Percent edible meat from dressed weight do you actually get?

[laker1]

I see these various charts etc. and many to me seem to high of return? I do believe the bigger a deer is the higher percent return you get. Some charts show returns like around 55%. Your rule of thumb is on return percent or a reliable chart?

[jentz]

I think those charts are bone in butchered,without the cape,head,legs.Hanging weight.I've butchered deer for 40 years and never weighted the difference.But my guess would be 33-35%

[Walleyehooker]

Deboned pure meat is more like 1/3 of dressed weight.

[laker1]

I think those charts are bone in butchered,without the cape,head,legs.Hanging weight.I've butchered deer for 40 years and never weighted the difference.But my guess would be 33-35%

Well that is what I was wondering. They say edible meat,but 55% return,I was never that good and we work very hard to get that last little piece off the bones.

[eyeguy 54]

I am kinda picky in what I keep. Usually end up at about 30 to 35 %. The fussier I am the better it tastes. Fillet knife gets a good workout.

[sportfish]

Around 30 % is what I have found

[CANOPY SAM]

Pure, cleaned, boned out meat = 30-35% on a mature deer. Less on younger animals.

[laker1]

well those who have not cut their deer up in would be a interesting test to see what you come up with.

[Scott K]

I cleaned 2 so far this year, I got 48# from one, and 34# from the other one. No clue what they weighed before I cleaned them.

[certified jumbo]

My doe field dressed 130 pounds. I got 35 pounds of meat. So that's around 25 percent. I don't think I could have squeaked out much more....

[Notime]

The buck in my avitar dressed out at 252 without heart and liver, he still weighed 208 after he was caped. I had to cut his back legs off to hang him in the garage so his neck wasn't on the floor. When he was all cut and wrapped I got 135 pounds of meat from him. There was very little fat on his rump.

[laker1]

The buck in my avitar dressed out at 252 without heart and liver, he still weighed 208 after he was caped. I had to cut his back legs off to hang him in the garage so his neck wasn't on the floor. When he was all cut and wrapped I got 135 pounds of meat from him. There was very little fat on his rump.

That is one big deer. Like I said earlier,the bigger they are,I think you get a higher percentage of meat compared to field dress weight.

One question was that completely de-boned?

[eyeguy 54]

really depends on what you keep.

[harvey lee]

I would agree eyeguy. I hunted with a group of guys and they hardly trimmed of anything from the meat. They kept the fat and everything, kinda bothered me. They would even keep all the rib meat that was more fat that meat.

Then, you have a bad hit in 1 shoulder, some keep it all and others clean out the bloody meat or the meat with bone chips.

I trim all my meat from fat, sinew and only use red meat. Guy that does some sausage making for me always tells me, you can leave some fat on the meat and I tell him u can add pork or beef fat if it is too lean, I do not like venison fat in anything I cook.

Everyone has thier way of processing venison for thier taste. I prefer red meat and that shows in pounds of meat per deer.

[Cheetah]

I took a big mature doe this year with my bow at Ripley and got a 43% yield of meat from her. I end up with very little fat or sinew in the meat and ground venison when I am done.

[nofishfisherman]

I'm the same as Harvey, I like to have nothing but the red meat left when I'm done. Takes some work with the fillet knife but I think I get better results. Only bad part about being really picky during processing is the extra time it takes. Me and my hunting crew aren't very fast about getting a deer done but I think its always done very well.

[laker1]

I took a big mature doe this year with my bow at Ripley and got a 43% yield of meat from her. I end up with very little fat or sinew in the meat and ground venison when I am done.

I think that is about right for a big doe.

[TRZ II]

Big deer get a higher yield, you guys are right on I figure about 1/3. Big deer might be 40%.

[boXCar JiggY]

well I took my percentage of edible meat from my doe which include the rear hams an back straps, then I took my edible bear meat that I trimed for sausage, an added the two together an orderd 20lbs of of cheddar polish, 10 lbs of cheddar brauts, 10 lbs of pepparjack summersausage, an 10 lbs of pizza sticks. All meat what 99% lean. an Im getting really hungary right now just typing this. Ive done the roasts an chops for 5 years now an its time to sausage up! Cant wait till ice!!

[nonteepical]

The buck in my avitar dressed out at 252 without heart and liver, he still weighed 208 after he was caped. I had to cut his back legs off to hang him in the garage so his neck wasn't on the floor. When he was all cut and wrapped I got 135 pounds of meat from him. There was very little fat on his rump.

How can that be! We've been told on here that we shouldn't have older age bucks in the population because the antlers get cut off and the meat gets thrown away! thats just aweful you would make up a story of 135lbs of meat...sheesh!

[TRZ II]

If you think 200+ pound deer taste good you haven't eaten one! I have butchered 3 over 200 pounds and I ate every last piece. But let me tell you they are tough and gamey! the guys that make the whole thing into sausage are right on, even the backstraps aren't too good.

[eyeguy 54]

you need a new cook TRZ.

[Getanet]

How can that be! We've been told on here that we shouldn't have older age bucks in the population because the antlers get cut off and the meat gets thrown away! thats just aweful you would make up a story of 135lbs of meat...sheesh!

I'm curious how that can be as well. We've been told on here that not one buck is able to survive past 1.5 years in MN. He must have shot the one mythical beast outside of Zone 3 that was able to survive the slaughter.

[TRZ II]

you need a new cook TRZ.

Perhaps, But make no mistake it takes alot of marinade or gravy or something to make them old swampers taste good! I love shooting a big buck as much as the next guy but the big old deer from the NE part of the state get pretty tough. But you can also rest assured plenty of them survive and many die of old age in my region....

[nbadger23]

I'm with Harvey and nofish.. the fillet knife gets a lot of work and it's not a fast process so I probably end up with a bit less than most. I take some pride out of looking at my stacks of meat and seeing clean, red meat. I rarely weigh the deer we shoot but I usually figure about 30 -35 lbs off of a good doe, depending on where she got hit.

[Ferny]

It seems to me I get 4 ice cream pails full of de-boned fat free meat on average. Excluding the back straps, ribs, and any blood shot meat like one front shoulder.

We normally do 2 deer per year, not too picky about size. It seems like it always a 8 lb per pail average and 32 lbs for the grind total. Everybody likes sausage. I don't get to riled up for veni roast so they hit the grind also. I don't keep the heart or rib meat and am pretty picky about how much work I put into the front legs. That can be a real pain in the A$$ filleting off all the silver skin. It depends on how late at night it is and if I have any help.

If I am lucky enough to get a little one or two I usually steak out almost everything. You know you have to be a better shot to get the small ones ;-)

Ferny.

[Notime]

This was a central MN zone 214 corn fed monster and he was Delicious! But I did let him hang for awhile 7 days.

[nonteepical]

[quote=Getanet

I'm curious how that can be as well. We've been told on here that not one buck is able to survive past 1.5 years in MN. He must have shot the one mythical beast outside of Zone 3 that was able to survive the slaughter.

[WalleyMN17]

I did 2 this year, both good shots, no meat lost. I weighed everything when all was done, but didn't weigh either beforehand.

Shot a 2.5 year old 110" buck and butchered myself. Got 23lbs of steaks/chops/roast, and 40 lbs of scraps.

Shot an pretty big adult doe and it got cold so i brought it in for processing. They gave me back 28lbs steaks/chops/roasts and 26 lbs of scraps.

So i got 63 lbs off the buck i did and 54 lbs off the doe they did. I'm thinking they did a better job on the doe than i did on the buck!

[bigbucks]

They probably left more tallow in the meat as well. The lockers don't have time to pick through it the way a person would doing it themselves.