A North Dakota program that distributes venison to the needy will only accept deer killed with arrows, over fears that firearm-shot meat may contain lead fragments.

"We're calling out to bow hunters to spend a little more time in the tree stand," said Ann Pollert, executive director of the North Dakota Community Action Partnership, which administers the Sportsmen Against Hunger Program.

Pollert said her group had been waiting on findings from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has been studying potential health risks for people who eat venison killed with high-velocity ammunition.

The results of the federal study were expected last month but have been delayed. North Dakota's deer opener is Friday.

"We had to make a decision," Pollert said.

A draft report has been completed but it has not been released, said Dr. Stephen Pickard, a CDC epidemiologist who works with the state Health Department in Bismarck.

"It has to go through clearance and cross-clearance," he said. "The wheels of government are just grinding."

North Dakota health officials and CDC collected blood samples in May from 738 people in North Dakota's six largest cities, Pickard said. The samples were taken from children as young as 2 to adults. Most were collected from adults who had eaten venison killed with high-velocity ammo, though some samples were taken from people who had eaten pheasants and waterfowl shot with either lead or non-lead pellets, he said.

The study was done after Dr. William Cornatzer, a Bismarck physician and hunter, alerted health officials last spring. He conducted his own tests on venison using a CT scanner and found lead in samples of donated deer meat.

Cornatzer's findings spurred the state Heath Department to order food pantries in the state to throw out donated venison, saying it may have lead fragments. Other states followed with similar alerts.

Some in the firearms industry and groups that donate venison to the needy called the actions premature and unsupported by science.

The North Dakota Community Action Partnership distributed 17,000 pounds of venison from 381 donated deer after last year's hunting season, a number that has tripled since the program began in North Dakota in 2004, Pollert said. At least 4,000 pounds of venison were in food pantries in the state when the health department issued its warning, she said.

Terry Steinwand, director of North Dakota's Game and Fish Department, said nearly 100,000 North Dakotans - or about a sixth of the state's population - went deer hunting last year and more than 100,000 deer were killed.

The Game and Fish Department has been working in recent years to reduce deer numbers in the state, after a series of mild winters that boosted the population. A record 149,400 deer licenses were made available in North Dakota this year, including about 17,000 archery tags.

Steinwand said he suspects some hunters will switch to non-lead bullets but most will opt for traditional ammo. His department has made no recommendations to hunters on the type of ammunition that should be use, he said.

"Hunters should take good care of the kill and make well-placed shots to minimize the risk of lead contamination," Steinwand said.

Pickard, of the CDC, said the agency also will not recommend the type of ammunition that should be used for hunting.

"This report will deal with what is your risk - not how you harvest your animals," Pickard said. "It won't be specific to what kind of ammunition hunters can use."