By Corina Jordan, Chief Executive, New Zealand Game Animal Council
For many years, hunters have been donating recreationally harvested wild game meat to foodbanks and charities. This reflects the generosity and community spirit of the hunting sector and makes a real difference to those in need, while growing awareness that hunting can provide individual and community self-sufficiency, resilience, and food security.
To support this movement, the Game Animal Council has just launched Hunt and Share, a free voluntary online platform that provides traceability and food-safety support for wild game meat donation initiatives.
Hunt and Share is not about replacing existing efforts. It is about providing a simple framework that can support more wild game meat making its way to those in need, with confidence that handling, recording and labelling has been done to the highest possible standard.
Wild game meat donation is a great reason to do more of what we love, to get out more, increase our harvest, and carry out increased game animal management.
The Game Animal Council has developed Hunt and Share to protect the future of wild game meat donations and the value hunters are providing to communities. This is important because while recreationally harvested wild game meat can legally be donated, it does not go through the same checks and balances as commercial meat pathways.
Hunt and Share includes a guidebook for donation organisers, a short online food safety knowledge check for hunters, a meat donation record database, and labelling tools so donated meat can be traced all the way from when it is harvested to when it reaches the consumer. The platform has been developed with advice from food safety regulator, MPI.
The platform is already being used by Game Changer NZ, a nationwide meat donation initiative led by the Wild Game Recovery Trust. Game Changer NZ coordinates the donation process by linking hunters, butchers, and foodbanks, while separately raising funds to cover the processing. To sign up to Game Changer NZ, hunters, butchers and foodbanks can go to gamechanger.wgrt.org.nz.
If you or your local hunting club are interested in using Hunt and Share for your donation initiative, head to nzgac.org.nz/hunt-and-share.
Sector leaders survey identifies priorities
The GAC has also recently surveyed hunting sector leaders to help inform a short sector briefing that will be provided to political parties as they develop their policies ahead of the 2026 General Election.
I want to thank the sector leaders who took the time to participate. The response was strong and the results show clear alignment on several important issues.
Access, herd quality and the overall hunting experience remain central priorities to ensuring hunters have the best possible hunting opportunities.
There was strong support to better recognise game animals as ‘valued introduced species’, taking into account their recreational, cultural, community and economic benefits. This reinforces that game animals should not be viewed solely through a pest-control lens. While their impacts must be managed, the sector wants legislative and policy settings that recognise their value to hunters, communities, and wider regional economies.
There was desire from sector leaders for the Game Animal Council to be further strengthened, and given a clearer, stronger and more independent role in shaping and delivering game animal management, to ensure that hunter values are central.
Sector leaders supported management systems that are built around long-term objectives rather than short-term or reactive interventions, and that treat hunters as active contributors to management, rather than simply as stakeholders to be consulted or informed after decisions have been made. This requires a common long-term vision for the future of game animals in New Zealand that has buy-in across the social and political spectrum.
Respondents noted a need for better coordination of recreational and commercial hunting, government action and local management initiatives, to help reduce conflict and improve hunting opportunities. There was strong support for proactive approaches to herd management, such as the selective targeting of breeding females while allowing younger males to mature.
We are currently working on the briefing for political parties on behalf of the hunting sector. This work is a key function of the Game Animal Council – to raise awareness of the views of the hunting sector.
All the best,
Corina