As more hunters donate deer venison to food banks, higher donations are expected from farmlands this year

Mary Ann Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Aug 27, 2025

Published in Outdoors

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PITTSBURGH — The nonprofit Hunters Sharing the Harvest anticipates more growing pains as donations of deer from hunters increase.

The wildly successful program accepts deer from hunters, then pays to process the venison into ground meat and distributes the meat to food banks, soup kitchens and other charitable organizations across the state.

It's another record-breaking year for Pennsylvania hunters, who donated 7,855 deer for 283,789 pounds of meat during the 2024 — 25 hunting seasons.

The donation resulted in 1.1 million servings of venison to food-insecure residents. An average-sized deer can provide 200 servings of high-protein, low-fat meat.

"We've got this tremendous opportunity where you can donate these deer to be processed to feed the hungry in your area at no cost to you," said Randy Ferguson, of Greenville, Mercer County, executive director of Hunters Sharing the Harvest.

Allegheny County has the highest deer donation rate in the state, Ferguson said. In the 2024-25 season, Allegheny hunters, whether they got their deer inside or outside the county, donated 1,806 deer, which is just shy of 20% of all donated deer.

Hunter donations grew 12% from the 2023-24 to 2024-25 hunting seasons, according to the nonprofit.

When Ferguson started working for the nonprofit more than four years ago, it took in several hundred deer from agricultural lands; now that number is pushing 2,000.

Increased deer donations are likely in store later this year.

New efforts by the Pennsylvania Game Commission for increased hunting on agricultural lands where deer are eating crops will likely spur even more deer donations.

This year, the Game Commission expanded its AG Tag program for sportsmen to hunt more deer on farm lands, repealed the Sunday hunting ban and approved a new program to better connect farmers and hunters.

"Without a doubt, we expect antlerless deer donations to go up steeply because of these factors," Ferguson said.

But more deer donations means more money needed for deer processing. Many people aren't aware that the nonprofit relies on donations to survive, Ferguson said.

"We're in full-court press now when it comes to fundraising. As this program grows, we have to have sustainable funding."

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has been instrumental in allocating state and federal hunger relief funds to reimburse deer processing businesses for producing the ground venison for food banks.

"Hunting and generosity are ingrained in Pennsylvania's rural culture," said Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding in a statement. "Every pound of venison hunters donate through Hunters Sharing the Harvest stretches household budgets and nonprofit resources and combines the best of our traditions to feed our neighbors who need a leg up in difficult times."

While Hunters Sharing the Harvest works with government agencies and receives donations from foundations and individuals, it needs more support from the private sector, particularly the agricultural sector, Ferguson said.

He is not talking about farmers, who are already squeezed by crop loss from deer, but other private agricultural businesses.

"Right now it's more about strategizing and figuring out how to reach the agricultural community that is more targeted and defined to that industry," he said.

The food banks are appreciative of the venison donations as they grapple with a double whammy of increasing food costs and federal government funding cuts, Ferguson said. "The demand is as high as ever."

The program highlights hunting as a social service.

"On the scale that we and other states are doing this, it magnifies the benefit of what hunters are doing to fight food insecurity," he said. "It's tremendous, and hunters deserve that recognition."

Hunters interested in donating a deer need to harvest the animal legally, tag and field dress the deer and take it to a participating processor near them. The Sharing the Harvest website, sharedeer.org, provides a list of participating processors by county.