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The mission of South Dakota Sportsmen Against Hunger is to encourage and facilitate donation of wild game meat to needy people in South Dakota.
Take your field-dressed deer, antelope, elk, pheasants, geese or other wild game to a South Dakota Sportsmen Against Hunger (SDSAH) participating commercial processor, and indicate you want to donate it. If you are donating an antlerless deer or doe/fawn antelope, a SDSAH doe processing certificate is available from the processor to fill out and use to pay for most or all of the processing cost. If you are donating Canada geese taken during the August Management Take season or the Early Fall Canada Goose Season, a goose processing certificate is available at a SDSAH participating goose processor.
For deer and antelope, simply fill out the processing certificate for each qualifying field-dressed carcass animal you donate, hand it back to the processor at the time of donation. There is no limit on the number of processing certificates you may use but only one certificate per animal. In fall and winter 2024-25, the big game processing certificates are worth $85 for each donated doe/antlerless deer, and $75 for each donated doe or fawn antelope. Most processors accept the certificate value as full payment. For those processors who charge more than the certificate value for processing donated animals, you would be responsible for paying any remaining fee at the time of donation.
NOTE:
In 2024, harvested deer and elk do NOT need to be tested for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) before donating to SDSAH at a big game processor.
For Canada geese taken and donated at a goose processor during the August 17-31, 2024, August Management Take and September 1-30 of the 2024 Canada Goose Unit 1 Season, fill out one goose processing certificate for all of the birds bagged and donated that day. Each certificate is worth $3.00 per bird for donated breast meat and $5.00 per whole bird for the number of donated birds indicated on the certificate. All of the goose processors will accept the certificate as full payment for processing donated geese.
You may still donate game animals and birds to SDSAH that do not qualify for processing certificates. Examples would be elk, buck deer, buck antelope, pheasants and any game not taken in South Dakota. You may also donate trim or deboned game meat. In these cases, you would be responsible for payment of all processing charges.
That is all you need to do! After the donated game is processed and frozen by the processor, arrangements are made for delivering the processed meat from the processor to a food pantry or other public food relief agency. The food relief agencies then distribute the donated meat to needy families who qualify for food assistance in their communities.