The number of deer donated to an Iowa Department of Natural Resources program that uses the meat to feed the hungry in the state dropped by 15-percent this year. Hunters still donated 39-hundred deer to the “Help Us Stop Hunger” or HUSH program. The D-N-R’s Jim Coffey oversees HUSH and says hunters have been very generous over the last decade.

He says the drop in deer donations compared to last year amounts to around 30-tons of ground venison.

The Food Bank of Iowa coordinates distribution of the deer meat and is replacing the loss of venison with other protein, like canned chicken, or even peanut butter. Hunters in the program have donated some 60-thousand deer in 10 years — which is the equivalent of nearly 11 million meals (10.8 million).