Off Topic: How Much Meat On That Deer?
01-30-2018, 05:42 PM
#21
Spike
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Leesville, LA
Posts: 5
awesome post.. (Lbs of meat from an average deer) now I can calculate just how expensive the deer meat I feed my wife really is.. she thinks at least $500 dollars a pound! After the new side by side, deer lease, corn, bullets, new scope and spotting scope, it is probably a little more.. boy will she feel special tomorrow night eating a deer burger worth a couple big ones! .. LOL Shoot strait and don't waste bullets
01-31-2018, 06:48 AM
#22
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
Nice pictorial!
I'm assuming the 130 pounds was live weight, which gives you a boneless yield of 37% - the average is 35-40%, so job well done.
A tutorial for estimating the different weights (live, carcass, etc.) can be found here:
http://askthemeatman.com/estimate_deer_weight.htm
Also - for anyone reading through this thread, I implore you to field dress your kills. As an animal scientist with formal meat science training, the biggest factor affecting quality is temperature. The faster you get the meat cooled, the quicker you stop enzymatic breakdown, fatty oxidation and free radical formation (all of which reduce quality).
Field dress, hang (head DOWN to drain the blood from the primary cuts in the rear quarters), de-hide, prop open the chest cavity and store in a 38deg locker - all within 60 mins - and you'll have the optimal results. We all know that sometimes this just isn't possible, but if we aim for that then we at least are striving for the best quality meat possible. Buck poles may be fun, but I'd rather look at other people's prizes, because hanging them from their head for an extended time is very simply reducing the quality of their meat...
S&R
I'm assuming the 130 pounds was live weight, which gives you a boneless yield of 37% - the average is 35-40%, so job well done.
A tutorial for estimating the different weights (live, carcass, etc.) can be found here:
http://askthemeatman.com/estimate_deer_weight.htm
Also - for anyone reading through this thread, I implore you to field dress your kills. As an animal scientist with formal meat science training, the biggest factor affecting quality is temperature. The faster you get the meat cooled, the quicker you stop enzymatic breakdown, fatty oxidation and free radical formation (all of which reduce quality).
Field dress, hang (head DOWN to drain the blood from the primary cuts in the rear quarters), de-hide, prop open the chest cavity and store in a 38deg locker - all within 60 mins - and you'll have the optimal results. We all know that sometimes this just isn't possible, but if we aim for that then we at least are striving for the best quality meat possible. Buck poles may be fun, but I'd rather look at other people's prizes, because hanging them from their head for an extended time is very simply reducing the quality of their meat...
S&R
02-01-2018, 10:11 AM
#23
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Comance county, OK
Posts: 11,408
Many hunters here don't bleed the animal: That is a big mistake.
First thing i do after recovering the animal is hang it head down from my truck hanger, cut it's throat and let it bleed out.
First thing i do after recovering the animal is hang it head down from my truck hanger, cut it's throat and let it bleed out.
02-01-2018, 11:25 AM
#24
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Penns Woods
Posts: 1,628
Nice job Semi!... Congrats!
I haven't been on here much lately so I just noticed your thread. Had this been a survey I would have said 40-50 lbs. depending on how you butcher and how the animal was shot. I say this because I've been butchering our deer (and some for family/friends) for so many years I can just about guesstimate from the hanging dressed weight of my deer what I'm going to get out of it. Recently I've been writing down the hanging weight and weighing all my cuts, ground meat, etc. before wrapping and writing that down so I can tally it all up when the job is done.
I don't like bone marrow or bone dust on my meat either so nothing is saw cut, the only thing I use my saw for is removing the head, legs, and breaking down the carcass for disposal.
I do all of my cuts with various knives that I keep sharp with both steels and a strop (I hate working with a dull knife). And like you, I prefer to trim my meat well removing as much fat, gristle, and silverskin as possible. I usually strive to get a 35-40% yield.
The buck I killed this year weighed 130 dressed and I ended up with 49 lbs. or about 38% of hanging weight in boneless edible cuts and ground meat.
Backstrap - 5 lb 12 oz
Inner loin - 1lb 6 oz
Ground meat - 13 lb 10 oz
Hot Dog meat - 17 lb 4 oz
Roasts, steaks, etc - 11 lb
By comparison, the buck I shot last year weighed 156 and I ended up with 62.5 lbs or 40% yield from that one.
BPS
I haven't been on here much lately so I just noticed your thread. Had this been a survey I would have said 40-50 lbs. depending on how you butcher and how the animal was shot. I say this because I've been butchering our deer (and some for family/friends) for so many years I can just about guesstimate from the hanging dressed weight of my deer what I'm going to get out of it. Recently I've been writing down the hanging weight and weighing all my cuts, ground meat, etc. before wrapping and writing that down so I can tally it all up when the job is done.
I don't like bone marrow or bone dust on my meat either so nothing is saw cut, the only thing I use my saw for is removing the head, legs, and breaking down the carcass for disposal.
I do all of my cuts with various knives that I keep sharp with both steels and a strop (I hate working with a dull knife). And like you, I prefer to trim my meat well removing as much fat, gristle, and silverskin as possible. I usually strive to get a 35-40% yield.
The buck I killed this year weighed 130 dressed and I ended up with 49 lbs. or about 38% of hanging weight in boneless edible cuts and ground meat.
Backstrap - 5 lb 12 oz
Inner loin - 1lb 6 oz
Ground meat - 13 lb 10 oz
Hot Dog meat - 17 lb 4 oz
Roasts, steaks, etc - 11 lb
By comparison, the buck I shot last year weighed 156 and I ended up with 62.5 lbs or 40% yield from that one.
BPS
02-01-2018, 02:49 PM
#25
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: River Ridge, LA (Suburb of New Orleans)
Posts: 10,917
Here's a handy step-by-step tutorial for those who have never broken the hind legs into those cuts. I have it in Word.doc format that prints on one page. If anyone wants it in that format send me a Private Message with your email address.
Last edited by Semisane; 02-10-2018 at 07:57 PM.
02-01-2018, 07:48 PM
#26
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: South Central Missouri
Posts: 3,112
Great post Semi. Many folks have no idea what to expect on how much meat they'll get back. I've only ever taken one to a processor, never again. I'd never done sticks and summer sausage and had them do the whole deer for me. That was many years ago. The cuts I see come from the local butcher is enough to gross anyone out. And based on word from their employees, you likely wont even get the same deer back that you brought in. Thats wrong on so many counts. I do my own now, and have for years. As well as for friends and clients of the company I used to work for. It's really such an easy process once you learn what you're doing. Thanks for your post and helping inform the others! Enjoy the harvest!
02-02-2018, 10:48 AM
#28
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Hayes, Va.
Posts: 2,332
02-02-2018, 10:49 AM
#29
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Hayes, Va.
Posts: 2,332
Had a friend who used to be able to separate all the different sections of meat from the bone by hand. Watched him one night. Amazing.
02-02-2018, 11:27 AM
#30
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
rafsob - I once watched a chef and student have a race for spatchcocking and deboning 2 chickens by hand. The chef ripped the backbone out of the first bird, then finished both birds in under 2 mins - he ended up with almost perfect boneless cuts. If the meat temp is around 40-42 degrees you can separate many of the primary cuts by hand on most carcasses, including beef. On that note, I taught my hunting partner how to debone by hand some of the bigger cuts (like the longissimus) on elk while in the field - when the carcass is warm it's not even a challenge...