who_else

I didnt take it to a processor, my friends dad did it for me and he said that that is the only stuff worth saving. i would think that any of the meat there is on a deer can be ground up and used for something, right? all i knwo is the next deer that i get i am gonna go solo and do it myself.

Phil J.

I think DaveH is the closest here, as I have always cut my own deer and a few years back I weighed a couple before I cut them up, then after I weighed all the packaged meat and I was around 40% meat yeild de-boned. I wanted to verify an article that I had read that said on average you should get 40-50% meat yield for a de-boned deer, and they were right on. I think that is correct.

The deer I usually shoot average around 100-120 lbs., but I was fortunate enough to shoot a 170 lb. 8 point saturday, when I finish cutting it up this week I plan on weighing the meat also and will let you know how much I get for yield.

CarolinaDeerHunter

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.

GBhunter

you may only get 25 or 30 lbs of meat, but when you bring it to the processor to get say hamburgar made, they will add a certain percent of pork or other meat.

CarolinaDeerHunter

Always use pork fat and not beef fat even for burger. If you are concerned about fat in your diet, you can have soy protien added. Soy protien holds the meat together like fat and gives it moisture. I add it to my father' s hamburger and sausage. He had a 5 way by-pass and really watches his fat intake. Most processors don' t carry it so you might need to either order it yourself from a company such as Mid Western or LEM etc... or ask your processor to order it for you. Good Luck!! -- CDH

Phil J.

Carolina Deer Hunter: I was hanging on to your every word to see what percent meat yield is typical, but you left us all hanging Man that' s alot of deer you process each year!!!

I know it depends on shot placement etc etc, but what would be an average meat yeild for a 100 lb. deer, 200 lb. deer? Would you say 40-50% de-boned is typical?

CarolinaDeerHunter

I knew I forgot something in that LONG post. I get to rambling on like that sometimes and miss the point all together. [:-] Yes 40 to 50% is about right if the condition of the meat is right (not much gel etc). Yeah that is a lot of deer, but not as much as a lot of processors here do. Our only advertisment is via word of mouth because I still want my own time to go hunting and my partner is about to turn 75 and doesn' t want to work 24/7 either. It doesn' t take too long to go through a deer and we both can process a deer pretty quickly. We always are doing two at a time but what slows us down is making sausage. (mixing spices and stuffing into casings etc) If we are just cutting the back straps whole for steaks, making burger and cubing it, we can knock a deer out in about 15 - 20 mins. With both of us doing it at the same time we average about 6 deer an hour. I hope I answered your question that time. LOL [:-] Good Luck!! -- CDH

zekeskar

Maybe I' m lucky - but everyone I know of around here who processes meat at least claims (and I believe) does your animal separately. Or at least everyone I know of who is used and recommended by hunters I know. Surely this is not uncommon? I wouldn' t ever consider using a processor who would mix my meat with someone elses. I' ve seen how some people treat their meat in the field! Gives me the creeps to think about it. I' d go back to cutting my own meat if I had that risk w/ a processor. I' ve done it in years past, but nowadays, I can afford to have a good processor do it and have found a couple who do it exactly as I like it (e.g. no added fat in ground). -zeke