Officials in Saint Andrews hope to turn the town’s deer problem into a solution for another issue in the community.
A nuisance deer hunt has been used in the town for the past several years in an effort to lower the deer numbers.
Private landowners can receive special permits allowing hunters to harvest one antlerless deer on their property.
This year, hunters will be able to donate the deer they harvest to the Charlotte County food bank in St. Stephen.
“It just makes sense,” said Brad Henderson, the deputy mayor of Saint Andrews, about the idea.
Henderson said the food bank — known as the Volunteer Centre of Charlotte County — is “at a crisis for food shortage and this certainly is a solution for them.”
The town has been working closely with the Department of Energy and Resource Development for the past couple of months to make this possible, he said.
Henderson said the process for hunters to donate their harvest is simple and easy. First, hunters must contact the department to get a meat registration permit must get a meat registration permit from a conservation officer.
He said they have lined up a local butcher — Robert Mills in Mayfield — who has agreed to process the meat.
“The municipality pays for the cost of processing the deer and then the food bank representative picks it up and takes it to the family in need,” Henderson said.
Henderson said the initiative could be considered a pilot project to some degree for his community and others.
“I think if it’s administered properly, there might be a foundation of establishing a longer-term solution for food banks in this community,” he said.
The deer hunt starts Oct. 7 and continues until Nov. 23.
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