We killed three cows in the last week and a half on the bow hunt (we can kill a spike or a cow). One 4 year old cow netted 158 lbs. of boneless meat. One two and a half year old netted 128 lbs. of boneless meat. My year and a half old cow netted 115 lbs. of boneless meat. We got a couple of big bulls in the last couple of years, a 330 bull and a 365 bull. They netted 225 lbs and 250 lbs. of boneless meat respectively (they get more fat with age, not necessarily more meat). I have killed a bunch of rag horn (2.5 year old bulls) and 3.5 year old bulls. They run a bit more than cows of the same age. I will get 150 off a rag horn and 175 lbs. off a 3.5-5.5 year old bull. A really accurate rule of thumb is, you get 1/3 of the live weight in boneless meat on elk and deer. We have tested this over and over again and have found it to be right on the money. I have seen some absolutely HUGE 420+ B.C. bulls and they still won't best 950 lbs. live weight. They do tend to weigh about 3 tons by the end of the day when packing them out though ;o) Don't even get me started on my last two moose. Even though they were in the 850 lb. range live weight, by the end of the day, I swear they were 1,500 lbs. Few meats are more dense than moose. In fact, I don't think their is a denser/heavier meat. Flinch
Last edited by Flinch; 09/10/09.
