Hunter Generosity

[katqanna]

Hunter generosity overflows food bank freezers.

Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating good fortune, though not all Montanans have much to celebrate. But thanks to a few programs, fortunate hunters are sharing their bounty to help low-income Montanans feel a little less hungry...

Under Hunters Against Hunger, a Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks program created by the 2013 Legislature, hunters have two opportunities to be charitable.

First, every hunter who buys a Montana license can donate a dollar or more to go toward processing donated carcasses and it turns out that hunters favor donating more.

Recent FWP numbers show that the average resident hunter donates more than $3 while the average nonresident donates almost $10.

This year, resident hunters tripled the almost $14,000 they donated last year.

Add in almost $19,000 donated by nonresident hunters and more than $60,000 go to the processing of food-bank game...

But Hunters Against Hunger isn’t the first program to take advantage of hunters’ generosity.

In 2005, a Safari Club International program called Sportsmen Against Hunger began providing free game meat to Gallatin area families in need. SCI holds an annual fundraiser to pay for the processing...

“It’s a win-win for people who like to hunt. The typical processing fee is around $60 so five or six animals could be a significant chunk of change,” Bryan said. “For years, the Safari Club has paid for processing. With the new program, there’s a larger pool of money and it brings more awareness.”

Jones said she splits the processing bill evenly between the FWP program and the Safari Club. In addition, she gives the Safari Club a discount on the processing.

“That way, we’re donating some too,” Jones said. “With the new program, we’re definitely seeing more participation.”

 

[belly-deep]

Good to see

 

[have gun will travel]

That's a great program! Good to see hunters helping out

 

[noharleyyet]

Cool mention Kat...

 

[katqanna]

Right after I went through my first divorce, when I had ripped my left rotator cuff, pec muscles and arm muscles, I put an ad in Bozeman craigslist for hunters help. I knew from experience that there are hunters that like hunting more than they can use or sadly some wives that dont like wild game meat. I had more deer offers than I could use. I gave each a box of some of organic jarred goods like polish dill pickles, marinated garlic, jam and a bottle of wine I made. One hunter gave me a deer and I ripped out a cheap broken nylon zipper from his backpack and installing a heavy duty metal one as a thank you.

So I know what hunter generosity means personally. Even though I couldnt hunt those two falls, I was still able to eat wild game all year long.

 

[katqanna]

A new article on the hunter generosity:
Charitable or unethical? Hunters Against Hunger stirs debate

While many celebrated the program, some critics feared it could lead to hunters shooting and donating animals they had no intention of eating. An October Independent Record story drew its share of online comments opposing the program, and programs like Montana’s have received national attention from critics.

“Hunters, state and federal agencies support these programs as really just a way to make killing animals for fun palatable to the public,” said Ashely Byrne, campaign specialist for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. “Hunters may get their kicks from shooting innocent animals, but they should leave the deer out of it and instead volunteer in a soup kitchen.”

A vegetarian meal would offer a healthy alternative, and both hunters and non-hunters have the ability to donate time to helping the hungry, she said.

I disagree. I think hunting wildlife is the best way to ethically treat an animal and as an omnivore, descended from hunting ancestors (teeth to prove it), hunting is our heritage and part of our evolution. While she may choose a vegan or vegetarian life choice, she no more has the right to force hunters to eat vegetarian as hunters would if they tried to force others to eat meat. Thats absurd.

Not to mention that many vegetarians never take into account agriculture land and wildlife displacement or destruction. When talking about donating time to helping the hungry, she must not understand travel time, hunting time and time to take the game to a processor as time donated.

A very filtered and myopic perspective, in my opinion.

 

[noharleyyet]

I quit reading at Campaign specialist for PETA.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I quit reading at Campaign specialist for PETA.

It's ridiculous how contorted some people get when trying to complain about charity and good will to all.

So very proud of Montana. There's more funding for families who need some help and there are tens of thousands of pounds of quality protein feeding folks. What's not to love?