Wisconsin Deer Donation 2007

Once again deer hunters have shared their bountiful harvest with hungry families across the state.

For the 2007 season, hunters donated 9,200 deer to food pantries. Our large network of 126 processors in 52 counties butchered and ground the venison into over 414,000 pounds of packaged venison. As you may recall, last year's record was nearly 12,000 deer with about 10,000 coming from the non-CWD or out-state area. So, despite losing the funding for the CWD Zone pantry program in the southern part of the state, we still had a great turnout this season!

Buffalo County hunters donated the most this season with 797 donated deer. Hunters in Trempealeau County weren't far behind with 693 donated deer. Waupaca - 430, Fond du Lac - 384 and St. Croix - 368, finished out the top 5 counties.

Since the fall hunting season of 2000, hunters have donated over 63,200 deer which have provided over 2.8 million pounds of venison to needy people across the state. A large network of volunteers including sports groups, church groups, civic organizations and food pantry staff work together to distribute the meat from the processor to the food pantries. USDA – Wildlife Services staff, Dept. of Natural Resources staff and county wildlife damage staff also help administer the program. Hunt For The Hungry, headed by Lee Dudek of northeast Wisconsin, is also a strong partner in the Wisconsin Deer Donation 2007 program. Many, many thanks to all of these folks too! We couldn't run a program on this scale without you! From conversations I've had with other states' resource agencies and sports groups nation-wide, it is very evident that we have a deer donation program second to none.

View the 2007 results. [PDF 102KB]

Please contact Laurie Fike at 608-267-7974 for more information.

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