In soup-kitchen freezers, more meat from hunters

Today, the abundant white-tailed deer population is getting blamed for causing all kinds of mayhem – from traffic accidents among early-morning suburban commuters to the denuding of crucial forest undergrowth. At the same time, the US Fish and Wildlife Service reported this summer that the US hunter population dropped 10 percent between 1996 and 2006, from 14 million to about 12.5 million.

In Georgia, which has the nation's second-largest deer herd, those trends mean the seasonal bag limit per hunter has increased from three deer to 12 in the past 20 years. Still, less than 1 percent of Georgia hunters take more than 10 deer in a four-month season, says Brandon Anderson, a state wildlife biologist.

"We need the [deer] population to be lower and healthy, so one way of encouraging hunters to harvest additional deer is to have an avenue where they can donate the meat," he says.

While three-quarters of Americans support responsible hunting, according to Responsive Management, hunters still have an image problem in the broader culture. Animal rights groups, in particular, object to violations of the "fair chase" principle, including trophy hunting exotic animals in enclosed preserves and the practice of bear-baiting, in which hunters put food in a feeding station and then shoot the bears when they appear. What's more, in private, hunters acknowledge that some game processors who promote hunters for the hungry programs instead sell the meat on the black market rather than donate it to charities. (The US Department of Agriculture does not permit the sale of hunted venison due to inspection safeguards.)

"It's great to help others in need, but there are ways to help others that do not involve the recreational killing of animals," says Andrew Page, director of the United States Humane Society's hunting campaign in Washington, D.C.

Food pantries for the most part welcome the addition of lean, organic meat, says Josh Wilson, national operations director for FHFH.

"[Meat] is a food item that is usually in very short supply for food banks and food kitchens, and it's not hard to understand: Fresh meat is perishable and usually ... stores aren't going to have lots of leftovers," says Mr. Wilson.

Syble Dove, a resident of Bogart, Ga., who grew up eating venison, says the staple is part of the patchwork of charity that fills the gap between her food needs and a meager Social Security check.

Last winter, Ms. Dove took home a five-pound "chub," or package, of venison, which she dressed with barbecue sauce. She says it came at the right time, when even here in the most southern Appalachian foothills the nights get cold and the calories more precious. "It's a wonderful blessing," she says.

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