SULLIVAN COUNTY — As deer management remains an ever-present concern, a new initiative is turning that strategy into a food source for families in need.

“Hunt. Donate. Feed Local,” launched by All Things Accuracy’s Into the Wild initiative, is building on NY State’s existing Venison Donation Program by strengthening the local network—bringing together participating processors, hunters, food-distribution partners, and community organizations in our region. The goal is to make the established process more visible, accessible, and locally connected, especially alongside the recent DEC regulation changes,” shared Ashley Leavitt, co-owner of All Things Accuracy.

New York recently expanded avenues for antlerless deer harvests, including a new system mandating hunters to harvest an antlerless deer prior to getting a second antlered deer tag. These changes are aimed at encouraging hunters to help manage deer herds where populations are significantly impacting roadways, forests, agriculture, and other environmental aspects.

However, these regulations have also made Leavitt ponder something else: what happens to the deer that hunters harvest that they don’t exactly need for their freezers?

“So what we said is, ‘Okay, well, there’s people in need out there, and there’s people that are doing a service that needs to be done,” Leavitt told the Democrat. “So why not connect the two pieces?”

Through this, a cycle can be created that permits hunters to do their part in wildlife management as their harvest feeds their neighbors.

At no cost, the hunter could donate a legally harvested and properly tagged deer to participating processors like Roscoe’s Spring Brook Farm and Middletown’s Deerserto’s Butcher. The venison would then be processed into ground meat, which would then be picked up by participating community organizations and distributed through local feeding programs.

Even better, Leavitt confirmed that the hunters are completely on board, with positive feedback and wishes to see similar programs take shape in nearby locales.

The program took shape when All Things Accuracy took feedback from hunters about the recent regulations. This began the expansion of an existing effort and All Things’ reach across the region as they contacted sportsmen’s organizations and processors in nearby counties.

“There was a disconnect between the way that New York State is saying, ‘Hey, hunters, we need you to help,’ with what to do with it afterward,” Leavitt recounted.

The program is nothing new – it existed in a smaller capacity where roughly 100 pounds of venison was donated to the Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless last year. This year, Leavitt wants to see those numbers significantly increase, as All Things Accuracy themselves want to donate approximately 100 pounds.

An individual deer is estimated to provide roughly 35 to 40 pounds of venison, which the organization estimated could amount to 150 meals.

There is already a need. Leavitt pointed out how a Single Bite already utilizes approximately 400,000 to 500,000 pounds of food per week, and the Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless netted positive results from last year’s venison donation.

In fact, Leavitt is hoping that reach grows further and further as the network of participating processors expands through Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware, Dutchess, Orange and other nearby counties. That reach could see positive feedback from said counties; after all, Leavitt pointed out how a similar Dutchess County-based effort has expanded to almost 10,000 pounds of meat donated yearly.

To Leavitt, however, the program isn’t just finding somewhere for hunters to dump excess venison.

“I think that, to me, is the purpose behind All Things Accuracy in the Wild,” she said. “All of that, that’s what we’re rooted in, and that’s what we’re grounded in.”

It’s this connection to hunters, conservation, and food assistance that culminates in a “full circle moment” for her – that ability to take something from the local landscape and process it into something that directly benefits our local community.

“This is the way of life for us,” Leavitt emphasized, “For us to be able to give that back to not only those in need, but also the food security aspect? It just … it’s a full-circle moment.”