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

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 Fergus