Several drop-off locations seek deer hides for veterans

Every fall, eight states participate in the Elks Leather Program. This program collects deer hides. The raw hides are dropped off at central points, salted and shipped to a tannery for processing. Hide donations are currently accepted in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, and Tennessee.

In Iowa the drop off sites in this area are Nelson Company, Fairfield; Bass Storage, Birmingham; Old Lumber Yard, Stockport; Keosauqua Lumber, Keosauqua; Nature Center, Oakland Mills; Dog Park Shelter, Batavia; CO-OP, Libertyville; 4 Way Stop, Packwood; Meat Locker, Brighton; Fire Station, Richland; Fastenal/Kinney & Sons, Mount Pleasant. Henry County Conservation Department clarified their drop off point. A barrel is stationed in front of the maintenance shop at Oakland Mills.

The Elks were founded in 1868 as a non-political, non-sectarian organization open to any American citizen over the age of 21. Today there are more than 800,000 members at 1900 locations in the U.S. The Elks Leather Program was initiated in 1948 when the Elks of California launched a hide-gathering program in their State during hunting season.

The leather provided by the Elks is used for recreational and occupational therapy throughout the Veterans Administration health care system. One of the important products made are gloves for wheelchair use. Don Baye, Louisiana State Veterans Chair observed that “Veterans at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games were ecstatic to receive the gloves. They told us they look forward to the games because they know that the Elks will be there distributing the leather gloves, and these are the only gloves that hold up.”

In addition to recreational and tournament use, the project allows veterans to create wallets, clothing, belts and moccasins. Many of these are beautiful art objects as well as useful personal items. Learning new skills is a great way to get little used muscles back into shape.

In 2023-24: the eight states collected 11,916 hides, 938 veterans received free wheelchair gloves, 74,761 square feet of leather was donated by Elks to provide free craft kits for recovering veterans, 14,188 veterans received craft kits from the Elks. The Elks are working hard to expand the program. While everyone thinks of hunters when talking about collecting hides, the importance of the program can be recognized by everyone. Spread awareness and aid in the collection and proper handling of this wildlife resource.