processors or vultures

[jamaro]

Larry

Maybe we can use this to educate us.... When someone brings in an animal whole what can one realistically expect to get as far as cut and wrapped meat.

 

thanks

Jason

 

PS... If you want maybe you could start another thread.

[Rhonda's Butcher Shop]

Larry

Maybe we can use this to educate us.... When someone brings in an animal whole what can one realistically expect to get as far as cut and wrapped meat.

 

thanks

Jason

 

PS... If you want maybe you could start another thread.

 

Jason thank you for the comment and for the question you asked. first of all let me commend you on your thirst for knowledge. if more hunters asked questions, many of the problems we all face both as service providers and customers could be avoided. the answer to your question is of course completely relative to the specie, the manner in which it was dispatched (type of weapon and projectile), the type of processing desired ie. bone in, vs. bone out, and most importantly, how it was cared for in the field. i could literally provide you with an almost endless variety of scenarios which would give you relatively accurate estimates of consumable meat each would generate. unfortunately at this point in time with the season under way the majority of my time is dedicated to providing our services for hunters. your suggestion to start another thread is a very welcome one indeed. i am in the process of drafting a plan for expansion. the volume of our business has increased at such a rapid rate that our physical plant can no longer support it. in addition to expanding our facility and the services we have to offer, i plan to implement an educational program covering a multitude of hunting related topics. my main focus of course will be field care. my magazine, The Arizona Hunters Connection will feature detailed illustrated articles geared toward proper field care. i have other plans which i cannot discuss at this time that will assist hunters in every facet of the hunt. at the present time negotiations are under way with potential sponsors for the production of an educational DVD which would provide extensive information geared toward helping hunters at all levels of experience. finally i am scheduling a tour of free seminars open to the public that will focus on field care and processing of wild game. i anticipate press releases concerning all these topics in early spring 2008.

 

regards larry

[Rhonda's Butcher Shop]

Larry

Maybe we can use this to educate us.... When someone brings in an animal whole what can one realistically expect to get as far as cut and wrapped meat.

 

thanks

Jason

 

PS... If you want maybe you could start another thread.

 

Jason thank you for the comment and for the question you asked. first of all let me commend you on your thirst for knowledge. if more hunters asked questions, many of the problems we all face both as service providers and customers could be avoided. the answer to your question is of course completely relative to the specie, the manner in which it was dispatched (type of weapon and projectile), the type of processing desired ie. bone in, vs. bone out, and most importantly, how it was cared for in the field. i could literally provide you with an almost endless variety of scenarios which would give you relatively accurate estimates of consumable meat each would generate. unfortunately at this point in time with the season under way the majority of my time is dedicated to providing our services for hunters. your suggestion to start another thread is a very welcome one indeed. i am in the process of drafting a plan for expansion. the volume of our business has increased at such a rapid rate that our physical plant can no longer support it. in addition to expanding our facility and the services we have to offer, i plan to implement an educational program covering a multitude of hunting related topics. my main focus of course will be field care. my magazine, The Arizona Hunters Connection will feature detailed illustrated articles geared toward proper field care. i have other plans which i cannot discuss at this time that will assist hunters in every facet of the hunt. at the present time negotiations are under way with potential sponsors for the production of an educational DVD which would provide extensive information geared toward helping hunters at all levels of experience. finally i am scheduling a tour of free seminars open to the public that will focus on field care and processing of wild game. i anticipate press releases concerning all these topics in early spring 2008.

 

regards larry

[Rhonda's Butcher Shop]

I stand by what I said.

 

Since you seem to want to discredit me, and for general information, the temperature at night where we were camped (elevation 8000+ feet by the road sign going in off state route 180) was in the low 20's. Check the weather channel temps on the net if you like. Two one gallon jugs of water left out froze solid the first night. The deer hanging up in the tree was either froze or had rigor mortis awful bad.

 

Cash only, no checks or debit, and no receipt. I got what I paid for.

