deer running

UNDATED (WSAU) Fewer deer were donated last year to help feed the needy, but that was expected because the 2009 harvest was down.

About 176 thousand pounds of ground venison was handed out to Wisconsin food pantries. About four thousand deer were donated by hunters. Local volunteers say the donations were welcome. With so many people laid off in the struggling economy, there is reportedly more need for food than ever.

Dane County hunters donated the most deer, 483, followed by Buffalo County with 258. Hunters donated about 63 hundred deer in 2008.

The number of deer taken during the 2009 gun-deer season was down nearly 30% compared to a year earlier.