Whitetail Deer Meat Yields

[Dave0317]

My local processor says to expect anywhere from 15-35 percent of the deers weight back.

A smaller doe has less muscle mass and so not only less weight total, but also less percentage of the deer’s body is actual muscle/meat. A large heavy buck is closer to 35 percent because not only are they bigger, but a larger percentage of their bodyweight is made up of muscle mass.

They say 25-28 percent is the average they expect.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Interesting. I only hunt mule deer. I didn't realize WTD were that much smaller. Most of our decent bucks yield low 70-73 lbs. We process our own meat. That is w/o making sausage, ect.

 

[elsb0048]

Interesting. I only hunt mule deer. I didn't realize WTD were that much smaller. Most of our decent bucks yield low 70-73 lbs. We process our own meat. That is w/o making sausage, ect.

FWIW my whitetails and mulies are not all that different in size: maybe 10% different.
I suspect this is a geographic thing since whitetails and mulies live near each other where I'm at and I bet northern whitetails are bigger than southern ones.

My biggest mulie to date netted 88# and my biggest whitetail netted 86#.

There's likely a slight delta to method there as the mulie was skinned in the woods and hung for a week or so before butchering while the whitetail was skinned on a gambrel and butchered same day as skinned. Typically yields a little more that way since you're not trimming off dried exterior crust or inadvertently leaving anything on the carcass.

 

[liv3mind]

West TN deer I have harvested here are typically in the 35-45# yield, generally more on the lower side of that range. I process myself and tend to get a little more than those here that use the local processor.

 

[liv3mind]

We average around 35# of processed meat per deer. I trim very heavily (our Newfoundland gets the scraps) and I cut my grind 50/50 with pork butt. It helps it stretch, adds fat, and doesn't really alter the taste much. A pork butt mix should get you between 10% and 15% fat content when mixing it in half and half. If I'm doing sausage, I'll grab a couple packs of pork belly and add that in as well for some additional fat to get up more on that 30% mark.

Used to, you could find pork butts for $1/lb and throw them in the freezer for deer season. Not so much anymore and they're getting hard to find under $2/lb. Been doing it this way for about 8yrs now and the entire family has no complaints.

This is very similar to what we do, typically we do roughly 25% pork butt, always shop them on sale and throw them in the freezer just for deer grind.

 

[MarkOrtiz]

We average 25-40 lbs of boneless meat in the freezer for Texas whitetail does.

 

[Macintosh]

OK, I got tripped up with people using both dressed weight and live weight, so I went digging. We always report dressed weight here, so I had zero clue what live weight looks like. Anyway, using only game agency publications or a peer reviewed scientific article, I did a little AI-fueled nerding out, and found this chart, which I've used previously to estimate dressed weight of deer that I havent been able to weigh.

This Link from the PA game agency allows you to estimate deer weight and meat yield based on a measurement of the chest circumference, which would allow you to "weigh" your deer even if you cut it up in the field to pack it out, or in the garage without a scale. They estimate meat yield at 45-48% of live weight.

This link from Ohio DNR shows edible meat yield for various weight deer--they estimate edible meat at 48% of live weight as well.

In both cases it puts edible meat at around 55% of dressed weight. (And, I want to know where to find a 300lb whitetail).

Around me an average adult doe field dressed is around 110-115lb, so according to PA and Ohio that's about 60-65lb of meat. Your average everyday buck is 150lb dressed, so 80-85lb of meat. A good buck around here is 185+ field dressed, or north of 200lb if its really big, which should yield 100lb+ of edible meat.

Here is the PA chart:

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

For some whitetail extreme perspective...

In November I killed what will be an official Boone and Crocket triennial whitetail in Northern Minnesota that yielded just over 120 lbs of meat (no mixing pork or beef) (YUGE)!

In December I killed a small forked horn Coues Whitetail that yielded... Wait for it... Just over 20 lbs of meat including vacuum seal plastic.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

For some whitetail extreme perspective...

In November I killed what will be an official Boone and Crocket triennial whitetail in Northern Minnesota that yielded just over 120 lbs of meat (no mixing pork or beef) (YUGE)!

In December I killed a small forked horn Coues Whitetail that yielded... Wait for it... Just over 20 lbs of meat including vacuum seal plastic.

Massive!

 

[Mule3006Elk]

FWIW my whitetails and mulies are not all that different in size: maybe 10% different.
I suspect this is a geographic thing since whitetails and mulies live near each other where I'm at and I bet northern whitetails are bigger than southern ones.

My biggest mulie to date netted 88# and my biggest whitetail netted 86#.

There's likely a slight delta to method there as the mulie was skinned in the woods and hung for a week or so before butchering while the whitetail was skinned on a gambrel and butchered same day as skinned. Typically yields a little more that way since you're not trimming off dried exterior crust or inadvertently leaving anything on the carcass.

View attachment 981410

I agree. I'm in ID. My mule deer does are usually around 45 lbs. Even though many of these cited WTD weights seem low in comparison they probably end up with more meat. I believe many of the Eastern states you can harvest multiple deer.

88 lbs mule deer reference: very nice

 

[Rich M]

OK, I got tripped up with people using both dressed weight and live weight, so I went digging. We always report dressed weight here, so I had zero clue what live weight looks like. Anyway, using only game agency publications or a peer reviewed scientific article, I did a little AI-fueled nerding out, and found this chart, which I've used previously to estimate dressed weight of deer that I havent been able to weigh.

This Link from the PA game agency allows you to estimate deer weight and meat yield based on a measurement of the chest circumference, which would allow you to "weigh" your deer even if you cut it up in the field to pack it out, or in the garage without a scale. They estimate meat yield at 45-48% of live weight.

This link from Ohio DNR shows edible meat yield for various weight deer--they estimate edible meat at 48% of live weight as well.

In both cases it puts edible meat at around 55% of dressed weight. (And, I want to know where to find a 300lb whitetail).

Around me an average adult doe field dressed is around 110-115lb, so according to PA and Ohio that's about 60-65lb of meat. Your average everyday buck is 150lb dressed, so 80-85lb of meat. A good buck around here is 185+ field dressed, or north of 200lb if its really big, which should yield 100lb+ of edible meat.

Here is the PA chart:

View attachment 981468

That chart sure doesn't reflect my experience.

No wonder processors get accused of stealing meat all the time.