Hunters can help stock food pantries

Hunters in the Big Horn Basin are invited to donate their game meat to families in need, a growing part of First Lady of Wyoming Jennie Gordon’s Wyoming Hunger Initiative. 

The Food from the Field program is a collaborative effort between hunters, Wyoming Game and Fish, Wyoming Department of Agriculture and local processors and food pantries. In the Big Horn Basin, hunters may drop off their game at Paintrock Processing in Hyattville or Wapiti Valley Meats in Cody and choose to donate part of or all their meat. 

Paintrock Processing owner Tommy Searfoss said that his company handles an average of 10 deer and two elk a year through Food from the Field. Donations are professionally processed, tested for CWD and rapid frozen before a regional Wyoming Hunger Initiative volunteer picks them up and distributes them to local food banks. 

“I would like to see that number triple,” Searfoss said, noting that he has seen slightly more donations made over the five years Paintrock Processing has participated as awareness increases. 

Charlene Anderson of the Basin Area Food Pantry board reported that about 50 people a year benefit from game meat donations at their location. Greybull Community Outreach and Lovell Community Food Pantry have also benefitted from the donations in the past. All reported that meat is a tough donation to come by, largely due to price. 

“We didn’t have a lot of things for meat even before that program came,” Susan Peck with the Lovell pantry said. The food bank has previously looked at canned meat. It joined the Food from the Field program as soon as it was introduced. 

“It’s quality meat, it’s through certified butchers and certified freezers,” Peck said. 

Community Outreach in Greybull houses only one freezer, but they are happy when it’s full. 

“We’re struggling with donations right now,” board member Kay Mattis said. Mattis and Peck both reported an increase in users this year, while Mattis noted that local food drives have dwindled. 

While a monetary donation is not required, Wyoming Hunger Initiative invites hunters to make a $45 contribution on-site at their chosen processor to cover part of the fees. This contribution suggestion may change by processor. 

“Thanks to the generosity of multiple Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioners who have donated ‘commissioner tags’ for annual raffles, Wyoming Hunger Initiative is able to cover the remaining cost of processing so processors are compensated for their work and time,” the Wyoming Hunger Initiative stated.

Those who do not hunt, but wish to sponsor the program, may donate at nohungerwyo.org/field. Hunters may also find a log sheet at the site.