Back in October I was at a deer processing shop to give a deer away. Although the processor didn’t participate in a venison donation program, he graciously offered to take the deer if I would pay part of the cost. His offer was great because I had planned to contribute money to a venison donation program anyway.

Another hunter in the shop was observing and piped up with an opinion, “If you’re not going to eat it, you shouldn’t kill it.” That viewpoint might sound good, but it raises many questions:

1. Does that hunter think venison donation is unethical?

2. Are venison donation programs wrong to promote deer donation?

3. If a hunter shouldn’t give venison away, is the recipient wrong to accept the meat?

4. If a deer hunter can’t eat venison, should he not hunt?

5. If a hunter’s family won’t eat venison, should the hunter quit hunting?

6. Should a hunter not donate venison to another hunter who is no longer able to hunt deer?

7. Is getting meat the only reason to hunt and kill deer?

8. Is it wrong that I don’t know the family I’m giving the meat to?

9. Should hunters not share their bounty, the way gardeners give vegetables away?

10. If hunters keep all their venison to themselves, will anti-hunters add selfishness to the other misconceptions they have about hunters and hunting?

You can ponder these questions on your own, and you can probably add more. The point of the questions is that people often make statements without thinking. We’re all guilty of that, and I’ve done it too many times to throw stones at others for it. So, I’m not saying the hunter who expressed that opinion has a moral flaw. (But by using the word “shouldn’t,” he was making a moral assertion.) I’m also not singling him out–I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup, and I’ve heard the same statement many times.

I agree that every deer any hunter kills should be eaten. Venison is one of the healthiest meats available–lean and natural without growth hormones, antibiotics, or other medications. It tastes great when prepared well. But what sense does it make to say a hunter should not kill a deer unless he eats it himself?

I had five tags this past season, three in Pennsylvania and two in New York. I filled only two. I’d kill more deer if I knew more people who would eat the deer that I kill. That would help balance the deer herd with the habitat they share with other animals. It would also benefit the people who get the meat. Killing more deer would even help non-hunters in various ways.

We all make many statements on issues we don’t have much information about. On the day that fellow hunter expressed his view, I had acute pain in one of my feet. I was dragging the deer to my truck when the issue flared up. I could hardly walk, let alone drag a deer.

I wanted to take the deer home, hang it in my garage, and butcher it myself–the way I’ve done since I was 15. But that night I couldn’t stand up long enough to do that, and the weather was too warm to wait. My best option was for someone else to benefit from the deer I killed. Is that OK? Yes, because the idea “If you’re not going to eat it, you shouldn’t kill it” has little to recommend it.

Lots of people who are against hunting say that, or one of its variants, “I’m not against hunting if hunters eat what they kill.” They say it as though it’s the only thing that legitimizes hunting. But save your breath, because everywhere in North America the law demands that wild game be recovered for the table. And every hunter supports that. Of the tens of thousands of hunters who have crossed my path, all of them are against wasting meat.

The truth is that deer hunting is more about meat than it is about antlers. Want the evidence? The evidence is that we kill more does (without antlers) than bucks (with antlers). That’s the way hunting must be. Otherwise, deer will degrade the habitat they share with other wildlife.

Even if hunters would like to eat it all, we can’t. We must give some of it to people who can use it. So, let’s stop saying, “If you’re not going to eat it, you shouldn’t kill it.”

***

When “The Everyday Hunter” isn’t hunting, he’s thinking about hunting, talking about hunting, dreaming about hunting, writing about hunting, or wishing he were hunting. If you want to tell Steve exactly where your favorite hunting spot is, contact him through his website, www.EverydayHunter.com. He writes for top outdoor magazines and won the 2015, 2018, and 2023 national “Pinnacle Award” for outdoor writing.