68 processors, 40 counties, four DNR regions. Each card carries the street address where one is known, a phone and a map link.
68On file
40Counties listed
68Mapped entries
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region (Public domain)
Donating venison and testing deer in Michigan
Hunters Feeding Michigan pays participating processors to turn donated deer into meals for food pantries. A deer shot in some counties must be tested for CWD or bovine TB before the processor can take it for donation.
Venison donation program through licensed processors; monetary donations at license purchase. Donate whole, tagged, harvest-reported, field-dressed deer through participating processors; ~160 meals per deer.
16 of the 68 processors here are on the DNR donation list and 7 host a DNR deer disease sample site; both are tagged on their cards.
Report the deer within 72 hours of recovery or before transferring possession (whichever first) online (Michigan.gov/DNRHarvestReport / eLicense) or in the Hunt Fish app; keep the confirmation number.
Focused surveillance in Ionia, Kent, Mecosta, Montcalm and Newaygo counties; carcasses of sick-acting deer accepted statewide year-round; elsewhere free lymph-node submission kits. Deer must be harvest-reported before heads are accepted. Results at Michigan.gov/DNRLab.
Out-of-state deer
From any other state or province only hides, deboned meat, quarters/parts without spinal column or head, finished taxidermy, cleaned teeth and antlers on cleaned skull caps may be brought in.
Meat processors
30 of these shops were listed only under meat processing, with no word about venison; their cards carry a reminder to phone ahead.
Richardson's Deer Processing · Linden, Livingston County
4402 Cohoctah Rd, Linden
Deer processorDNR deer sample site
DNR site note: staffed disease sample submission station; open Nov. 15 through Nov. 30, Sunday – Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed Nov. 24 and 25; also listed on Yellow Pages
43 counties have none listed; look under the neighbouring county instead.
Why are some processors missing from the map?
63 of 68 have their own coordinates from the Census geocoder or a DNR layer, 5 are pinned at their town centre, and 0 sit under their county with no pin.
Why do some processor cards say to ask first?
30 were found under meat processing with no mention of venison, so whether they cut deer is unknown.
Which Michigan processors take donated deer?
16 on this page are Hunters Feeding Michigan processors, tagged on their cards. Report the deer, then phone before the drop-off.
How long is this list of Michigan processors?
68 across 40 counties.
Do any of these processors collect heads for disease testing?
7 host a DNR deer disease sample site or drop box, tagged on their cards with the DNR note.
How are processors spread across the four regions?
26 in the Southwest Lower Peninsula Region, 23 in the Southeast Lower Peninsula Region, 13 in the Northern Lower Peninsula Region and 6 in the Upper Peninsula Region.
Which counties lead for processors?
Sanilac County (4), Ionia County (3) and Livingston County (3).
Where does the list of processors come from?
Processors from the DNR Hunters Feeding Michigan processor list, the DNR deer disease sample site layers (sites at meat processors only) and Yellow Pages meat-processing listings, checked October 22, 2026.
Other photos on this page: Dana Beveridge (CC BY 2.0); NWCouncil (CC BY 2.0); Christian Collins (CC BY-SA 2.0); colmmcsky (CC BY-SA 2.0); bomme (CC BY-SA 2.0).