Traveling to a waterfowl destination in hopes of experiencing full skies and limits in hand also comes with another logistic, the harvest. Bringing home the results of a dream hunt is not always possible without having to charter cargo plane or renting a Uhaul, so this is where our policy comes into play. Mandatory bird processing is how we roll.
It’s truly on us to control the optics of hunting and it all comes down to ethics. If you hunt, you provide food, then it’s the hunters responsibility to provide proper table fare not just a feathered bird off a tailgate.
Professional Bird Processing
Here in Manitoba it’s illegal to donate wild meat to licensed food banks because it’s uninspected meat, but there’s some valid reasons. First is the cold chain has not been documented and is completely unknown, second is that the handling is unknown as well. Liability can be tied to root of today’s paranoia but it seems like there’s no going back to the old days so we must adapt.
With the avenue of organized food banks out of the question, it’s up to Birdtail to organize the chain of lucky recipients. This is not easy and by far the toughest logistic when we’re in season, but it’s all part of the service.
Who do we donate to? Well, hundreds of people and First Nation communities all over Manitoba. It’s one of the moving parts of Birdtail that I have become very proud, we are feeding others healthy food that has been prepared within a facility that Manitoba Health governs.
Yes there is a cost to the hunter for processing, but it’s just a glimmer of the actual expense of doing it in a legal and ethical manor.
