Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Did we get shorted on venison

I took a 3 yr old doe and a yearling doe(no spots) to the local meat processor to have the back straps cut out and saved, then the balance boned and ground.

Got the call this morning to come get your deer. 28.5 1lb packages of ground deer meat and 4 packages of back straps, maybe 80lbs max weight.

After putting it in the freezer we looked at each other and said we were hosed, where's the rest of it.

What are your thoughts?

Anyone know the yield of a deer, 30%?

Where are you? Our doe are small, maybe 100lbs. Our processor has a sign on the wall explaining that you will only be getting 25-30lbs of meat back from a local doe and breaking down the percentages of meat/bones/etc.

Edit: did they add any fat to the grind or is that 100% venison?

I think it's roughly one third yield of live weight. So just spit balling 100lb doe / 33lbs of meat.

I've had my deer processed for about the last three years, and the one big thing I've noticed is that the processors is not nearly as judicious at cutting deer up as I am. I'm not a wasteful type person concerning anything, just my nature.They typically are in a hurry and are not worried about saving every last ounce of meat.

With that said, we have the tools ie: grinder, pans, vacuum sealers etc to do it ourselves so next year we'll probaby go back to the old ways.

It is easy to drop one off and pick it up already processed though in todays busy world.

Doesn’t sound too far out to me if your deer are similar size to ours. Average doe is probably 85 dressed and yearlings 60-65. So one third of that would be around 50lb. You got 30ish lb of burger and and I’m guessing 15-20lb of loins.

Shot placement can mean more trim due to bloodshot, could have cost a few pounds.

I’ve never met a processor who would want to steal any deer meat after dealing with hundreds of them a season. If I owned a butcher shop and wanted to swipe something to eat it would be beef tenderloin or something like that as opposed to some strangers deer that I didn’t know how it had been handled.

Yield will be compromised on how much was torn up and blood shot from the kill shots.
Not uncommon to lose a complete shoulder.

I saw a yearling somebody shot not too long ago that was maybe 60lbs live weight. It had been hit high in one hindquarter, angling away, with a 30-06. Maybe a gallon bucket of meat on the deer remained edible.

Not surprised

That doesn't really sound too far off. Where did you hit it? They're not going to spend time cutting around bloodshot like you would if you're doing it yourself. They'll cut off that chunk and keep going.

I think people underestimate how much a head, hide, and carcass weigh.

I bone out every animal I take, on a buck antelope I get between 45-50 lbs of meat, on buck mule deer 70 to 80 lbs, killed a huge whitetail in WY past October that boned out close to 100 lbs. Years ago we use to take our elk to a local butcher for processing and noticed a lot less meat than if we processed it ourselves.

Processors have to eat to but most of them prefer ribeye’s.

What does the processor charge?

If the processor gets paid by the # it wouldn’t make sense for him to short you on meat.


You got what you shot.

I figure 65 % of live weight is carcass.

50 % of carcass is boned meat if it goes perfectly.

Cost was $125.00 each.

One was neck shot, the other a high heart.

I forgot to add that were are in a CWD area and had to cut off head to be tested, so lost some weight there.

I weighed the boned out meat from six deer last week. The total of backstaps and meat canned and ground into burger was 186 lb. After fat and tendons removed.
Averavge was 31 lb per deer. I have had the average hit 40 lb on occasion but fat was likely not removed.
We do get neck meat and brisket but rarely get ribs.

I do my own.An ave. doe I've killed will usually yield around 35lbs of boned out meat.I've had a few that boned out around 40lbs.My all time biggest doe boned out 48lbs.I'd say her live weight was somewhere around 135-140lbs.

Having cut up ("processed") my own deer most of my life, I have a pretty good idea how much meat is on a deer once the head, hide, guts and bones are gone. I'm thinking soewhere between 30 - 35% depending on the size and condition of the deer.

I take mine to a processor now. Unlike when I lived up north, I have no place I can hang a deer and, honestly, I just don't care to do it anymore. We're fortunate here in that we have a really good outfit processing our deer. They were recommended by a friend and now, after using them for three years and probably a dozen deer, I have no complaints whatsoever. They are truly a first class operation. They have charts right up front showing approximately how much you should expect from a deer of a given size in, I think, 5 pound increments.

The average whitetail yields 37 pounds of deboned meat. My butcher told me that

Sounds about right to me; 80 lbs on a yearling and a young doe are about what I'd expect.