Sept. 15 marked the beginning of deer season in Missouri and continues through Jan. 3.Deer season also marks the beginning of the Missouri Department of Conservation’s “Share the Harvest” campaign.It also marks the beginning of Wright City’s Masonic Lodge, Pauldingville Lodge No. 11 AF&AM’s “Venison Project.” Since 2013, the lodge has partnered with the Missouri Department of Conservation to promote “Share the Harvest” with area hunters.In 2012, Wright City Meat donated about 300 pounds of venison to the pantry, but later that year, Pauldingville Lodge became involved and started spreading the word about this wonderful program. In 2013, the harvest quadrupled the previous year’s donation with over 1,200 pounds of venison. In order to attempt to persuade even more area hunters to participate in the program, the Masonic lodge incorporated a gun raffle into the program.In 2014, every donor received raffle ticket with a chance to win a Ruger American rifle. The lodge also sold tickets to lodge members and throughout the area with the proceeds going to the pantry and other needy causes. This must have worked since the 2014 harvest netted over 2,200 pounds of venison to the Wright City Food Pantry and others. Because of these generous donations, the pantry was able to provide this very lean and high protein venison to needy families well into March 2015.Many hunters enjoy feeding their friends and families with the deer they have harvested, but there are many more who hunt for pure sport and have no need for the venison. By donating those deer to “Share the Harvest,” hunters can enjoy their sport while at the same time helping to feed those in need in their community. By taking their deer to an approved meat processor, the deer is processed, packaged, frozen and distributed to area food pantries, all at no charge to the donors.In Warren County, Wright City Meat is the approved processor. The primary beneficiary of “Share the Harvest” in our area is the Wright City Food Pantry, but the abundance of donations from recent harvests have allowed them to send surplus venison to other pantries in Warren and Lincoln counties.For more information about Pauldingville Lodge’s program, contact Bill at 214-629-2695.Share the Harvest