 

I am not going to further debate this with you. I wanted to share what happened and I did that. You can say what you like

 

thank you for your reply Bill, it is much as i anticipated. i too see no point in debating further. in closing, i have only one more thing to clarify with you, you got much more than what you paid for you just haven't realized it yet. i bid you good luck and i hold no ill will toward you in light of our differences.

 

regards larry

[ac guy]

Do you weigh the animal when they come in, and give an estimate as to how much meat they'll get back? Saw another processor on the rim doing this. Would stop any complaints. If they didn't like what you told them, they could take their game somewhere else and stop any confrontations before it was too late.

[Rhonda's Butcher Shop]

Do you weigh the animal when they come in, and give an estimate as to how much meat they'll get back? Saw another processor on the rim doing this. Would stop any complaints. If they didn't like what you told them, they could take their game somewhere else and stop any confrontations before it was too late.

 

thank you for your question. we tried that some years back and got in trouble with it. if you estimate short your customer will think you ripped him off. anyone dropping off an elk is welcome to stay and watch it weighed and many do. the thing is you don't know how much damage you're going to find until you start cutting. for example. you might get an elk with a wound in the hind quarter where the bullet may have lodged in the bone, the problem you typically find is that the concussion to the bone causes it to explode damaging the surrounding meat. if you give the bloodshot, damaged, round steaks from that quarter to the customer he'll cuss you for such a poor cutting job. this is a very difficult business we're in, especially with hunters who do not take the time to educate themselves in every aspect of hunting, right down to what happens when a bullet enters the body. as i mentioned in in my response to Bill, there is not a processor anywhere who has not been accused of stealing meat because he threw away what he felt was inedible. i knew a processor who froze and boxed all the waste from each animal and returned it to the customer for thier inspection. he was very quickly accused of mixing animals. it's a tough business. the bottom line is this. if you want the very best meat.

wait for the opportunity to make a clean one shot kill, if the animal is running let him go.

field dress and skin your animal right away. wash away the blood in the cavity and in the wound area. trim away damaged tissue in the wound area to

prevent cross contamination

clean the entire carcass, removing any hair that came off during skinning.

if you take a nice clean animal to your processor, you're going to get back some real nice cuts.

 

forgive me if my response was a bit long winded, but i have a passion for ethical hunting, and that's what this is all about.

 

thank you

 

regards larry

[ac guy]

Guess you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Good luck, I'll stick to fixing a/c's and walk ins

[jamaro]

Maybe you could come up with ball park figures... I am sure that you understand that hunters give everything they have to harvest animals and by the time everything is said and done the meat that they get cost $20 + a pound... Maybe if you started this year by weighing as they come in they determining about how much meat goes out the door then hunters will have a better understanding..

 

Give yourself some leeway but I think hunters would really appreciate some sort of guesstimate.

 

j-

[BowhuntCoues]

We took 2 elk to Rhondas during the archery elk hunt and we were not pleased with the service we got. I asked for certain cuts and received none of those. The individuals we delt with were not customer friendly or oriented and I would not recommend their shop to anyone.

[Rhonda's Butcher Shop]

We took 2 elk to Rhondas during the archery elk hunt and we were not pleased with the service we got. I asked for certain cuts and received none of those. The individuals we delt with were not customer friendly or oriented and I would not recommend their shop to anyone.

 

this is a perfect example of the comment i made in my initial reply to Bill. if there is a problem contact the processor. if you are not pleased with the service nor the results of the processing of your elk. did you call us to find out why you didn't receive the cuts you requested, or is it just easier to join the crowd and start casting stones. i'm not saying what you stated here is not so. i don't know. we have not and will not claim perfection. in thirty plus years of working with wild game, we have made mistakes but we have never tried to cover them up. if you'd like, post your work order number and i'll respond with the cutting report on your elk. if you do not want the detailed information of what we found made public call me at 928-774-1922 and i'll be happy to answer all your questions.

