Yield From Butcher

I think it's worth mentioning - it's not in the processor's interest to short you on the meat... based on standard per lb rates they want to sell you as much of your kill as possible, and if they were going to be "dishonest" they would cut in *more* cheap pork than specified, right? especially if they are actually segregating jobs and want to run batches of decent size. probably make the sausage taste better too :censored: .. whoops just crossed a line there :LOL:

So there might be a legitimate question of competence but not honesty IMO

The processor we used to use would charge by the weight you brought in, NOT what they sent you home with. They also have different pricing based on if it is whole, quartered, boned, and sometimes won't even accept boned meat.
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My question is what is dressed? Hanging with head and hide or skinned. 40 to 50 pounds is about the right amount off a deer unless its a very big grain feed deer.
 
My question is what is dressed? Hanging with head and hide or skinned. 40 to 50 pounds is about the right amount off a deer unless its a very big grain feed deer.

I've always considered dressed to be field dressed/gutted.
Once they're skinned it's just a carcass to me.
 
Sounds about right my first few I got were 130 lb doe and got about 40 lbs, I’ve cut a few up no expert at all and got more but it was a bigger deer. Last year I got a 219 and 203 dressed out buck and between the both I brought home 190 lbs from the butcher and some of the burger had pork added
 
Thanks for all the feedback. The butcher charged $85 and does trim the meat very well. He said he didn't include the rib meat because he felt it wasn't worth it. That's my bad. I have butchered my own in the past and I probably will again. Clearly anyone who does their own will get more out of it than a commercial processor.

As far as the shot, I just changed from mechanicals to fixed broadheads. I shot a Montec G5 125 gr at about 20 yards and feel it hit a little back from where I was aiming. My Barnett Vengeance is a tac driver. The deer was quartered away and I thought I would double lung him easily. Even though the shot wasn't perfect he only ran about 30 to 40 yards before going down.

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There's a point of diminishing returns on trimming out the last bits of meat. Commercial processors aren't going to waste their time on those, but they're also going to get more of it quicker. I use a commercial guy occasionally if I'm leaving for a hunt that weekend. They do about 7-800 deer each November and he has a small army of butchers from the local grocery stores picking up a few shifts for Christmas money. Everything from him comes out clean, trimmed and free of hair, bloodshot meat, or silverskin. Plus they have a commercial vac sealer with high end bags. It's totally worth it to me. I do butcher my own and I take my time, but I'm just a hack and I probably leave a bit too much on the bone after my first pass and then I spend waaay too much time picking at little bits.

Unless its a backyard operation, I'll trust the pro.

There's a bearded butchers youtube video where they break down a deer and it's interesting to see what goes in the scrap/grind pile and how much goes into the bin.
 
We brought 15 lbs of deer to a butcher asked for sausage mixed 50/50 with pork came back two days later and the butcher handed us a 50 lbs bag of sausage. When we questioned him he said “nope, this bag has your name on it”. I haven’t used a butcher since.

A grinder, bins, paper roll, knives, cutting board, smoker is worth the investment.

The real investment is your time.


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Just did my 205lb field dresses whitetail buck this week. 74lbs of meat that’s rib meat and I made tomahawk backstraps so had a little rib bone. Not sure how you could get more weight than what i got unless you add more bone.


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Thanks for all the feedback. The butcher charged $85 and does trim the meat very well. He said he didn't include the rib meat because he felt it wasn't worth it. That's my bad. I have butchered my own in the past and I probably will again. Clearly anyone who does their own will get more out of it than a commercial processor.

As far as the shot, I just changed from mechanicals to fixed broadheads. I shot a Montec G5 125 gr at about 20 yards and feel it hit a little back from where I was aiming. My Barnett Vengeance is a tac driver. The deer was quartered away and I thought I would double lung him easily. Even though the shot wasn't perfect he only ran about 30 to 40 yards before going down.

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actually most do it yourselfers will get less then a commercial butcher .

as pointed out above, commercial butchers get paid by the pound so it only makes sense they would save as much as possible. also many like myself don't like the crud in their meat and will trim it out.

if you enjoy crud filled meat , though , enjoy.
 
The vast majority of game processors are amateur hacks. There are some meat processors that also handle wild game, but these generally aren’t butchers who are processing your animals, rather meat cutters and often seasonal employees at that. Calling a game processor a butcher is like calling the kid who works at a 10 minute oil change shop a “mechanic”
I broke 150 hindquarters and front quarters a week for awhile. I have pretty good idea what a butcher is. Thanks.
 
Your yield sounds pretty average to me. I have figured 2/5 yield to live weight minus the antler weight.

We have a well setup cutting system with all the commercial quality equipment to do our work and have cut and wrapped north of 100 deer and elk. People seem to think the meat will all come off the bone and that every bone should be scraped clean, every bit of unseen damaged tissue is edible and their "clean" carcass which is not what I'd want to table is wasted by the laziness of the cutter.

Once you have done a few, you can cut a deer in an hour or two easily. Wrapping and grinding takes another hour.

If I had someone I could trust at $85 a deer....I'd never get bloody.

Learn to can meat and make sausage ad life will be fantastic.
 
Wouldn't even think of using someone that charges based on the weight brought in.

How in the hell are they supposed to know what to charge?
Its called 'hanging weight'

I started wrapping venison about 50 years ago, stuff my dad shot and butchered - not to mention the hogs and cattle we raised and slaughtered.

Sure are some internet cowboys that have a lot to learn about DIY meat processing.
But I guess that's what the internet is for.
 
How in the hell are they supposed to know what to charge?
Its called 'hanging weight'
.

My local butcher, and they are a real locker, charges $100 per field dressed deer. That gets your animal skinned, boned, steaks/roasts cut and the rest ground, nicely wrapped in plastic wrap then butcher paper and frozen. Doesn’t matter what it weighs. Now start adding stuff like tallow or pork (which I do not) then that will add on. That said, I only allow them to do mine if I have a bunch more tags to fill and it’s too warm to hang in my garage.


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How in the hell are they supposed to know what to charge?
Its called 'hanging weight'

I started wrapping venison about 50 years ago, stuff my dad shot and butchered - not to mention the hogs and cattle we raised and slaughtered.

Sure are some internet cowboys that have a lot to learn about DIY meat processing.
But I guess that's what the internet is for.
intrnet knows all.
 
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