We process about 750 - 1000 deer a year. Just today we processed 17 deer. There are only two of us doing it and we do each deer one at a time which we are the only ones that I know of that do the deer one at a time for the number of deer we process. The whole reason we do this is because we want people to get the same deer back that they brought us. It takes a little more extra time and expense, wear and tear on the grinders, stuffers, cubers etc... but not that much at all. How much meat you get back also depends on several factors such as the shot placement, amount of gell (blood clot), the care of the deer before it arrives to the processor etc... We get very few people, maybe one or two each year say " I thought I would have gotten more meat back." The first step to insure yourself a good return on the meat is on the hunter' s shoulder. If the hunter shoots the deer in the shoulder for a lung or heart shot, it takes a good bit of meat that could go to cube, burger or sausage. If the deer is shot in the rib, it takes some burger or sausage but no cube or steak, roast etc... If the hunter is using a large grain bullet, that also takes away from the return on meat as it tears up the inside of the deer a lot more than a smaller grain bullet would. The absolut best place to shoot a deer if you can is in the head or neck. If you skin the deer out yourself and see the gel (blood clot) on the outside of the shoulder or where ever you shot him, next time look at the inside. You will be surprised how much more gel you will see there. Also, as the deer hangs in the cooler, the gel will reform even after cleaning it off once already. A lot of gel can be washed out, scraped off or cut off when skinning and processing the deer but there is also some that can' t. Some processors won' t take the time to cut around the gel or try to remove it to save the other meat around it because to them it is a time factor. I am not saying some or even most processors are like that, but some are. I just know how we do it and can only go by that. The man that I am partners with has been cutting meat since the 1950' s and that is all he has ever done, he knows nothing else. He will be 75 on the 25th of this month and still believes in doing things the old fashion way just as I do. Give people what they pay for. For the one or two people we have each year that say " I thought I would get more meat back" we have so many more (probably around 85 %) that praise us for the work we do. We have never had anyone tell us that they have gotten a bad peice of meat from us or that we don' t give them quality meat or service. We do no advertising and all our business is by word of mouth only. If you know your processor well enough, ask them if you can watch them for a couple of hours or so. Start by watching them skin and clean the deer. Check out the cooler. Then watch them when they first carry a deer (s) in to be processed. You will be surprised at the amount of damage a bullet can make and how some people have no idea the damage they are causing with overkill on the bullet weight. Also remember that the majority of processors cut and process a large number of deer at one time and go by a caculation according to skinned weight how much meat you will get back in return. Sorry for rambling on but I hope this will help explain some. If not, shoot me. (Small weight bullet of course!) PS: The worse possible place to shoot a deer is in the back and yes we do get SEVERAL (50 or so) each year shot that way.