Elk Meat Yield - HELP

[Banjo]

A bull Elk was taken with a head shot so no damage to the meat. As a percentage of hook weight (skinned), what should be expected?


Your thoughts/opinion are appreciated.

Thanks

[ianwuzhere]

average bull 550#?

[wsm]

Of cut meat?? 550lbs ??

[wsm]

sry i read it wrong, but 550 lbs on the hook seems high . i have seen decent size bull moose just touch that

[pappy]

How much fat and how much bone? all takes into account on what will be removed and what is left to be processed.

[Banjo]

This thing was 491 on the hook.

[835]

491 on the hook sounds right ish.
i have never weighed the boxes of cut wrapped meat coming back though. Did you?

[ElectricDyck]

I was curious so I did a bunch of searching and it seems the consensus for boneless meat for a bull is between 180 and 280 lbs before cutting. We ended up with 215 but we could have taken more kneck and flank if we were closer to the truck.

[Banjo]

it was weihed, which leads to the suspision. Not avid elk hunters....mainly moose, but we seem certain that 200lb final meat weight is low. expected about 250-300 given that it was a head shot and was hanging in the cooler within 24 hours

[Caveman]

You pay based on the "On the Hook" weight. My bull last year was 560#. I'd guess I ended up with 500#, maybe

[Banjo]

he was questioned about it and said there was a small amount of waste where flies had gotten in, but to waste 1/3rd seems off. Do butchers have a history of skimming?

[Banjo]

You pay based on the "On the Hook" weight. My bull last year was 560#. I'd guess I ended up with 500#, maybe

price is not the issue here...it is the lack of meat that makes us curious

[tuchodi]

We have taken a few bulls into butchers in Ft Nelson and on average the 4 quarters (bone in) back straps and neck meat weight approx 330 to 390 lbs. We get approx 200 to 230 lbs of meat back.

[Fixit]

from "the complete book of butchering smoking curing and sausage making"

referencing volume of meat from a deer pg 154
an average 1.5yr old, 100lb deer can dress out at up to 80% (ie skinned and gutted carcass weighs 80lbs)
50% of this, or 40lbs will be edble meat, the remaining consists of bone fat,mutilated areas, or areas affected by shot, and the resulting blood damage.


i know your requesting info on elk not deer, but it should translate somewhat
so i would estimate thaton the low side you should have 50% of hung weight as meat.

[Fixit]

he was questioned about it and said there was a small amount of waste where flies had gotten in, but to waste 1/3rd seems off. Do butchers have a history of skimming?
just like auto mechanics are all cheats/ bend you over
cab drivers always taking the long way around
.....etc etc.

if there was just 1/3 wastage i think you did well
how much did he charge per lb?

[Banjo]

just like auto mechanics are all cheats/ bend you over
cab drivers always taking the long way around
.....etc etc.

if there was just 1/3 wastage i think you did well
how much did he charge per lb?

No No, what I meant was if we should have gotten closer to 300lbs of a 500lb hook weight, and we only got 200lbs, then we lost 1/3rd off what should have had. Actaully only got about 40% of hook weight. I understand it should be more like 60%, especially with no buillet damage

Thanks everyone for their input though. Your comments combined with some online research confirms our suspicions.

[Whonnock Boy]

Yep, depending on waste, you should yield about 55 to 60 percent.

[Caveman]

Maybe make a couple calls to different butchers and ask what the yield might be. Can't hurt to ask!

[Fixit]

oh, 200lbs out of a 491lb hook weight?
yeah that doesnt seem right to me
what was price per lb to butcher?

[steepNdeep]

I just packed out a bull this weekend.
I weighed a quarter with the bone in & it was ~70 lbs x 4 = 280
+ backstraps, tenderloins, neck, rib meat = ~70 lbs
Total = ~350 lbs (including leg bones to hock)

[Looking_4_Jerky]

My friends have had suspicions about the slender amount of meat they have gotten back in the past from an outfit in the south-central Kootenay. Is that where your cutter is based out of?

[Banjo]

My friends have had suspicions about the slender amount of meat they have gotten back in the past from an outfit in the south-central Kootenay. Is that where your cutter is based out of?

South-East Kootenays.....

[Dannybuoy]

The meat cutter I have taken moose to in recent years have given back 100 % of the meat including the waste/trim
eg was 420lbs on the hook = 380lb + 40lbs trim/bone

[325]

With minimal wastage, I think you should average between 200-250 lbs of DEBONED and trimmed meat for an elk.

[Ddog]

you received the right amount back unless of course you to it Ricks, then you received the right amount back but might not have been yours.

[Ruger4]

my bow kill had zero damage as well , bull was a 5x5 , 404lbs on the hook , no head , no gutts, no hide, less the legbones and ribs.
I always ask for back straps whole so I know they are included in my meat return............another 6x6 bow kill we got was 360 lbs same as above.

