Four steps the first time. Two steps every time after that. The system is run by the Game Animal Council (Better Hunting and Hunt and Share) and Kiwi Harvest — we're the local group that brings it together in the Southern Lakes.
Step 1 — Create a Better Hunting account
Sign up at betterhunting.nz. It's free, takes a couple of minutes. A short walkthrough video is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Bu0OITotcRU.
Step 2 — Complete the Hunt and Share knowledge check
Enrol in Hunt and Share on the Better Hunting site and work through the ten-question knowledge check. Once it's done, you don't have to do it again — it's a one-off.
Step 3 — Bone, wrap and label the meat
The meat must be clean and boneless. You can freeze some and add to it later — the important thing is keeping the donation ID with the bag so it stays traceable.
The honest test: would I be happy to eat this? If you're not sure, don't donate it.
Kiwi Harvest provides a steel boning table and wrapping. Bone the meat, bundle it into a banana box, and write on the box: estimated weight, and your Better Hunting reference number.
Step 4 — Record the donation online
Before you drop the meat off:
Log in to betterhunting.nz
Open the Hunt & Share platform
Click Record a meat drop-off
Pick the group "NZDA Southern Lakes — Kiwi Harvest"
Fill out the form and save it
Write the donation ID on the label in the chiller
That's it. The meat goes from the chiller to a local butcher in batches, gets minced and packed, and then to the Kiwi Harvest charity partners across Queenstown, Wanaka and Cromwell.
Useful documents
Food safety for hunters (MPI) — PDF to be added
Hunt and Share guide (Game Animal Council) — PDF to be added
Questions about donating?
Alex Gale looks after meat-donation queries from hunters — happy to walk you through it.
Phone or text — +64 27 435 7571
Email — alexgale@xtra.co.nz
For anything else — booking enquiries, general branch — email huts@southernlakesnzda.org.nz, or come to a club night and ask in person.