HUSH: Help Us Stop Hunger HUSH is a cooperative effort among deer hunters, the Food Bank of Iowa, meat lockers and the Iowa DNR. The two main goals of HUSH include (1) reducing the deer population while (2) providing high-quality red meat to the needy in Iowa. Whether you're a deer hunter, a locker owner or volunteer in your community, there is a vital role you can play.

As a hunter, consider buying extra antlerless-only deer permits to help reduce the deer population. By participating in HUSH hunters can continue to hunt after they would normally stop and thus help reduce the deer population and provide high-quality venison for the needy in Iowa. You can donate any legally taken deer of any sex from any season. For the avid deer hunter in Iowa this presents itself as the perfect opportunity to hunt more deer and do something positive for the local community. Hunters must continue to purchase their deer license, which includes a $1 deer surcharge to fund the HUSH program.

Participating lockers skin, bone and grind the meat to two-pound packages of pure ground venison. A local social services agency distributes the venison to needy Iowa families in the area. The 85 lockers that participated in 2007-2008 received $65 for each processed deer.

Partnering with the Food Bank of Iowa and their affiliates throughout the state, high quality protein many Iowans are lacking in their diet will now be available in the form of pure ground venison. The Food Bank of Iowa receives $5 for each deer to cover administrative costs.

More than 8,300 deer were donated by hunters to HUSH last year, generating nearly 1.5 million meals to Iowa's less fortunate. It is expected that even more deer will be donated in the 2008-09 season.