How much meat on a deer?

[ThunderLund78]

Curious how much meat everyone usually gets off their deer?  This year I was fortunate enough to shoot an average buck - 7 pointer but he was a younger deer, probably between 2 and 3 years old.  I have no idea what he dressed out at, I don't have a big scale.  I ground up all the meat today and got 38 lbs.  This is NOT including the tenderloins, backstraps and one small roast that I'm saving to try the venison pastrami thing.  So all that included, i suppose I got between 42 and 45 lbs. of meat.  This is the first time I've cut-up and am processing my own deer. I think I did a pretty thorough job when I butchered, but I felt unsure when I disposed of the carcass.  It always seems there's a little more meat, but the little scraps left would be bite size at best once all the connective tissue/gristle/fat would be cut off. I'm curious on a deer this size, how much does everyone else get?  I want to know if I'm in the ball park or need to go back to the tutorials - I don't want to be wasting anything of an animal I killed.

[delcecchi]

here is article about beef.  From a 1200 pound live steer you get about 490 pounds boneless trimmed meat. That is roughly 40%.   I think the yield probably goes down as the size of the animal goes down. 

http://igrow.org/livestock/beef/how-much-meat-can-you-expect-from-a-fed-steer/

[ThunderLund78]

Interesting Del, Thanks!

I would think a wild deer would yield less of a percentage than an animal that's bred for food.  But 40% is probably close to what I got.  I have to think it dressed out in the low 100s.

[leechlake]

I think you're right in the ballpark.  We did two bucks that were 1-1/2 and 2-1/2 last weekend and were both small bodied in my mind and ground all but loins and ended up with a little less per deer than you did, neither had an damage from the kill to the shoulders either so nothing much was pitched.  We don't take much from the neck, maybe 3 pounds or less of trimmings.

[Boar]

yup no doubt, but I feel your heavy for my standards. I only have pure meat. no silver skin, talo, junk or anything. just pure meat. and on a deer youve shot im generaly looking at 35 avg.. oh and leech, take a  few neck roasts buddy, slow cook those babies and youl cut them off at the skull. best meat next to backstraps.

The one thing Ive gotten into lately is after skinning, I take upto 2 neck roasts, then take of front shoulders, then back staps, the sperate hind quarters. so basically I have, shoulders, stapes, hind Q'S aand acouple of neck roast set aside. with the hind quarters and shoulders I litteraly use a bone saw and just cut 4-6 inh portions across the grain and wrap it and freeze it. when idecide what I want to do with it, roast or sausage, say sausage, its so much esier to remove a 4-6' piece of bone than to try and whittle the meat off the entire bone legiment. i feel i save so much more meat.

[leechlake]

Boar-  I forgot that.  You guys were talking about it a few weeks ago, how dumb of me.  We do have muzzy season next weekend but we've never had much success...neck roasts may be a reason to hunt a bit harder.

[Boar]

no bout a dout it man. good luck!!

[eyeguy 54]

you did fine thunder. I butcher my own and usually a couple more each year for friends. Fussy as to what I keep. What I dont do steaks with goes to trimmings for sausage and jerky and I like it very red.   40 to 45 pounds from a 2 1/2 year old is just dandy for your first shot at it.  42 was  the most from one this year.  Pretty sure all 3 this year were 1 1/2 year old bucks. 

[ThunderLund78]

Thanks everyone!  good to hear my experiences are similar.

Boar, I like the idea of cutting the shoulders and hind quarters and just using it as you need it rather than deboning everything at once.  If I have to do it by myself again and time's a factors, I may try that.

And I agree with you 100% on the neck roasts.  For all they say about venison fat making things taste bad - most of the neck is fat and gristle and that meat is pure deliciousness out of the slow cooker!

[eyeguy 54]

gotta get all that neck meat!  mmmmmmmm!  but I grind it.