The opportunities to harvest more than one deer in Pennsylvania abound.
Besides an antlered buck allowed on your general license, there are many ways to take an antlerless deer as well. Doe licenses are available in every part of the state; numbers depend on the Wildlife Management Unit you hunt. It’s possible to add another three deer if you are fortunate enough to be drawn for additional licenses.
Then there are harvest permits from the Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP). DMAP provides an additional means for landowners to manage deer to meet their land-use goals. It also provides additional opportunities to the hunters who participate in the program. Hunters can get up to two DMAP harvest permits per property. The more DMAP properties you hunt, the more deer you may take.
Finally, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has issued 13,000 special antlerless deer harvest permits for use in Disease Management Area 2 this fall, an area in the south-central part of the state, including parts of Bedford, Blair, Huntingdon, Cambria and Fulton counties, where Chronic Wasting Disease has been identified in wild, free-ranging deer. Hunters may purchase an unlimited number of permits until all permits are issued.
Therefore, at the conclusion of all seasons, a hunter in Pennsylvania can add a considerable amount of tasty, healthy meat to their freezer. It also affords the opportunity to help feed those less fortunate in our commonwealth.
The Hunters Sharing the Harvest Program, founded in 1991, coordinates the processing and distribution of donated wild game from hunters and municipal herd reduction sources to hungry people throughout Pennsylvania. You can donate a deer through one of the program’s many participating processors closest to where you hunt or live. An average-sized deer will provide enough highly nutritious, low-cholesterol meat for 200 meals.
To donate, a hunter takes a deer to a participating butcher, who will process the venison into 1-pound bags to be distributed by food banks to local charitable, hunger-relief organizations, such as soup kitchens and food pantries. One deer produces around 40 to 50 pounds of ground venison that can feed more than 30 families.
“The venison we get from the Hunters Sharing the Harvest program is like gold,” says Brad Peterson, director of communications for the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. “Many people who are struggling with hunger go without that center-of-the-plate protein to try to make their meal dollars stretch. When we get this venison in, we just can’t keep it in our freezers. As fast as we put it in, it goes on our inventory, and it goes right back out. People want this. It is highly desired. It’s a high-protein, low-fat meat that everyone loves.”
Some significant changes in the program for 2014 make it even easier to donate an extra deer. Hunters had been asked to donate $15 when they dropped off their deer at the butchers to cover the cost of processing, but not any more.
“This copay has been dropped for this year,” said John Plowman, executive director for HSH. “Costs of processing are now covered by the program and its many sponsors. Hopefully, this will encourage even more successful hunters to participate.”
Finding a processor to take your deer is easy, as well. The HSH has a toll-free phone number (1-866-HSH-2141) that hunters can call to find a processor, or go to the website (www.sharedeer.org) to find a list of processors by county.
Hunt safely this season. Shoot straight and remember all of the needy families you can help feed in the state.
