Georgia conservation groups and meat processors have teamed up to provide a way for hunters to donate deer this season to help Georgia’s Hunters for the Hungry deer donation program, and some are hoping to bring the program a little closer to local residents.
Bryan County Commissioner Jimmy Henderson, who is also the county director of the Georgia Hunting and Fishing Federation, is working with the program to help bring processed venison to less fortunate residents in Bryan County.
“It’s a very good program and there is no cost to people receiving the meat or donating the meat,” Henderson said. “It will fill a big need in the county.”
The program no longer allows hunters to donate unprocessed deer anymore, only packages of already-processed venison. This doesn’t help landowners who want to thin the deer population and can’t afford to process deer they plan to donate.
But meat processers across the state have offered discounted processing prices to the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry, Georgia Hunting and Fishing Federation, Georgia Outdoor News Network’s Sportsman’s Pantry and the Safari Club International, Georgia, which have agreed to pay for the costs of processing the donated deer.
Local hunters can donate deer at Wise Brothers Deer Processing at 326 Bush Road in Savannah. Wise Brothers Deer Processing is the only area processor participating in the deer donation program. Hunters can donate deer through the end of hunting season, which ends Jan. 15.
Bryan County hunters who wish to donate deer can contact Henderson at 655-8610 or Wise Brothers at 920-9455.
For more information about the Hunters for the Hungry program, visit www.gohuntgeorgia.com or www.gwf.org.