KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas: Deer Hunters Need Help Giving Back This Season

(KATV) Modern gun deer season starts Saturday and there is an estimated one-million deer in the woods. In the south the deer limit has been raised to six and that means they should have enough meat to spare.

Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry has made 1.5 million meals possible since the non-profit started 11-years ago.

The program grows every year, but the $100,000 funding they get from the state to pay for processing has been cut.

At the 60-participating meat processors, workers process the deer into ground meat and load it on trucks to be taken to 100 locations including food pantries, soup kitchens and churches in the state.

The organization is now looking for ways to raise the funds to keep the program going.

Ronnie Ritter is the President of Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry. He says, "If it wasn't for the hunters donating the deer or the processors, we wouldn't be in business. The processors do it at a discounted rate from what they would charge the average hunter so they're very vital to the success of our program."

Ritter is working on grants and getting donations. The other option is for hunters to skin the deer before or pay an average of 50-dollars for the processing. $50 goes to process a deer that will make about 200-servings.

Hunters who pay for their personal processing and packaging are encouraged to offer some meat for donation.

Checks of any amount can be mailed to:  

P.O. Box 55303
Little Rock, AR 72215-5303

For more information, click on the link under the picture.

* For every purchase of a blaze orange car flag that reads "Head'n to the Deer Woods" $5 will be donated to Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry. Click on the link under the picture