Gentlemen,
Interesting thread, looks about evenly split between the " sniper/purists" and the " get it done/shoulder" boys.

First let me say that I' m a " meat hunter" more than a trophy hunter. Second, as a meat hunter I don' t hunt deer, just elk -- no comparison in the meat. Third, since there seems to be a heavy emphasis on shot placement - I' d point out that elk are less cooperative than deer regarding posing for that perfect placement shot in contrast to a deer' s excess curiosity and that tendency to give the hunter that 125 yard, stop, turn broadside, and look back at you opportunity. You can luck into some " posed" shots on elk, not saying you can' t, its just not as likely so you' re frequently left dealing with the " merely sufficient" shot opportunity. So bear in mind that I' m not using deer (150-250 lbs.) as my " gold standard" for this discussion - its elk (at 450-600+ lbs and tough).

Let' s see,
A. Perfect " sniper" heart lung shot (excellent).
B. Solid " thru both shoulders and everything in between" shot with a heavy round (plenty, plenty good AND easy).

Both are lethal, effective shots -- lots worse shots being taken consistently each year by those in camps close to yours and mine - gut shots, hind quarters, texas heart shots, and botched head and neck shots. Those are the ones we ought to be fretting about as one lost animal easily offsets years of animals taken with whichever approach you like. IMHO, effective " take down" of the animal is the paramount issue, how pretty you do it comes in second.

When someone in my group calls in that they shot an elk, I don' t want to know where they hit him -- I want to know if he' s down and they' re in possession of him. Sure, I like them killed clean and pretty, but thats NOT the FIRST priority, when elk hunting -- things don' t always go " just right." A quick high probability kill shot and prompt possession of the animal is our first consideration - okay I spend 10 extra minutes with a butcher knife -- I can live with that -- congratulations on the kill.

Tempest in a teapot if you ask me. EITHER " A" or " B" will do it.
So what about the other actions can be taken to " save meat" if that' s indeed the holy grail we' re seeking? This applies to elk OR deer.

Does everyone take the heart, the liver, neck and rib meat? (Great chili/jerky/salami meat on those last two) Some, but I' ll bet not most, yet I haven' t detected much talk about the virtues of saving those " cuts" of meat.

I saw a few of you mention butchering your own meat. Good for you -- it' s very personal -- and it takes your respect for your harvest to even a higher level. We butcher ours right in camp. Three to four hunters butchering over the course of a day or two will save more meat off their animals than those who would take the " same" animals to a commercial processor who is butchering 300 to 400 a day on a 24 hour schedule (elk country in season). The hunter/butchers will do a far superior job of picking off the hair, trimming out the bone, fat, tendons, sinew, silverskin and bloodshot parts off of their " personal" elk meat than any processor will because for the hunters it is a " labor of love" (resulting in " gourmet elk" cuts) whereas for the processor it' s power saws, fast knives, waste bins, grind bins and " community burger" (CWD?) all under the pressure of schedules to be met and economics (result: " commerical elk meat" ).

I hate to bring it up -- but it ties right in to the topic. Heavy bullets at medium speeds don' t create the degree of bloodshot muscle tissue as the hyper-velocity " light" weight bullets that count on hydrostasis (shock) for their killing power. If you butcher your own and do the trimming yourself you know what I mean. A 7mmMag " beats" a 375 or 45-70 badly in this category.

We care about the issue of " not wasting meat" so long as the whole animal doesn' t get away, but we don' t go bonkers over having to trim up some shot up roast meat, little less roast and a little more burger/jerky/salami. No big deal, after trimming we' re talking ounces of tossed tissue not pounds and pounds.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM