Conservation Group Encourages Hunters to Help Feed Families

From fields to the dinner table of Kentuckians, a longtime conservation group is asking hunters to help them transform donated deer meat into meals.

Ben Robinson, the director of the Fish and Wildlife Division at the state Fish and Wildlife Department, said Kentucky is well-equipped environmentally for hunting.

“It’s really a destination state for a lot of things, but specifically deer. And now we’re a top-five trophy-producing state every year on our whitetail deer. So we get folks traveling in from all over the country,” he said.

From muzzleloader season to archery, he said many enjoy the historic sport and experience.

Robinson, who is also a board member with department partners Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry. He said that hunters can continue to help others even as the season closes.

“A lot of hunters, on average, take about 1.4 deer per season. And once they get those deer, that’s one, two per hunter,” he said. “A lot of times, you know, they’re filling their own freezers. Maybe their freezer gets full. They’re like, well, I don’t need more meat.”

Instead, KHFH is asking hunters to help feed families by donating a deer to one of over 70 approved processing sites across the commonwealth.

According to their website, over 35,000 pounds of donated deer have resulted in more than 6.4 million meals served, from sending students home with deer jerky to helping food banks and pantries across different regions.

“Kentucky hunters for the hungry is taking a really valuable natural resource, which is deer, we have a whole lot of deer in Kentucky, and it’s turning that into a very usable and healthy, really organic source of protein, which is ground venison,” he said.

KHFH’s mission is to fight hunger, maintain conservation and prevent overpopulation of white-tail deer, which can cause concern for herds, other wildlife, crops, vehicle collisions and more.

Robinson said the deer harvest can be beneficial, and it’s exciting to see the program feed more families each year.

“We’re seeing last year alone, we experienced a 10% growth in the number of things that were donated. And I think a lot of that was contributed to Southland Christian coming on board and really helping to promote the mission, and so we’re hoping to continue to see that we’re really targeting about 10% growth every year in the number of donated deer.” Robinson said.

Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry began 25 years ago and is a charitable, volunteer-run organization.