A national “Hunters for the Hungry” campaign is racking up record amounts of donated deer, wild hog, and squirrel meat to bolster soup-kitchen chilis during the coldest, leanest stretch of the year for poorer Americans.

Such field-to-kitchen charities draw the ire of animal rights groups, but game managers say they play a role in keeping Americas deep woods healthy by curtailing wildlife overpopulation. As the number of hunters declines in the US, and as wild herds grow in many locales, a new market for surplus meat helps overcome many hunters reticence against taking animals that will not be used.

[Read](http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1011/p01s08-ussc.html “Read the Story”) (Christian Science Monitor)