How listings work
Every listing starts from government inspection records. The badges mean something specific:
- USDA inspected — a federal inspector is in the plant. Meat can be sold across state lines.
- State inspected — the state's program inspects the plant. Meat can be sold within that state. Just as real as federal inspection, smaller territory.
- Custom exempt — the shop processes animals for their owners: your deer, your steer, your hog. The meat comes back to you marked "Not for Sale." This is most of the classic small-town lockers.
- CIS (can ship interstate) — a state inspected shop that is also cleared to ship across state lines. State inspected meat normally has to stay inside the state. The Cooperative Interstate Shipment program is the exception: these shops meet federal requirements and ship under the USDA mark. If you raise animals and want to sell meat to a customer in another state, this is the badge to look for.
"Services unconfirmed, call ahead" means the license tells me the shop exists, but not what they actually offer day to day. A license class can't tell you whether they take deer in November or whether the smokehouse is running. Rather than guess, I say so — and you make one phone call before you drive.
Verification happens three ways: government records give the baseline, owners confirm details when they claim their listing, and I check shops by hand — websites, phone calls, a little at a time. Verified facts beat scraped facts, and a person beats both.
I'd rather tell you "unconfirmed" than tell you something wrong. Wrong costs you a drive; unconfirmed costs you a phone call.
Donating a deer
Most states run a program where hunters can donate a deer — whole, or just part of it — and the venison goes to food pantries and families who need it. In most cases it costs the hunter nothing; the program covers the processing. It only works because local shops volunteer to do the cutting.
The purple badge marks shops on their state's program list: HUSH in Iowa, Share the Harvest in Missouri, and the Deer Donation Program in Wisconsin. Each state page has the details for that state. Rules differ a little — read your state's page before you load up.
Reading the badges
Badge color tells you what kind of fact you're looking at: gray for who inspects them, amber for what they do, purple for donation programs, muted gray for what we haven't confirmed, and green only when the owner runs the listing.
Who inspects them
- USDA inspectedFederal inspection — can sell anywhere.
- State inspectedState program — sells within the state.
- Custom exemptProcesses your animal, for you. Not for sale.
- CIS (can ship interstate)State inspected, and cleared to ship across state lines.
What they do
- Wild gameTakes hunters' deer and game — confirmed.
- Custom processingCuts and wraps your beef, hog, or game.
- SlaughterHandles the harvest on site.
- SmokingSmoked and cured products.
- Mobile slaughterComes to your farm.
Donation programs
- Accepts donated deer (HUSH)On the state's donation-program list — the program name is in the badge.
- CWD testingAlso a chronic wasting disease sampling site.
How sure we are
- Claimed by ownerThe owner runs this listing — details verified. The only green badge on the site.
- Services unconfirmed, call aheadLicensed and real, but services not yet confirmed.
- Makes own products, not a custom processorA producer, not a shop that takes your animal.