Ohio hunters donate venison to food banks

4/5/2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Officials say enough venison for more than 500,000 meals has been donated to local food banks by Ohio deer hunters during the 2010-2011 hunting season.

The wildlife division of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry say hunters donated about 125,000 pounds of meat from about 2,500 deer, the highest amount since the groups started the donation program in 2007.

Roughly 2,300 deer were donated in 2009-2010, about 1,100 in 2008-2009 and about 400 in 2007-2008.

The wildlife division and the farmers and hunters group help with processing costs, with the state using the program to help control deer population.