How much meat should I have gotten back from the processor?

Takes about $100 around here to get the processors to touch your deer. No vaccum packing.

Just wanted to reiterate this point... you can lose a lot of meat with certain hits. A processor will probably (and you can't really blame them) trim on the error of losing good meat rather than including meat tainted with blood or gut juices.

And just because I can.. here's a picture of the shoulder from a deer I shot last week. It was a quartering away shot and my arrow went through the heart but hit the off-side humerus. The result was a shoulder that was a giant blood clot. I could have trimmed out the bloodshot meat... but instead I hung it up for the chickens. Hey, they have to eat too.


K shot a deer through the ham and I think I was only able to salvage a little less than half of what I normally would have gotten from a rear quarter.

 

Very good points Christine but I especially like the chicken part. I never thought to do that, but now..........
Thanks.

 

Good point but how do you explain the lack of backstraps?


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If the place in question makes sausage and sticks they always hold back a little from everyones deer because they come up short in the end. they do rob peter to pay paul.if you get your deer back at all.....
A few seasons ago I have had to send a agent to a processor in the past to find out where a whole deer went.
The place i took mine to this year charges 20.00 to skin the deer and 10.00 if they dont. what the h#ll.I am going somewhere else next year but sometimes it's to warm out to do it myself.

 

Is it possible some of your steaks are backstrap steaks??? Otherwise, I don't know.

 

And do you know if all the meat you got back is actually from your deer. I just butchered the one I shot on Mon and every time I butcher one I say this is the last one, I hate it but it runs around 85-90 dollars around here to have one done with no extras like sausage etc. And you can count on your burger being mixed in with all the other deer he processes. I think he short cut you by not taking the time to do a through job.

 

Are you talking live weight on a 100lb deer or a 100lb deer gutted out ??

Tim

 

It could be mislabeled but I'm still short 20 lbs in my mind. This has been bothering me all day. He does make sausage and jerky as well.

And I might not have gotten my own deer...very true. I might just suck it up and try to do my own (once again). I need to get quicker at it though. I have to stretch it out over a few days if doing it myself.

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Skin it, cut it into big pieces and put them in a big cooler with lots of ice. Whittle down a quarter into steaks/roast/meat for grinding every day. You'll soon find yourself proficient at it.

I still cut most of my deer into large roasts. It's very fast that way. If I want steaks later I can thaw a roast and cut it into steaks. If I want jerky or cube steaks or even ground meat... I can still thaw out that roast and turn it into whatever. I cut each backstrap into just two pieces. Usually I put the backstrap on a rotisserrie and cook them that way but I can still turn them into steaks if I want. Wrapped tightly with plastic wrap... each piece of backstrap will keep in the freezer better than individual steaks. (not that backstraps should hang around long enough to get freezer burnt!)


Backstrap roast.

 

I have no idea how people supposedly get so much meat off of deer. I believe it's exaggerated just like everything else in hunting. I butcher all of my own deer and take everything(hind quarters, front shoulders, tenderloin, fish and neck roast) from the deer except the rib meat. My buck this year weighed 171lbs and I got a little over 35 pounds of PURE meat. I'm very picky when cleaning the meat but do not waste a lot. Some of the number i hear from other hunters are unbelievable.

 

Yeah I was thinking you should have gotten at least 40lb. Last season my first doe was a little bogger than that one and we process our own. She was about 110 dressed and I got about 50lb of meat out of her. There wasn't much if any left on the bone. We did cut all of the rib meat out also.

 

You definitely should have gotten more meat back. The last doe I shot, I made 25 pounds alone into jerky, and still had the backstraps, tenderloins, and some hind quarters left. She was a damn big doe though, gotta love Kansas crops lol

 

I dont understand that , i've been butchering my own deer for over 30 years and i would alone get atleast 35lbs of hamburger from it , not including the rear hams , front shoulders , the back straps on a 170lb deer should of weighed atleast 5 to 8 pounds a piece .

 

Not saying for sure (since possible he just did a quick sloppy job) but he likely did screw you a bit. I mean, he offered to give you some of his meat or half money back just like that? Seems odd. Like others have said, if it was like 30ish it could be a sloppy job but with that low amount it's a little fishy..

Most groups/hunters we know try to butcher their own meat because of bad experiences with MANY butchers. Many (not to say all) butchers will trim a bit for themselves (from the finer meats); which explains such a small backstrap. Take even 1-2lb from all the deer brought in and it can add up quite nicely. And it's impossible for you to know the difference or prove anything with a few pounds, only when it's a very big difference.

I'm sure people have good experiences with their butcher or no noticeable difference, not trying to offend anyone. If got the time or equip, better to do it yourself. Save some money and saves the headache.


Edit: Found some interesting links to estimate meat yield(would need to know field dressed weight). Saying anywhere from like 40-50% of dressed weight will be meat. Using this link they use the 40% to be on safe side.
http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=document_general_info&cPath=36&products_id=331
Let's say your 80-90 estimate was 85.
42.8lb of "ideal" yield
30lb of realistic yield
Since also said some damaged meat on it, I'd suggest using the realistic. Still 22-30 is a large gap. But who knows.

 

Wow you guys have some high processing prices...

It cost me $45 per deer, Beef fat added to burger, and all steaks, loins, roasts, etc, vacuum sealed

 

My wife and I have done my last three deer together and we do it in much the same way that christine describes. We know its clean and we know we're getting the cuts we want and it's cheap. no one can rip you off if you don't give them a chance to.

 

Yeah $40 here, $50 if they skin it too....for basic stuff as mentioned.

Another place is $90-$100 if you do the whole deer (minus backstraps) in jerky and summer sausage, so I try to do 1 per year that way.

 

You're getting 35lbs of burger off the neck, flank and ribs? 5-8lbs a piece for a tenderloin? I can't imagine a tenderloin weighing as much as a gallon of water. The tenderloins off my buck weighed 2-3lbs apiece at most. Until i see some of these magical numbers with my own eyes, I won't believe it.

 

Prices for the place nearest to me.

http://bloomington-meats.com/deer.pdf

 

Not trying to start an argument but last years two bucks i shot the one weighed 211 dressed and the other was 218 dressed , alot more meat on these MidWest Bucks , i lived in Pa for 36 years and i know there are big deer there , but come out here once and drag one of these farm fed cows , i didnt mean 5 to 8 pounds a piece , i ment a pair , that was my bad typo , but yes after all the trimming and deboning and the clean scraps , the neck with 5 pounds of unsliced bacon cubed up