Venison donation program

[joe12]

Anybody ever participate in the venison donation program in NY? I have participated the past few years. In my opinion it is a great program. All you have to do is find a local deer processor/butcher that is approved by the program (you can find these butchers on the website), and then drop off your tagged field dressed dear. Its completely free and very easy. I hunt in 3M and the group of 4 that I hunt with has a total of 12 dmps. We usually keep 2 or 3 deer for ourselves, but it gets to the point where you have all the venison you need, and don't want to shoot any more because you know you won't eat them. Also, on the days where you don't feel like going through the process of butchering a deer, you can still shoot one and simply drop it off. In my opinion, its a win-win for everyone

1) I get to fill all my tags

2) The butchers/processors get paid by the state for each donated deer they process.

3) Some folks in the state that are having a tough time with bills get some high-quality organic meat.

Late in the season when we are putting on drives, we call them "feed the children" days.

[steve863]

Great program! Here's a picture of me picking up some venison last year.

[joe12]

hey that's one of the deer that I donated!

[WNYBuckHunter]

I have donated deer before, and will do it after I get a certain amount in my freezer. Its a great program.

[steve863]

Thank you very much for it!! I figured if I drove over in my BMW to pick it up, they might get suspicious, so I gave the kid down the block a couple of bucks to borrow his rusty bicycle.

[Hunter25]

Great program!!!

[Doewhacker]

Thank you very much for it!! I figured if I drove over in my BMW to pick it up, they might get suspicious, so I gave the kid down the block a couple of bucks to borrow his rusty bicycle.

What didnt get in a picture was when I tackled you down the road and wrestled the deer away from you. It is still considered hunting if I have to find you and the deer and steal it from you.

[steve863]

What didnt get in a picture was when I tackled you down the road and wrestled the deer away from you. It is still considered hunting if I have to find you and the deer and steal it from you.

Yeah, and I had to pay for the kids bicycle too, since it got all mangled in the struggle to hold on to that deer. But you are correct, it is still considered hunting and fair chase to steal a deer away like you did!

[RifleSharpShot]

This guy has a deer on a bike lol.Thats 2 funny!!

[Doewhacker]

I think this year I will set up a venison donation stand on the side of the highway so the deer are brought directly to me, should be easier and less fighting that way, right steve .

[steve863]

Sounds like a great idea. Maybe the site administrators can send us a bunch of huntingNY.com patches we could give out to those kind souls who bring in deer. Would be a good plug for this website! And after we get a couple of dozen deer donated we can maybe go hunt some more at Burt's place again?

[nyantler]

I have donated at least one deer a year for the last 5-6 years.. except for last year I only got one deer so I kept the backstraps and roasts and donated about 25lbs of the ground venison to the drive.

[growalot]

I just looked up and wrote down processors and phone #'s for camps county and here this afternoon...all set