As November stretches toward the halfway point of the 2023 deer hunting season, it’s worth noting that hunters have already donated over 3,000 meals to the “Hunters Share the Harvest Program,” which provides an outlet for hunters to donate venison to Massachusetts families facing food insecurity as we head into the winter months.

Since the season started in mid-October, hunters across the state have already donated over 750 pounds of venison — the equivalent to more than 3,000 meals! And even more interesting, this program was spawned only one year ago as a pilot program by MassWildlife. In that one year, the number of meals provided by hunters totaled 1,500. But with over a month of deer hunting still left in 2023, last year’s totals have already doubled, and will only continue to grow as the season moves forward. This impressive number did not go unnoticed by MassWildlife Director Mark Tisa who commented, “Hunters, and the wildlife conservation community, are making a big impact addressing food shortages in Massachusetts.” Mark is spot on with that assessment.

It’s estimated today that over 20% of Massachusetts households do not have adequate access to the amount of food necessary to even meet their basic needs. So donations of venison — a very natural and lean source of protein — can make a tremendous difference to families that really need it. Donated meat from “Hunters Share the Harvest” is distributed through partnering food programs, including the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation’s Food4Vets.

Recent studies show that fresh meat can be an incredibly hard source for food pantries to come by, which makes donated venison a very popular commodity and means a great deal to both active-duty military families and non-military families who can go to a food pantry and get fresh, healthy meat.

This great program has expanded, and hunters can make donations at three approved processors. Those who donate their full deer pay no processing fee, and those who donate at least 15 pounds will receive a $50 discount toward their processing fee.

MassWildlife Deer Project Leader Martin Feehan calls this a “win-win program, not only for providing meals to those who need assistance, but also helping our forests by reducing the impact of overabundant whitetail deer in our state while fostering growth of young tree saplings, and hunters are playing an important role in all of this – which includes providing food in our communities to those who really need it”

Even if you don’t hunt, you can still help support this worthwhile program with a monetary contribution of $50, which helps cover the cost of processing and packaging the meat and provides 75 servings of meat for families who really need it. Sounds like a great thing to do with Thanksgiving fast approaching.

And as the season continues and you’re still looking to fill that tag, right about now is a good time to start thinking about deer calls, which can be very effective if used at the right times. Here’s a few quick examples of what I’m talking about.

Grunt tubes can sometimes come in handy, especially if they’re adjustable so a hunter can imitate the sounds of both doe and buck. You can also use a grunt tube when no deer is in sight, but might be nearby, in hopes that a deer will come over to investigate. But their most effective use is when a deer is visible, but not quite in range. Deer are curious creatures and are looking for mates during the rut. One soft grunt or bleat can grab a deer’s attention and another soft sound will often allow the animal to pinpoint your location. And with a little luck, this might just be the ticket you’ve been waiting for. But remember, while it’s true that deer can pinpoint the location of a call, this can often turn into a deer coming directly toward you, but on high alert. This reaction can make it extremely difficult, especially now, to draw your bow without being seen so be careful with this. Be extremely careful with movement in a situation like this and use those calls softly and sparingly.

Finally, if you’re still looking for a little help with some deer hunting tactics, you can jump into a free virtual mentoring class coming up on Dec. 5 and sponsored by MassWildlife. A panel of seasoned deer hunters will share their knowledge and answer questions about anything related to deer hunting. You can join the class for a few minutes or for the entire session, and the starting time for this activity will be from 6-7:30 p.m. Go to the Mass Wildlife website to register and receive a link to the class, but do it sooner rather than later, as these classes fill up very quickly.

Joe Judd is a lifelong hunter and sportsman. He is an outdoor writer, seminar speaker, member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association, and a 2019 inductee into the N.E. Turkey Hunting Hall of Fame. Joe is also on the Quaker Boy Game Calls and Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Pro-Staff. He can be reached at jjontheridge@comcast.net