How much elk meat?

[Devil Diver Down]

I know there are quite a few on here who have either worked as a game processor or done their own enough to know better than this newb. I got the meat from my bull back from the processor today and it seems pretty light to me - 108 lbs. I was expecting about 140 using this formula, which I found in several spots 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

Skinned carcass weight was 240 lbs. I know there are several factors that can skew numbers but he was eating plenty good and was pretty fat and we were able to keep him clean for the field dressing.

Thoughts?

 

[bjtc_brian]

How long before you got him to the processor did you have him skinned? If it was very long, he would have to be "re-skinned" and can take a lot of meat away!

This is why I only take my game to a processor I know will give me my meat back. We have had issues with butchers in the past and it is quite frustrating!

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Seems light for a bull. Was he a mature bull, raghorn, spike? I usually plan on 130-150 lbs or so from a mature cow, sometimes more.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

Sorry I left out a few facts: Raghorn 2x3. Skinned at about 6pm and to the processor at about 8:30pm.

 

[shoots-straight]

I'd say you got less than you should. The bull I shot this year weighed in at 526 lbs. skinned and hanging at the butcher shop. I did the butchering; myself and ended up with close to 300 lbs of meat.

 

[shoots-straight]

Most spikes will net you around 140 to 150 lbs of meat.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Sorry I left out a few facts: Raghorn 2x3. Skinned at about 6pm and to the processor at about 8:30pm.

Definitely sounds light now. This is one of the reasons I cut up all of my own animals with very few exceptions.

 

[Pagosa]

Seems very light. Most 2.5 year bulls or average cow should produce about 140-160 lbs of cut up no bone included meat, unless there was lots of blood-shot meat.

 

[Big O]

Seems light to me also. The dry cow I shot in September boned out at 160. Most of the raghorns I have shot averaged about the same.

 

[have gun will travel]

Where do you think some! Not all but some butchers get there meat for smokies I took four good size mule deer quarters to a butcher once got 23 pounds of meet back. It was a clean shot no wasted meat. Turns out lots of my buddies have had issues with the same guy. I now cut up all my own meet unless I can't for some reason. Also keep in mind they don't take there time like you would on your own stuff. I do want to say not all are Bad. It's like anything there is always a few that make the rest look bad.

 

[PFUNK]

Would it be a good idea to have the processor weigh your meat in front of you when you bring it in? Then you know how much you have. I think I am gonna ask to have them do this when I bring mine in. I weighed the meat from my bull this year and it was right around 150 not counting the loins and tenderloins.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I think 50-60% yield from hanging weight, skinned with bones in, is about average for most wild game. I would say you are a little light based on the hanging weight of your bull.

I'm not a processor but I have helped a friend who has a shop several times when he was swamped. I have to say he was always very careful to get as much meat as possible. I do know that most people's idea of "clean" meat when they bring it to the shop is a lot different than mine. Not saying that was your case but just a general observation based on my experience.

 

[npaden]

The only thing I could guess is where was he shot? If you punched through both front shoulders that can end up costing a lot of meat.

 

[Sytes]

Last elk was a decent sized bull - Gutless method other then bones in the shoulder and hams (upper legs chopped off). I took my time pulling all I was able, rib and as much neck meat etc.

We received 270 or 280 in processed meat.

108 lbs seems off. Though like mentioned from 240 carcass weight to a blown shoulder shot... maybe? though tough one to swallow.

 

[sbhooper]

Most spikes will net you around 140 to 150 lbs of meat.

That is about right. I have always processed my own elk, deer and whatever. The cow elk that I have killed were always boned out in the field. I cut all of the fat and tendons etc. out that I can. The final product was usually between 110 and 150 pounds. The bulls were a little more. The processor will always give you more meat back than I will because they do not have the time to really trim all the crap off.

My father-in-law killed a cow on the Mescalero Reservation in NM one year that was the biggest I have ever seen. We had it commercially done, as I was still hunting. He got back 195 pounds of processed meat. That thing was huge, but I'll bet that it would have been much less if I had done it.

Some small bulls do not produce any more meat that a small cow. I think that you are probably short some, though. I knew a guy that processed meat near Yuma, Arizona that always had plenty of tenderloin to eat. A lot of people don't have a clue what the processor is doing unless he is held accountable. It is pretty hard to go back after the fact, though.

 

[Lawnboy]

My bro shot a good six point bull in the neck and loaded it whole. Drops it off at the processor and he gets back 2 apple boxes full of meat He askes what the deal and they say it was all blood shot. Yea right from a neck shot. Some are just crooks.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Thanks for the meat.

 

[Bambistew]

It may be a bit light, but I think its in the ball park depending on how well he cleaned up the meat. If he spent a lot of time cutting grisle and fat, you'll lose a lot of "weight", and it will add up quick. As mentioned, clean by hunters standard is not clean by a butchers standard. A spike has as much bone as a rag horn, but less meat.

 

[Joe Hulburt]

Most spikes will net you around 140 to 150 lbs of meat.

I've only killed Roosevelt spikes (the largest elk) and have never gotten 150 pounds of meat and I've killed a pretty good pile of them. 110 seems more like it to me.

I killed a pretty good size cow this year and got 160 pounds of weighed meat. Most cows are larger than spikes or 2x3's IMO.

I think what DDD is seeing is pretty realistic if the meat is actually weighed.

 

[Joe Hulburt]

I should add that this subject is one of the reasons I have never let anyone else cut any animal up for me.