Kentucky hunters are doing their part to help hungry people in their communities. The organization Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry posted its highest-ever donation totals in 2023. The group works with meat processors to facilitate the processing, packaging and delivery of ground venison meat.
Brian Clark is the Deputy Commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He said this is a way for local hunters to give back and help an ongoing problem in Kentucky.
“It is a means of hunters in their generosity providing additional harvest, or a surplus of what they need for their own families and friends to help offset the problem of hunger in Kentucky.”
Clark said in some cases, programs like this also help Kentucky farmers.
“There are some cases, of farmers with deer damage to their crops and we work with those farmers to administer crop depredation permits, so those may be provided to hunters as an incentive for them to harvest additional anterless deer.”
Kentucky hunters donated more than 3,000 legally harvested deer to the program last fall, yielding nearly 117,000 pounds of venison — and in turn 467,000 servings of meat to those in need.
Deer season is scheduled to start in September.
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