Goguen, A.D., S.J. Riley, J.F. Organ, and B.A. Rudolph. 2017. Wild-harvested venison yields and sharing by Michigan deer hunters. Human Dimensions of Wildlife DOI: 10.1080/10871209.2017.1409372
Abstract
An increased societal focus on wildlife as food and recent policy
deliberations regarding legal markets for wild-harvested meat are
encouraging wildlife managers and researchers to examine the
amount, use, and distribution of meat yielded through recreational
hunting. We used responses to questions on the Michigan Deer
Harvest Study to estimate the maximum yield of edible venison
and assess hunters’ sharing behaviors. We estimated 11,402–14,473
metric tons of edible venison were procured during the 2013 hunting
season. Of hunters who harvested a deer, 85% shared their venison.
Hunters who shared did so with an average of 5.6 people (SD = 4.5).
Sharing occurred most frequently within tight social networks: members
of hunters’ households (69%), relatives (52%), and friends, neighbors,
or coworkers (50%). In the absence of legal markets, venison is
distributed widely by hunters and greatly amplifies the number of
people benefiting from hunting. Nonetheless, we also identified the
potential breadth of exposure to disease or contaminants from wildharvested
meat.