Did I get butchered by my butcher?

[Devil Diver Down]

Just curious - how many pounds of boneless meat should a small bull (2x3) be? The skinned carcass weight was 240 - yeah, not huge, I know . My wife picked up the meat today and it seems a little light to me. My buddies and my dad think it's light too. I'm using this formula, which I found online:

 

Whole weight = 1.42 x field-dressed weight

Field-dressed weight (viscera and feet removed)= 0.70 x whole weight

Skinned carcass weight (skin and head removed) = 0.83 x field-dressed weight

Boneless lean = 0.50 x field-dressed weight

 

Using that, I was expecting in the ball park of 140 lbs. I'm WAY short of that - like 25% - at 108lbs. I know there will be variance, but this bull had some pretty good fat storage built up and we were able to keep him very clean.

 

Thoughts?

 

Also, feel free to recommend a processor as I don't expect to be using this company again. I'd rather not throw their name out there now, considering I'm still in the questioning stage.

 

I appreciate all input... even 'shoot a bigger one next time!'

[KaibabHunter]

My boy took a big mature cow last year and it netted about 95 lbs boneless. Depending on how much they have to discard from contamination (hair, dirt etc) can really result in lost meat. Ours was pretty clean IMO but we still lost some poundage due to contamination. That what I was told anyway...

[W.O.T]

I know this isnt what you asked for, but I learned the hardway... We will now take care of cutting up steaks, making hamburger, sausage, jerky, etc ourselves.

[Coach]

IMO, if you have time, the only way to go is DIY. It's a lot of work, but well worth it. My family are picky eaters when it comes to game meat. If you take the time, and do it yourself, you are more likely to get super results. Think about it, these meat processors are going through lots and lots of elk this time of year, and the pressure is on to get them done fast.

 

They just can't put the same attention to detail in as you can - it wouldn't be worth their time at $.80/pound to trim every bit of sinew and fat out, and save all the good "scraps" for grind.

[huntjunkie]

About 40% yield on the bone. 100 lbs on the bone 40lbs of meat. That's my experience.

I do think if you do it yourself you'll get more.

[CouesWhitetail]

I recommend sponsor Millers Southwestern Processing http://www.southwesternprocessing.com/

 

I will ask Mike to come address your questions based on his experience.

[KillerMillers]

Devil Diver, there are a lot of variables when it comes to yields on wild game. A few of these are:

Cleanliness of the carcass

Shot number/placement

Outside/inside fat content

Health of the animal

As a general rule, with a good one shot kill on a healthy animal that is found immediately after it dies, field dressed properly, skinned immediately and kept clean, you should yield approximately 50-55% of the hanging carcass weight. Please also consider that if you weigh the animal on a bathroom scale or other non platform scale , you may not be getting an accurate weight on the finished product. If an animal is broken down into pieces in the field, has excessive outside/inside fat, shot multiple times, slightly/extremely dirty or hairy or is in poor physical condition your yields will be proportionately less. Whether you process yourself at home or at a processing facility, you will trim excessive fat, dry outside covering, all bloodshot meats and any dirt or hair on or in the carcass.

108 lbs. on a 240 lb. carcass is 24lbs light of what a perfect carcass should yield (120 lbs) or average yield is more realistic and 12 lbs light.

Hope this information is helpful.

Mike Miller

Southwestern Processing Inc.

 

[yotebuster]

I think you're doing pretty good on that one, I always appreciate to have processors err on the side of being to picky and getting less meat. I'd rather have 108 pounds of good meat that you can give to non hunters without fear of them getting gamey or dirty pieces then 140 pounds of questionable meat. I'm picky as heck when I do my own processing, but I've rarely gotten over 100 pound of meat of a mature bull, let alone a small bull. I'd rather just shoot another elk or a few more deer if I need more meat, it's a good problem to have!!!

[Devil Diver Down]

Thanks all for taking the time to respond and I appreciate the detailed explanation, Mike. Maybe the carcass wasn't as clean/hair-free as i thought - we finished in the early dark - but it sure looked pretty clean while hanging on the processor's platform scale. I had planned to quarter with the gutless method, but chickened out since I'd never done it before and thought I could get him in the truck whole. In hindsight, I may have been better off leaving the hide on until I got him to the processor (the evening after I shot him in the late afternoon) but wanted to get him cooled down asap since it was an archery hunt.

 

I'll look into doing it myself, but it's a longshot as I usually have to scramble to get back to work as soon as my hunt is over. I believe good, honest meat cutters are worth the money. I butchered my own deer several years ago and I lacked the proper tools/knowhow to do a good job. I'll be MUCH better prepared beforehand next time if I decide to go down the DIY road.

 

Maybe if I tagged out more often , I'd get more practice and have it down to a science like it sounds a few of you do. And I definitely need to shoot a bigger one next time.

[savagman]

+ 1 for Millers Southwestern Processing. Tried others but keep coming back to Mike. Outstanding job on my bear. Nice roasts and awesome summer sausage. Almost gone and still a tag in my pocket...

[huntin1005]

Casey's in Flagstaff have been using him for the last 10 years . He is an Awesome guy and has a great set up. Never felt like I got cheated out of any meat. Just my two cents.

[tjhunt2]

I'll look into doing it myself, but it's a longshot as I usually have to scramble to get back to work as soon as my hunt is over. I believe good, honest meat cutters are worth the money. I butchered my own deer several years ago and I lacked the proper tools/knowhow to do a good job. I'll be MUCH better prepared beforehand next time if I decide to go down the DIY road.

 

 

I will agree good honest meat cutters are worth the money. With that said, if you have the extra money then that might be the way for you to go, but I get as much satisfaction out of butchering my own meat. I have a walkin but a deer can be processed fairly easy right out of an icecest. It doesn't take much tools to proccess a deer or an elk. You will be surpised at how easy it is.

 

TJ

[Arrow1]

The number is not unreasonable given all the potential variables.

Go to the wensite i listed below. the PDF file contains information on average expected yiedl given the size and age of the animal. They have several more pubs of interest related to big game as well. A decent bull or big cow can produce around 200lbs of boneless and it goes down from there

 

www.wyomingextension.org/agpubs/pubs/B594R.pdf

[gbocardo]

I took my quartered 6x6 to Southwest Processing and on the scale it weight around 240 llbs. I dont recall the return weight as i have not been drawn since 2007 but I was satisfied with the amount of meat in return. I gave some meet to a couple of buddies for the help and still had plenty of meat in the freezer to last a long time. Just took my wife's cow elk to Southwest. After quartering it, it only weight about 166 lbs so curious as to how much meat I will get in return.

[Stray Horse]

Millers too, they are good when I don't want to do it.