Kinderhook Elks collecting deer hides for Veterans
KINDERHOOK, N.Y. (NEWS10) — It's deer season again, and the Kinderhook Elks Lodge wants to make sure area hunters use all of their harvests. The organization is collecting deer hides for the veterans, at two drop-off locations in Columbia County.
The New York State Elks Association annually collects deer hides and the money gathered from this program is then distributed, every month, to all the veterans' hospitals statewide. Donated hides may be dropped off at the Kinderhook Elks Lodge, located at 2750 NY-9H in Kinderhook, or at Ghent Sportsman's Association, at 1128 County Route 9, in Ghent. There, they will be salted and prepared for the tannery.
Rapid deterioration is a big factor, so Elks volunteers suggest that no plastic bags be used unless air is allowed to circulate in the bag. The tannery will not accept any hide that has deteriorated.
In return for your hide, a $35 tax-deductible certificate will be issued to the individual making the hide donation. There will be a sign-in sheet at each drop-off location that requires your name, address, and license type and number.
Each location will have red signs pointing hunters to labeled barrels, where they can drop their hides. The Kinderhook Elks will be collecting hides up to mid-January 2023.