Post hunt etiquette: Splitting/sharing meat

[Bighorner]

I dont make it all the way through this, but I would give a package or maybe to of backtraps. Give till it hurts just a little.

 

[Bighorse]

Thank you all for participating in this dialog. I see the point made in regards to trophy animals and people wanting to be onboard for a very special hunt and harvest.. Rock on! That's really awesome when those exclusive trophy opportunities develop. Help a brother or sister live the dream.

I also respect the nuanced interplay between hunters. Some people enjoy reciprocity over a larger time continuum IE (Next month or next year I'm your huckleberry) or I got you now for this animal and this day. I think the end goal should be to support each other and build quality friendships and or family relations. Hunting is far more than ego and trophy. Theirs real food at the end of the rainbow and millennia of human conditioning that predate Rokslide. Killing for food is a powerful human experience.

I respect that we all harvest for different reasons. I live in an area that allows subsistence hunting and I can hunt deer for months and harvest four. I can get Moose, Elk, Sheep, Caribou, Bears, and Mt Goats annually. Subsistence hunting is about what the word implies, food. While adding complexity to hunting seems counter intuitive and undesirable it's very very important that you are on good terms with another man walking into a dangerous and wild place with a firearm. If you're trusting someone to protect you and assist in an event of disaster they should be able to trust you to give them a damn hamburger or two. That's my feeling on the matter gentlemen.

 

[TX_Diver]

Varies but it's something helpful to talk about up front. With one group of buddies the shooter keeps the backstraps and we split everything else. With another group the shooter keeps it all.

Doesn't really matter to me but definitely worth agreeing to what you want to do before an animal is down.

 

[Clarkdale17]

The meat gets split evenly with the hunting group. We butcher and process everything ourselves so there aren't any costs to split, other than what it takes to make and package the meat.

They do all the same work as you except pull the trigger.

 

[2rocky]

I always offer. If you hunt with killers they don’t usually need the meat.


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We never split anything. Person that kills it keeps it all and if they want to split it they can.

I've always went with the assumption that the guy who notches the tag gets the meat. I've never run into a situation where I was hesitant to share a significant portion of the meat from tags i've cut nor have my hunting buddies ever hesitated to offer up meat to me. Thus its not something i've put much thought into.

A lot of how we've handled it has to do with how much meat someone already has in the freezer and how much game they eat.

Every situation is different. I mainly hunted with family who had wild game meat up to 4 years old in the freezer...If I went hunting with someone specifically to fill the freezer and I killed but they didn't, I'd sure share. I took a half an elk to a buddy who had his elk claimed by a bear. I've given packs of sausages to friends and family at Christmas who helped in my hunts. I don't feel anyone owes me meat if we are helping each other...

 

[MallardSX2]

I have my buddy an entire hind 1/4 and a back-strap from my elk for helping me pack out my elk since he didn't have a tag that year and just came along for the fun.

He said that was too much and I just smiled and said thank you. My other buddy that tagged back him a front shoulder from his bull as well.

 

[mtwarden]

You wouldn't have to or feel obligated to if he was a true buddy. You'd do the same for him without expecting anything in return, right?...

it’s definitely not an “obligation”, but when a buddy busts his hump for you my personal feeling is he’s going to get some meat (well earned meat at that) for his much welcomed help

 

[roadrunner]

it’s definitely not an “obligation”, but when a buddy busts his hump for you my personal feeling is he’s going to get some meat (well earned meat at that) for his much welcomed help

So, you expect the same in return? Whatever happened to the sense of gratification just to help someone without anything in return?...

Don't worry, I'm just stirring the pot a little.

 

[mtwarden]

that’s my feeling; what my buddy’s feeling is his feeling

 

[#Coueshunter]

1/4 of the meat if no contribution just along for the help I’d say that’s fair

 

[Bighorse]

Since I've been participating in this thread I want to clarify something....I get to shoot four deer a year. So do my partners. We also get opportunity at bigger species annually without "once in a lifetime" feels. Subsistence game harvest, while not my cultural heritage, is supported while hunting in Alaska on both the state and federal level. I understand that there's a mystic about 60" moose, 40" Dall Rams, 10" Billies, and 28" Skull brown bears in Alaska. Those are the trophy class animals we can and do harvest up here. I also understand and practice subsistence hunting, where it's all about the food. That is why I adopted a reciprocal meat and resource sharing approach to hunting. Alaska is very big! Boats, ATV's, LONG truck drives, airplanes are often expensive and time consuming. Getting another person to commit to the risk and expense isn't just friendly anymore, it's resource intensive. If you ever want to have a hunting quality repeat partner again, be generous, kind, thoughtful, and safe.

My point is.....Wild game managed for sustainable harvest is good for our communities and building a tribe involves being respectful and ethical. Having a reliable food source is a win/win and I believe as American outdoors people we should be continually considering subsistence harvest when managing our game populations for the safety and health of our communities. Big cooperate food distribution be damned! If feels great knowing you can go out and harvest enough to feed your family and friends on legally harvested game.

p.s. stay vigilant

WSA21-01 Is Back, and It Could Close 60 Million Acres of Public Lands in 2022

After being deferred, WSA21-01 is back on the table for 2022. It would close 60 million acres of public land for non-local caribou hunters.

www.outdoorlife.com

Thanks for reading.

 

[SaltySailor]

IT depends on what we are hunting. Moose camp we all have our own gear/tents/wheelers, you shoot a moose its yours to keep or split as you wish. I have gladly helped yank moose out of the woods and expected nothing more than a hand if I were able to connect on one. If I ever manage to finally connect on a sheep, I would gladly split that with who helped me pack it out, as that's a miserable task. An antelope is tiny, keep all that.

