How much meat?

[Scott M]

This will be my first deer hunt, I've got all the details planned, the scouting, a commitment to helping field dress and butcher the deer...now my last question is how much meat should I expect from a doe or a buck? I have tags for both. I am talking both weight, but more importantly, volume. This can help me divey up freezer space for myself and friends and also how many coolers I will need for the drive home.

Thanks in advance for replies.

[harvey lee]

I can easly get 1 deer in a 48 qt cooler,probably 1.5 for sure.I have a 150 qt cooler and will put 3+ deer in it.This is with all the cuts frozen and wrapped and the trimmings in bags.

I would guess that a deer all de boned would give you approx30%- 40% on average of live weight.You dont get that much off a deer.This also depends on how bad you shoot it up.If you hit it in the hind quarters then the meat percent will go down.

I would guess if you shoot a doe and a buck of average weight,that would be260 #'s of live deer.That would butcher down to approx 100-120 pounds of meat at the most.

[Swamp Scooter]

You should get a couple of grocery bags of the cut and wrap stuff from a decent sized deer. Maybe another 10-15# of trim for sausage, depending on how you cut it up.

[matthothand]

I shot a doe fawn earlier this bow season to help the city and she fit in the door of my freezer...all but my trimmings for sausage making later. I believe if the animal is bucthered efficiently it should yield just over 40% of it's live weight.

[Gissert]

35-40% yield is about what I get too. It all depends on the size of the deer. The smaller the deer, the smaller the yield.

If you are really fussy on the silver skin and tallow trimming, that can cut the yield a couple points as well.

[Code-Man]

What we do when we process our deer is 3 5 gallon buckets. One for steaks one for roasts one for scraps. After I processed two deer last year I think I had a total of 7-9 gallons worth the meat before trimming it up. Don't get much and I really like the 5 gallon bucket idea because when we are done we take scraps that we want ground up for sausage we freeze that with the lid on it and about Jan. we take it in for processing because I don't really know about some places because you don't know if your getting your own deer back or not.

my .02 worth, a person don't get that much off of a deer but it does taste soo dang good.

[bassNspear]

Best way to put it, you are going to lose about 35% of the deer to bones and waste. If your goin gto cut it yourself, its best to keep it all seperated to make it easier for everyone in the long run. Size does matter.

[dirtcar31]

We grow um big down here and they are allmost all corn feed so we get allot more meat and dosent have the same taste as the deer you fellas are killin up north kill a 200 lb buck and your gonna get 50% in the freezer here come on down the huntings great and oh the rut is on