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DNR Deer Donation Program

Carnival Deer Processing is pleased to be the only drop off processor this year in Kewaunee and Door County. Your venison will be donated to local pantries. Below is information from Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources website, abbreviated and customized for our site. For the full details, follow this link: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/donation.html

Deer Donation Program

Are you looking for a place to donate a deer near you? The Deer Donation Partners Program opens deer drop-off locations for the Gun Deer Season. This list gets updated throughout the season, so check out the Participating Processor list to see if a drop-off site is available in your area. 

Hunters can help Wisconsinites in need by donating deer harvested in Wisconsin through the DNR’s deer donation program.

Venison from donated deer is processed and distributed to food pantries across the state. Since the program began in 2000, hunters have donated over 94,000 deer, which were processed into over 3.8 million pounds of ground venison.

Wisconsin has a network of venison donation partners, including county land and water conservation departments, food pantries, charitable organizations, Hunt for the Hungry, USDA – Wildlife Services and participating processors who all help implement and administer the program.

HOW TO DONATE YOUR WISCONSIN DEER

Hunters can donate any deer harvested legally in Wisconsin. Deer harvested outside Wisconsin cannot be donated. Deer harvested in a listed county affected by chronic wasting disease (CWD) must be tested for CWD before or at the time of donation (see below). 

  1. Field dress your deer. Please handle the carcass as if it were destined for your table. A couple of bags of ice placed in the cavity will help preserve the carcass in warm weather.
  2. Register your deer. Make a note of your registration confirmation number, which you’ll need later. Kewaunee, Door, Manitowoc, Brown, Outagamie, and Calumet counties are still exempt from CWD testing. If your deer was harvested from one of the CWD-affected counties please ensure that you have completed the required CWD testing before donating.
  3. Drop off your deer at our facility- N9153 Cherry Tree Drive, Algoma- and place a numbered tag on it. Fill in a log sheet donation form from our check-in table, with your contact info and the tag number.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN DROPPING OFF YOUR DEER

Hunters can donate the entire deer free of charge and retain the head and/or antlers for mounting if desired. If you want us to cut and freeze the cape, or remove the antlers, there would be an additional charge.

When dropping your deer off at a processor, you will be asked to complete the log sheet indicating your desire to donate the deer. We’ll do the rest. The donated deer will be processed, and the venison will be distributed to charitable organizations to help feed Wisconsin’s needy.

2023 Deer Contest

Calling all gun season hunters! This year, we will be giving away free Carnival Deer Processing hoodies to the biggest deer brought into Carnival for processing. Here are the details:

  1. Deer must be dropped off for processing during the gun hunt season, November 18-26, 2023
  2. The biggest does will be based on the field dressed weight. The top two will be winners!
  3. The biggest bucks will be ranked first by number of points (at least 1″), and in the event of a tie, the larger field dressed weight will rank higher. We aren’t Boone & Crocket, and aren’t getting in-depth with scores. The top 3 bucks will be winners!
  4. After Sunday, November 26, 2023, we will tabulate the results and notify the winners. Winners will be able to pick up their free orange hoodies at our location.

Save those photos of you and your deer. If the winners want, we’ll post their pictures on our Facebook page. Good luck!

Venison Tacos

Are you as busy as we are? Between work, family, and volunteering, it can be a challenge to have dinner ready for everyone, especially when we only have a short time to eat. I stumbled upon a recipe for slow cooker tacos, and modified it for a package of ground venison. It turned out delicious, and quick at meal time! It was a last minute plan, so I’ll admit I defrosted my frozen ground venison a few minutes in the microwave so I could cut it into 2″ chunks. I wasn’t home to stir it during the day, but it blended together perfectly.

  • 1 package ground venison (about 1.25 pounds)
  • 1 package taco seasoning
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1 tsp garlic powder, or onion powder, or hot sauce, or all three!
  • 1/2 cup water

Dump it all into a slow cooker (crock pot). Stir it together. Cook on low for at 6-8 hours. Even if the venison is still partially frozen, it will break down as it cooks. Slow cookers can vary on their definition of “low temp.” The temperature of your meat should be at least 160 degrees before serving. Venison is so lean that it doesn’t require draining. Just load a taco shell, add your favorite toppings, and enjoy!