 

[KHNC]

let's see- a buddy helps you pack out two full loads of elk a little over 4 miles out, most of it's downhill (but not all), unfortunately there is some blowdown you can't get fully around so you have to contend with that, there is also some not so forgiving sidehilling that has to be contended with as well

it takes just about all day and you've now tallied up 16-ish miles (8 miles mostly uphill, but without a load and 8 miles with 70-80-ish lb packs)

yeah I'm not giving that SOB any meat- right

Yeah , exactly! LOL. This is spot on. Should be a given to share meat when someone helps you pack your bull out and is a long time friend. Be different if the guy didnt even bother to help and just sat in camp and waited. lol

 

[RMM]

I hunted montana with a group of 3 other guys last year. I was the only one to kill. The other guys didnt expect any meat and told me to keep it. I insisted. I took a hind quarter and a back strap and let them split the rest between themselves. They helped me haul the bull off the mountain and didnt expect anything in return. Those are the kind of guys I like to hunt with.

 

[ND_Hooligan]

I hunt with a group of 3 others who are life-long friends and we split all hunting trip expenses such as fuel, lodging, groceries, restaurants, and other misc. Our materialistic contributions to the cause are also about equal and we even buy hard goods like tents and such as a group. We all hunt just as hard as the other and every one of us chips in to pack each other's elk out. I couldn't imagine not splitting the meat evenly with the others just because I was lucky enough to be the one on the trigger that particular season. Often times we limit out, other times we don't, but if a kill is made none of us goes home empty handed. I have never been an "it's about me and not them type" so I have no problem sharing when I kill. Maybe if situations were different and I didn't really know the people I was hunting with, but to be honest, I can never imagine myself being in that situation.

 

[SliverShooter]

Guess I’m different. If I didn’t kill it, it isn’t mine, I don’t expect any of the meat. I help friends and hunting partners pack their meat out without any expectations, that is what what friends and good hunting partners do.

 

[crich]

Resurrecting this to add another dynamic...

let's say you shoot a big critter solo and team up with others for a "meat cutting party." Elk and moose are big critters and goes much quicker even with one extra set of hands. I think whoever filled the tag should take the majority but I like to give some meat to those that helped the processing. How have you guys divided things up in that case?

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Resurrecting this to add another dynamic...

let's say you shoot a big critter solo and team up with others for a "meat cutting party." Elk and moose are big critters and goes much quicker even with one extra set of hands. I think whoever filled the tag should take the majority but I like to give some meat to those that helped the processing. How have you guys divided things up in that case?

When I've done this (we call it the sausage party) everybody takes what they want and feel is fair, if somebody abused that they don't end up invited back. It seems to be working out that if we're making sausage people will bring pork butts and usually leave with about the #'s of sausage that they brought in pork butt.

As for the ooooolllld thread subject I just love to hunt and if I don't have a tag I'm happy to go and help without any expectations. If I have a tag or wife or kiddos and a buddy is with us I'll always offer something. On our more casual deer hunts down here we don't really care that much, whoever shoots it keeps it though we'll help break it down and such it's more just for the camaraderie and enjoying time with friends. It's much less involved than a Western trip though and usually pretty likely everyone will end up with a deer sooner or later anyway.

 

[Boarmaster]

I'm usually a solo hunter when I have tags in my pockets, but I did a group hunt this weekend with 4 guys where 2 of us were tag holders and 2 were not. I has the only one to fill a tag. It was an antelope so not a ton of meat to go around and I absolutely love antelope. We shared the heart that night and I definitely plan on cooking for the gang at a later date, but I also want to give them some meat too.

If we were splitting the bill at the butcher it'd be an easy answer, but I do all my own processing so I'm wondering: How do you all split up your meat post-hunt?

If splitting the meat is expected then it is determined before the hunt how that will be done. Not after.

If the deal is all meat is split equally then even if four guys get two handfuls of meat then thats what they all get. Not about enough to go around. Whatever it is it is.

If there is no expectation then it is left up to tag owner/ shooters good grace.

If there is a customary method then customs should be followed.

Misunderstanding and hard feeling come from not making deals ahead of the hunt. Or not sticking to the deal because the yield was low. That goes for helping out processing the game as well.

Then there is always looking in the mirror and thinking if your buddy had filled his tag and you didn't what would you like him to do….. how would you suggest he split it up.

Congrats of the antelope.

 

[Boarmaster]

Resurrecting this to add another dynamic...

let's say you shoot a big critter solo and team up with others for a "meat cutting party." Elk and moose are big critters and goes much quicker even with one extra set of hands. I think whoever filled the tag should take the majority but I like to give some meat to those that helped the processing. How have you guys divided things up in that case?

One place I hunt every year has a butchering party. Guys that don't even hunt show up to help cut up deer. These guys are all lifelong buddies and are getting together to have a bit of beer some good eats and just hang out. I alway offer the guys who are there without a deer some meat. They rarely ever take any. If they do they just want a few packages of ground. At that party the guys will eat a small does worth of meat.
I am and can be very generous at that hunt as my season back in AL is just getting started and I can many more deer throughout the season. I wont suffer a freezer that isnt full at the end of season. I’m usually wondering what the heck I going to do with the next one. Last year I had my last deer made into snack sticks( I process but I dont do sticks) i ended up with 80 packs of those things. I was passing those things out to anyone who would take a few packs.