How Much Meat On That Deer?

I butcher all of my own and I don't know if I've ever gotten 45+ lbs off a deer. I normally don't include the backstraps and inner loins in that weight though.

Only thing I leave on the deer from time to time is the meat between the ribs, which normally doesn't amount to much and I've never cared for it.
 
I butcher all of my own and I don't know if I've ever gotten 45+ lbs off a deer. I normally don't include the backstraps and inner loins in that weight though.

Only thing I leave on the deer from time to time is the meat between the ribs, which normally doesn't amount to much and I've never cared for it.
Most I've got is 70 lbs. That included backstrap/tenderloins, which isn't a ton. Couple others were 60+ lbs. These were all older bucks.
 
Are you sure that deer is 2.5?
He must live in MN, WI, or MI.
you guys in Iowa, IL, KA,MO, IN,KY, you don’t realize how lucky you are in regards to antler size.
 
I always figure 0 .65 carcass to live weight.

0.50 meat to carcass.

So 130•.65 = 84.5

84.5 • .5 = 42.5
 
I took my doe to a place that constantly has trucks lined up. I could not guess how many deer they do a year but it is a lot. Doe was 107 (field dressed obviously) on their scale and they immediately estimated 43 lbs of meat. I guess they are going with .4 basically. High volume I doubt they are working too hard to get every scrap.
 
Have a small amount of trimming yet to do, but what's in the 2-gallon bags is 79 lb, plus the tenders and heart are in the fridge. So I'll be right around 40%. I probably could've gotten a couple more lbs if I really worked.

20240108_174427.jpg
 
Have a small amount of trimming yet to do, but what's in the 2-gallon bags is 79 lb, plus the tenders and heart are in the fridge. So I'll be right around 40%. I probably could've gotten a couple more lbs if I really worked.

View attachment 61371
I see you left some of the silver skin. My wife helps me trimming meat and she wants the sliver lining gone - and obviously, you lose a lot of meat. I always wonder if we werent so particular about cleaning it so well - if she would even notice. We did have some processed at a processor a couple years ago, and she said they didnt do a very good job cleaning off the silver membrane - we would be doing our own from now on - and we have
 
Those are 2 gallon bags. The silver you see remaining is being being removed and won't equal more than a couple lbs, equalling the heart and tenders I didn't weigh. Yes some fat and silver will make the finished product, but I'm pretty fussy as well and I'd make an uneducated guess this would be something like 95+% lean. The meat lockers I know definitely leave a lot of that stuff on, more than I do, but it just feels natural to remove so much of it.
 
I see you left some of the silver skin. My wife helps me trimming meat and she wants the sliver lining gone - and obviously, you lose a lot of meat. I always wonder if we werent so particular about cleaning it so well - if she would even notice. We did have some processed at a processor a couple years ago, and she said they didnt do a very good job cleaning off the silver membrane - we would be doing our own from now on - and we have
We do 5 or 6 a year, it's pretty much the only red meat we eat. I trim steaks and roasts meticulously. I find that it doesn't have to be so great for burger.
 
Top