National Deer Association

Public Support for Hunting Continues to Decline, and Public Perception Often Misunderstands the Motivations Behind It. Fortunately, Researchincluding the 2025 Americans Attitudes Toward Hunting and Sport Shooting Surveyshows That Most Americans Strongly Approve of Hunting When It Is Done to Procure Food. at the Same Time, They Disapprove of Trophy Hunting or Hunting They Perceive as Unethical. This Presents a Unique Opportunity: Aligning Hunting More Visibly With Food-based Motivations Could Help Reverse the Downward Trend in Support. in 2022, the Wildlife Management Institute Received a Multistate Conservation Grant for a Project Titled Connecting Different Cultures to Hunting and Fishing Through Food. That Project Turned 15 Wild Game Cooking Recipes From Global Cuisines Into Shareable Photo and Video Assets. Two of the 15 Recipes Utilized Venison. Many State Agencies and Organizations Including National Deer Association (NDA) Have Used Those Recipes to Tell the Story of Hunting Through Food. This Project Builds on the Past Successful Grant by Focusing on the Number One Meat That Is Used in Wild Game Hunting: Venison. This New Project, a Taste of Conservation, Builds Directly Upon That Prior Effort by Producing 15 Additional Venison Recipes That Are Simple, Approachable, and Universally Appealing. the Project Will Focus Primarily on Venison Because It Provides More Meals Than All the Other Game Meat Combined. With the Six Million Deer Harvested a Year, About 1.2 Billion Meals Are Provided If You Assume a Quarter Pound of Meat Per Meal. Wild Turkey Only Provides About Three Million Meals, and Elk Provides 191 Million Meals. Deer Is King of Game Meat Harvested and Will Be the Most Engaged With Content. Recipes Will Use Easy-to-find Ingredients and Cooking Methods Accessible to Most Households. All Content Will Be Designed to Present Hunting and Venison in a Beautiful, Flavorful, and Relatable Way. the Project Will Use Modern, Trending Video Styles, Mouth-watering Photos, and Straightforward Recipe Instructions That Appeal to Non-hunters and the Average Home Cook. Short Videos Like Those From Buzzfeeds Tasty Channel Receive Over 500 Million Views Per Month. When Both Hunters and Anglers Were Surveyed, Asking What Format Setting They Would Be Interested in Receiving Instruction, Both Hunters and Anglers Selected Short Informational Videos (1-3 Minutes in Length) as One of the Top Categories, Higher Than Longer Videos, In-person Programming, Webinars, or Written Content. All Assets Will Be Distributed via the Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation (R3) Clearinghouse and Made Freely Available to State Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Videos Will Include Space at the End for Agencies to Insert Their Own Logos, Websites, or Calls to Action. Nda Will Also Promote the Materials Nationally Through Its Blog, Newsletter, Website, Social Media Platforms, and Paid Advertising Campaigns. Knowing From the Research That the Typical Hunter Bought a License in 2.8 of the Last Five Years and Only 13% of Hunters Bought a License in Each of the Last 10 Years, Theres a Huge Opportunity to Retain More Hunters and the Vast Majority of Hunters, Hunt Deer. This Project Directly Supports the 2026 Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) Strategic Priority of R3 Marketing and Is Designed to Help Retain Hunters by Increasing Their Arsenal of What to Do With Their Harvested Venison and to Normalize Food-based Hunting in the Public Eye by Using the Universally Understood and Emotionally Resonant Medium of Food.