Better than shooting a buck? Giving it away

By Mike Kuhns, Sports Editor, Pocono Record

This year I wanted to do something different, something I’ve never done before, and I don’t know why it took this long.

I donated a deer.

A few weeks ago I looked on the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s website and came across Hunters Sharing the Harvest (sharedeer.org).

I also found that there is one deer processor in Monroe County, according to the PGC website, that participates in the program — Haydt’s Meat Market in Kresgeville.

One? The list had to be wrong.

I called the market, and Faye Haydt answered the phone, and she gave me easy directions to the market on Beltzville Road. She also confirmed that her market is the only processor in the county involved in a program that doesn’t get nearly enough attention.

For a $15 donation, hunters can take their deer to Haydt’s (you can keep a buck’s cap or the mount if you like) and they take care of the rest. It doesn’t get an easier than this, I thought.

As I dropped off my deer, I knew I had to share my experience. Apparently, I’m late to the party, because Haydt informed me that many hunters have contributed in the past to a program worthy of more ink than I can provide.

Haydt, owner of the market with her husband Delbert until his death last year, is one of the nicest people you will meet. She told me about the program and how it works.

Organizations like soup kitchens sign up for the Hunters Sharing the Harvest program, and then during the hunting season the venison is processed and distributed to those in need.

When I learned about the program, I wondered how I didn’t hear about it sooner. Maybe I did know and blocked it from my mind.

Knowing that Faye and her family were involved made me feel better. The lady, who shared 50 years with Delbert, told me about past years’ donations by hunters.

The exact numbers were foggy, but it didn’t matter, I was just glad to get involved in some small way.

Tuesday was an exciting day for me. I was fortunate enough to harvest a buck with my bow, my third 8-pointer in eight years.

After months of preparation, shooting in the rain, shooting in low light, scouting, early mornings and long walks in the dark, preparation met opportunity.

Little did I know that two days later I’d feel even better.

Published Nov. 7, 2013. Courtesy of the Pocono Record.