A Delaware program that gives deer meat to needy families is seeing a decline in donations as the deer hunting harvest reached an all-time high in the state.
Delaware hunters harvested a record number of deer this past season.
In the 2015-2016 season, hunters harvested 14,681 deer, about 400 more than last year.
“[In] the last five years in Delaware, three of those seasons, including this one, have been in the top five harvests, all time," according to Joe Rogerson of Delaware's Division of Fish and Wildlife.
But hunters have been donating less deer meat to the Sportsmen Against Hunger program in the past five years. It distributed as much as 44,000 pounds of meat in 2006.
This year, it’s expecting to hand out 17,000 pounds of venison.
Similar programs in Maryland and Pennsylvania are also seeing drops in donations, according to Bill Jones, a fish and wildlife manager who oversees the program in Delaware.
“What we find is that hunters for one reason or another -it could be the downturn in the economy or because it’s this designer meat that’s low in fat, no additives- are keeping more and more of their deer.”
There’s still plenty of venison to keep the program going, according to Jones.
Inmates at the Sussex Community Corrections Center’s butcher shop and eight private butchers will grind the meat and parse it into two-pound packages.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife will distribute the meat to churches and charities who will then give it to people in need of food.
