through city streets with a whitetail buck strapped to the hood of the car as a hunter proudly displayed his trophy to the general public. More often than not, people seeing the hunter and his prize possession would give a thumbs-up signal or honk their car horns in approval. Today, however, such a display is rarely, if ever, seen as it is not acceptable among the general public, and hunters are more aware of how they project their image.
As the number of hunters who go afield each year seems to dwindle slowly, it becomes more and more important for those among us who do hunt to present a positive image, especially to the non-hunters. Yes, there are staunch anti-hunters out there, but the good news is that most non-hunters have an understanding and approving attitude toward hunting. But, we as hunters should be continually aware of ways that we can improve our image and, in the process, help our fellow citizens and the community at large. To that end, hunters should look closely at and consider participating in a program called “Hunters Sharing the Harvest.”
Over the past several years, more and more hunters are learning about and participating in the program Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) offers. Each year, hunters break the previous year’s record for venison donations, and last year set yet another record. During the 2023-2024 hunting season, Pennsylvania hunters donated 261,672 pounds of venison from 6,905 deer and six elk! Based on the American Heart Association’s recommended serving size of three ounces of lean red meat per serving, the 261,672 pounds of venison donated during the 2023-2024 hunting season provided more than 1.3 million servings of lean, high-protein venison to those throughout our state who were in need. Aiding in the effort, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has been a key supporting partner with HSH for many years, providing an annual allocation of state and federal relief funds to help HSH defray the costs associated with reimbursing participating processors for their services.
The HSH program is a coordinated effort of more than 100 participating deer processors who accept donated deer from hunters and process the deer into packages of ground venison for distribution to regional food banks and hunger relief agencies. Since 1991, HSH has delivered more than 2.5 million pounds of hunter-donated venison, yielding over 13 million servings to hungry Pennsylvanians.
Hunters interested in donating a deer only need to legally harvest, tag, and field dress the deer and take it to a participating processor near them. The list of participating processors by county can be found at https://sharedeer.org/meat-processors/.
HSH is continually seeking additional participating processors to augment its efforts in counties throughout Pennsylvania. Participating processors are reimbursed for their services and are truly the cornerstone of HSH’s mission. A volunteer force of nearly 60 county coordinators ensures that processors have the resources they need and that the public is aware of the program and the ways they can support HSH’s efforts. Those interested in being a coordinator are encouraged to visit https://sharedeer.org/get-involved/.
For more information on Hunters Sharing the Harvest, go to http://www.ShareDeer.org, contact Randy Ferguson at 866-474-2141, or email him at randy@sharedeer.org.
Based on the reports of the terrible devastation in the hills of western North Carolina and the unprecedented need for food, I talked this morning to Randy Ferguson in hopes that efforts could be made to send some of our donated venison to soup kitchens and relief agencies there. As you can imagine, there are legal and logistical considerations, but they are something he and HSH are looking into.
I hope you will consider donating to or helping in some way with the mission of the Hunters Sharing the Harvest program. Doing so is something you can feel good about and will go a long way to adding a positive note to the image of the hunting community.
