by Brian McCombie - Monday, November 25, 2024
Acknowledging hunters’ efforts to feed the needy by sharing their surplus venison, N.D. Gov. Doug Burgum proclaimed November 2024 “North Dakota Wild Game Meat Donation Month.” The declaration is in step with the NRA’s second consecutive celebration of National Wild Game Meat Donation Month supporting hunters’ efforts to fight hunger in their own communities.
As the governor noted in his official proclamation, “the North Dakota tradition of sharing our wild game harvests takes on even greater significance as we strive to protect hunting’s future and increase its cultural acceptance while promoting it as a food source, a right and a vital wildlife management tool ... .”
Burgum encouraged even more North Dakota hunters to think about donating a deer to the state’s Sportsmen Against Hunger (SAH) program this hunting season. He hopes that all interested individuals also will consider making a financial contribution to the program this holiday season.
SAH is a charitable program that raises money for the processing of donated deer and other big-game animals and coordinates distribution of processed meat to food pantries throughout the state. SAH was launched in cooperation with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department as a common-sense answer to fighting hunger by tapping into the state’s strong hunting heritage. The actual distribution of wild game meat is administered by the Community Action Partnership of North Dakota (CAPND), which works with food pantries across the state.
The game meat donation process is very simple. Hunters drop off their donated wild game with meat processors that partnered with SAH. A current list of participating processors is available on the CAPND website. The game meat is processed into individual packages that volunteers then pick up and deliver to area food pantries.
North Dakota food pantries continue to need healthy sources of protein, particularly fresh or frozen meat. Unfortunately, perishable items like meat are the least likely to be donated.
Typically, the SAH program sees an average of 2,500 to 3,000 pounds of game meat donated each year, including deer, elk and moose. However, the 2022-2023 hunting season unfortunately saw a significant drop in the total amount of game meat donated as documented in the 2023 CAPD State Impact Report.
A number of factors contributed to this decline, including unseasonably warm weather. With inflation and the increasing cost of food, hunters were also more likely to utilize their harvested game to supplement their own food supplies for their own families and to help neighbors.
North Dakota has an NRA-backed Right to Hunt and Fish amendment in place, thanks largely to the efforts of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, which has worked for 20 years to get constitutional protections in place in every state to protect hunting's future as hunters continue providing high-protein venison to their families and those less fortunate. The amendment passed in 2020 with 77% of the vote.
Hunting is a common-sense solution to fighting hunger at a time when 66,310 North Dakotans struggle with food insecurity, including one in seven children, according to Feeding America. In encouraging even more hunters to share their harvests, recent NRA Hunters’ Leadership Forum research shows that while American hunters share 119 million pounds of harvested game meat with others outside their households each year, many meat processors involved in HFH programs in 2022 did not receive enough donated meat to fulfill their missions. Clearly, even more game meat is needed this year and beyond.
To help shed light on hunting’s role as a food source, a vital wildlife management tool and a funding mechanism for conservation statewide, Burgum’s proclamation also highlighted the fact that hunter contributions through the federal Pittman-Robertson Act fund wildlife conservation programs across the nation. North Dakota received $14,239,414 in Pittman-Robertson funds for 2024 alone.
Sportsmen Against Hunger relies on donations and grant funding to pay for the processing of all donated game. If you are interested in helping to pay for processing costs, donations are always welcome, and can be made online by clicking here.