brownbear932008
Well-known member
In some states, that would be an admirable thing to do. In other states, not so much. In much of Texas, there are so many deer that we are encouraged to fill every tag possible. For land owners that participate in the Managed Lands Deer Program, they are REQUIRED to shoot a certain number of deer. Programs like Hunters for the Hungry make sure that the meat goes to people who want and need it.
Same thing here in VA. We now have many counties that are under earn a buck regulations because of deer over population meaning you must shoot an antlerless animal before receiving buck tags. Many of the seasons run from I think it's Sept to March. Many farmers are issued tags to shoot deer in any way they can from spotlighting to you name it. Many of those deer are buried after taking them the farmers if they are lucky can find people who want the meat. As a matter of fact the same thing is happening with bears now also.
I think different areas of the country have much a bigger population of animal's and other areas can't withstand that type of pressure on the resource. I have no idea how many deer we can take in a year here now. I normally shoot 1 maybe 2. But I think my license has 5-6 tags on it then you can buy bonus doe tags if you fill those. Sorry for getting off target here.
I donate mainly because especially the last few years my freezer has been stacked to the bream with elk/moose and deer come in behind those as quality of meat to me. So the deer I take is more for the little I do for herd management in a state that has an abundance of whitetail. I enjoy going to the processor to do that good deed each year feeding someone in need. We also share our prime cuts with many friends and family also when we get a chance. As a matter of fact we are having moose fajitas next week at work for about 15 guys some who have never hunted and they love it. I think hunters have historically shared their harvest ever since this country was settled and always will it's who we are........