 

regards larry

[Rhonda's Butcher Shop]

Maybe you could come up with ball park figures... I am sure that you understand that hunters give everything they have to harvest animals and by the time everything is said and done the meat that they get cost $20 + a pound... Maybe if you started this year by weighing as they come in they determining about how much meat goes out the door then hunters will have a better understanding..

 

Give yourself some leeway but I think hunters would really appreciate some sort of guesstimate.

 

j-

 

this is a very good suggestion. a high percentage of our customers ask for a weight at receiving, but it's more out of curiosity as opposed to the yield of processed meat. at receiving i can hang ten elk on my rail at one time and most of the time during the major hunts it remains full as the animals are skinned and or quartered prior to weighing and hanging in coolers. i can't weigh an elk until it reaches the end of the rail. most customers call back the same day or next and we provide them with the weight. as far as estimates, we can probably offer an estimate of processed meat but this is still dangerous. as i stated before you don't know how much waste a carcass will generate until the cutting begins. a small bullet hole can sometimes turn into an internal explosion resulting in more inedible meat than meets the eye. then there's the animals that are shot multiple times on the run. not only is there incredible tissue damage but a lot of times the intestines are ruptured and the entire inerior of the cavity is contaminated. i don't know about you but i wouldn't want any of the surrounding meat that has come in contact with the toxic waste that has spilled out. i hope my perspective on this topic has helped you understand better why we don't like to estimate.

 

regards larry

[BowhuntCoues]

As noted before

The individuals we delt with were not customer friendly or oriented

once you get home with the meat, you chalk it up to a learning experience.

 

It would have been different for me had I felt I was appreciated as a customer, then maybe I would have called back and let you know I didn't receive the roast as requested.

[jamaro]

I am not trying to push the issue but an estimate is just that... an estimate, how much would you estimate the average hide to weighs? what about the head? How much would you say the bones weigh in a quarter? Hunters are going to ask.... It only makes sense to have some sort of idea of how much meat they are going to get otherwise you are always going to end up in the scenario. Even is you estimate say 200 pounds they take 40 pounds off for error... If they get more than fine, but at least you have explained to them what they go and why they got it.

 

You are asking hunters to "trust you" and they don't have any clue if they can trust you or not...

 

Jason

[BowhuntCoues]

as i stated before you don't know how much waste a carcass will generate until the cutting begins. a small bullet hole can sometimes turn into an internal explosion resulting in more inedible meat than meets the eye. then there's the animals that are shot multiple times on the run. not only is there incredible tissue damage but a lot of times the intestines are ruptured and the entire inerior of the cavity is contaminated.

 

regards larry

 

So do you charge by the pound after any wasted meat is removed? If not, it would benefit to move the scale to the front of the rack.

[Rhonda's Butcher Shop]

as i stated before you don't know how much waste a carcass will generate until the cutting begins. a small bullet hole can sometimes turn into an internal explosion resulting in more inedible meat than meets the eye. then there's the animals that are shot multiple times on the run. not only is there incredible tissue damage but a lot of times the intestines are ruptured and the entire inerior of the cavity is contaminated.

 

regards larry

 

So do you charge by the pound after any wasted meat is removed? If not, it would benefit to move the scale to the front of the rack.

 

the scale we use at the present time is a platform scale. the animals must be quartered prior to weighing. there is a digital crane scale available which is capable of weighing the animal whole. in our new facility we intend to use this type of scale. the hunter can see immediately what his animal weighs. there will be a scale at both ends of the rail. most animals come in whole, some with the skin and head still attached. the first weigh-in will be for the hunters benefit. the second weigh in is the weight the hunter is charged for. this is the carcass working weight, no legs, skin, or head. to answer your question. we charge prior to removing the waste, basically we get paid for taking the carcass and cutting it into various cuts while trimming away any inedible portions.

 

thank you larry