Virginia has 195 local meat businesses listed on Butcher Bud: 33 butcher shops, 31 beef share farms, 30 mobile slaughter services and 28 wild game ranches, plus 73 more in other categories. Browse by category or city below to find businesses near you.
Butcher Bud lists 20 deer and game processors in Virginia on the Deer and Game Processing in Virginia page at butcherbud.com/deer-game-processing/virginia, sorted by city. If you plan to donate the venison, Virginia Hunters for the Hungry keeps its own participating processor list at h4hungry.org. Before you drive over, call the processor to confirm drop-off hours and that they are taking deer that day.
Yes. Virginia DWR requires hunters to report a deer harvest upon vehicle transport or at the conclusion of hunting hours, whichever occurs first, using the Go Outdoors Virginia app, the internet, or the (866) 468-4263 phone line, also known as 866-GOT-GAME. For phone or internet reporting, validate the license tag where the deer is recovered first. Deer taken on DMAP, DCAP or DPOP tags cannot be reported with eNotch in the app, so report those by phone or internet.
Through Hunters for the Hungry, a Virginia program that takes legally harvested, field-dressed deer at participating meat processors and collection points. You fill out a short form saying you are donating the deer, and the program is billed for the processing, so the venison goes to local feeding programs at no cost to you. Processors can refuse a carcass that was not properly cared for or is too small to be cost effective, so field dress and cool the deer promptly.
A custom exempt operator slaughters and processes livestock that belongs to someone else, such as a beef or hog share you bought from a farm, for use only by the owner, the owner's household, non-paying guests and employees. Custom operators need a no-fee permit from the VDACS Office of Meat and Poultry Services that runs until June 30 each year. Only meat produced under a Virginia State or federal grant of inspection carries an inspection legend on its label.
Sources: Virginia DWR, Game Harvest Reporting · Virginia Hunters for the Hungry, How to Donate Deer · Hunters for the Hungry, Participating Processor List · VDACS, Custom Exemptions · VDACS, Guide to Selling Meat and Poultry in Virginia. Updated 2026-10-12.
Virginia has a proud agricultural heritage including some of the country's finest Smithfield hams, a growing network of grass-fed beef farms in the Shenandoah Valley, and a vibrant community of artisan butchers.
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