Division of Fish & Wildlife
State of New Jersey
Philip D. Murphy, Governor
Tahesha Way, Lieutenant Governor
Department of Environmental Protection
Shawn M. LaTourette, Commissioner
New Jersey DEP Fish & Wildlife
Dave Golden, Assistant Commissioner
Lisa Barno, Assistant Director
Ginger Kopkash, Assistant Director
Jason Hearon, Assistant Director
Joe Cimino, Administrator, Marine Resources Administration
Al Ivany, Chief, Information and Education
James Oxley, Chief, Wildlife Management
Jeff Brust, Chief, Marine Fisheries
Russell Babb, Chief, Shellfisheries
Frank T. Panico, Chief, Law Enforcement
Shawn Crouse, Chief, Freshwater Fisheries
VACANT, Chief, Land Management
Kathy Clark, Chief, Endangered and Nongame Species
Kim Springer, Chief, Business Administration
Linda DiPiano, Editor
NJDEP Fish & Wildlife is a professional, environmental organization dedicated to the protection, management and wise use of the state’s fish and wildlife resources. The Digest is available at license agents and NJDEP Fish & Wildlife offices. Information may be reprinted with permission. Subscriptions are not available. This Digest is designed and produced by Kalkomey Enterprises, LLC. Partial funding for the Digest is provided by the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program.
Cover photo New Jersey Red Fox. (Photo © Bill Klimas)
New Jersey Fish and Game Council
Frank Virgilio, Chair
Jim DeStephano
Mitchell Jones
Ed Kertz
Dr. Rick Lathrop
Robert Pollock
Robert Puskas
Loren Robinson
Ken Whildin
Where to Write Us
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife
MC 501-03 • P.O. Box 420 • Trenton, NJ 08625-0420 • NJFishandWildlife.com
New Jersey DEP Fish & Wildlife
Our Mission
To protect and manage the state’s fish and wildlife to maximize their long-term biological, recreational and economic value for all New Jerseyans.
Our Goals
• - To maintain New Jersey’s rich variety of fish and wildlife species at stable, healthy levels and to protect and enhance the many habitats on which they depend.
• - To educate New Jerseyans on the values and needs of our fish and wildlife and to foster a positive human/wildlife co-existence.
• - To maximize the recreational and commercial use of New Jersey’s fish and wildlife for both present and future generations.
Hunters Helping the Hungry
Hunters Helping the Hungry, an organization that has enabled hunters to provide over two million servings of tasty and nutritious venison to feed New Jersey families since 1997, needs some help from the public to cover the costs of professional meat processing.
The program, which donated 24,486 pounds of venison (113,944 servings from 867 hunter-provided deer) to food banks and charitable organizations last year alone, operates with limited funding. Butchers who participate in the Hunters Helping the Hungry program receive $100 to process the donated deer. Due to recommendations from our friends at the NJ Farm Bureau working with the NJ Dept. of Agriculture, HHH was awarded a grant that allows us to waive the hunter's portion of the processing fees for hunter-donated deer weighing 50 lbs. or more (dressed hanging weight), and will continue to allow us to waive the hunter's portion of hunter-donated deer weighing 50 lbs. or more in the 2024-25 season. The hunter's fee for deer weighing under 50 lbs. (dressed hanging weight) is $50.
Hunters should check on funding availability before harvesting a deer intended for donation by visiting the website below.
Anyone interested in making a charitable contribution to offset the program’s meat-processing costs can visit our website at HuntersHelping
TheHungry.org to donate securely through PayPal or send a check payable to: Hunters Helping the Hungry, P.O. Box 587, Lebanon, NJ 08833.
Participating Butchers Include (listed north to south):
Sussex County
- Newton High School, Newton
(973) 383-7573 x243 Call first for instructions
Hunterdon County
- Game Butchers
The Person Family, Lebanon (908) 735-4646 - Hunterdon Deer Butcher (908) 797-2315
51 Old Franklin School Rd., Pittstown - Bishop’s Market
Whitehouse Station (908) 534-9666 - V. Roche & Son, LLC Meat Processing
9 High St., Whitehouse Station (908) 534-2006
Mercer County
- The Valley Butcher
Pennington (609) 947-2235
Salem County
- The Buck Stop, (856) 794-1281
989 Alvine Rd., Pittsgrove
Camden County
- Bringhurst Fine Meats/Catering
Berlin (856) 767-0110
We are always looking for butchers to participate in our program, so please contact us through the website HuntersHelpingtheHungry.org. Also check our website, as the list of butchers may change periodically.
Butchers may not accept donated deer during the Six-day Firearm Buck Season, decided by individual butchers on a day-to-day basis, so they can accommodate their regular customers. Hunters should contact the butcher in advance.
For upcoming fundraising events such as sporting clay shoots, a golf outing, and a 3-D archery shoot, visit HuntersHelpingtheHungry.org
New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
Annual Convention and Sportsmen's Jamboree*
April 25–26, 2025
*Convention to be held at:
Holiday Inn Philadelphia South-Swedesboro, Swedesboro, NJ
Friday, April 25, 2025, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., with Awards Ceremony Dinner on Saturday at 5 p.m.
For details, go to www.njsfsc.org
*Sportsmen's Jamboree to be held:
Gloucester County Dream Park, Logan Twp., NJ
Saturday, April 26, 2025, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Come see NJ's most outstanding deer from 2023–24 and everything for the outdoor enthusiast. (details on Wildlife Programs)
Join us at both locations for science-based wildlife management and hunting/fishing/trapping-related presentations and interactive discussions.
This 2-day event is co-hosted by the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, Inc., and its affiliates.
Edible portions do not include meat from the head or neck; meat that has been damaged by the method of taking; bones, sinew, and meat reasonably lost as a result of butchering, boning, or close trimming of bones, or viscera. Edible portions do not include meat from diseased or scavenged carcasses. See Wanton Waste of Game, General Hunting Regulations.
For white-tailed deer:
- Front quarters to the knee
- Hind quarters to the hock
- Backstrap/tenderloin — the meat along the backbone, between the front and hind quarters
How Far Can Your Firearm Shoot?
12 gauge maximum distances for shot sizes:
No. 6 - 708 feet or 236 yards
No. 0 - 1,845 feet or 615 yards
No. 00 - 1,895 feet or 632 yards
Slug, 1 oz - 3,780 feet or 1,260 yards
Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute, Inc.
Safety Series, 1075 Post Road, Riverside, CT 06878
• Distances above are with barrel held at an elevated angle for maximum trajectory. Always consider the angle of your barrel when shooting.
• Never shoot at or over the crest of a hill.
• All distances are approximate and can vary depending on the shotgun’s gauge/choke and ammunition used.
Hunting & Trapping Explorer
Before heading out to hunt, use the online Hunting & Trapping Explorer to determine your hunting zone, unit, township and county and to confirm your zone boundaries. This will speed your harvest reporting after a successful hunt!
It's easy, fast and accurate! See Deer Hunting Regulations for harvest reporting details.
Please Note: Not all land highlighted in green is publicly accessible or huntable. Please contact the landowner/manager for more information.
Hunting & Trapping Explorer
Scan this code or visit NJFishandWildlife.com/hunt.
Be The First To Know! Get on the List
The Hunting & Trapping e-mail list, that is.
This free service provides the latest information about NJDEP Fish & Wildlife events, public hearings and other wildlife-related news. And there are nine other lists to help you get the most out of New Jersey’s fish and wildlife resources.
Sign up today.
Visit NJDEP Fish & Wildlife’s website: dep.nj.gov/njfw/education/email-lists/
Visit us on social media