[Banjo]

my bow kill had zero damage as well , bull was a 5x5 , 404lbs on the hook , no head , no gutts, no hide, less the legbones and ribs.
I always ask for back straps whole so I know they are included in my meat return............another 6x6 bow kill we got was 360 lbs same as above.

So how much weight was added to your deep freeze from that 5x5?

[boat tail]

6 pt should come in around 450 to 550. just in my experience !!!

[Ruger4]

So how much weight was added to your deep freeze from that 5x5?
I'm thinking in the 215-225lb range of lean meat Banjo

[Ruger4]

my bow kill had zero damage as well , bull was a 5x5 , 404lbs on the hook , no head , no gutts, no hide, less the legbones and ribs.
I always ask for back straps whole so I know they are included in my meat return............another 6x6 bow kill we got was 360 lbs same as above.
I'm pretty certain it was 460 lbs though , young fella workin the scale , I usually move the weights myself..............

[jml11]

You pay based on the "On the Hook" weight. My bull last year was 560#. I'd guess I ended up with 500#, maybe

This is why I would never bring in the ribs, pelvis, spine and sometimes the neck....just the quarters. Otherwise you are paying for a lot of waste in bone, especially with the brisket and pelvis (mostly useless). Cut off the back straps, tenderloins and any rib meat before bringing it in, you can leave them to process (cut into steaks/grind...) or just do it yourself. Also make a point of thoroughly inspecting any bullet paths and cut away the blood shot meat and bone fragements before bringing it in as this is weight you are paying them to throw away...You might be suprised how much loss can come from a single bullet...I realize in this case the head shot would result in no waste. Same goes for areas that got dirty for one reason or another...Cutting the rear quarters off the pelvis is easy and you will see that most of the meat comes with it...you will be suprised at how heavy the pelvis is on a mature animal...money down the drain....

I no longer take meat to a butcher as I have always found it to be an expense I can save by cutting it myself...then I decide what gets wasted. I always think the complaint of butchers skimming is kinda funny as these guys deal with a surplus of prime cut meat everyday and probably get offers to keep some meat as a 'tip' from hunters and ranchers a like all the time...why would they need to take 1/3 of YOUR elk...

[huntinnut]

We just butchered my elk last night, and I honestly don't know what it weighed on the hook, but it was the largest elk i've ever cut up. For fun, we weighed all the boxes at the end and came up with about 320 lbs of deboned meat. In the archery season we cut up my buddy's 4X5, which was a small bodied elk, and we figured that we had about 200lbs of deboned meat.

[Banjo]

This is why I would never bring in the ribs, pelvis, spine and sometimes the neck....just the quarters. Otherwise you are paying for a lot of waste in bone, especially with the brisket and pelvis (mostly useless). Cut off the back straps, tenderloins and any rib meat before bringing it in, you can leave them to process (cut into steaks/grind...) or just do it yourself. Also make a point of thoroughly inspecting any bullet paths and cut away the blood shot meat and bone fragements before bringing it in as this is weight you are paying them to throw away...You might be suprised how much loss can come from a single bullet...I realize in this case the head shot would result in no waste. Same goes for areas that got dirty for one reason or another...Cutting the rear quarters off the pelvis is easy and you will see that most of the meat comes with it...you will be suprised at how heavy the pelvis is on a mature animal...money down the drain....

I no longer take meat to a butcher as I have always found it to be an expense I can save by cutting it myself...then I decide what gets wasted. I always think the complaint of butchers skimming is kinda funny as these guys deal with a surplus of prime cut meat everyday and probably get offers to keep some meat as a 'tip' from hunters and ranchers a like all the time...why would they need to take 1/3 of YOUR elk...

Just seemd like a lot...maybe we're wrong. On an 850lb bull we expected I little more that's all. And as for why a butcher would skim...who knows. But apparently some have been busted (heresay I realize).

[Steeleco]

Exactly the reason I now cut all my own, if a guy has the space and temp place to keep things cool while life gets in the way of cutting. He's much better off.

That said, once you've done a few, you soon realize the pile of scrap is near as big as the stuff we eat, and if it was a less than desirable shot, even worse so.

[bearheart]

6 pt should come in around 450 to 550. just in my experience !!!I agree, my average is that range for 8 elk over the past 12 years, all bulls 6pt or 5x6, none neck shot, same butcher. less than 375lbs for a neck shot bull a wee bit low in my opinion.

[Smithers]

As a meat cutter myself and avid hunter there are a large number of factors to bring in to consideration when figuring out lean yield on an animal.
As mentioned by many on here bones are a large contributing factor. There is a trade off to removing some bones is it exposes meat. The more meat exposed, the more that will have to be trimmed. If a lean game animal is hung properly, it will eventually have a hard "skin" form from the outer layer of meat drying up. If an animal stays moist this "skin" will not form, the outer layer will stay moist, and be the ideal growth place for bacteria, causing more waste. When one goes to cut up an animal, this hard "skin" must be trimmed to achieve the quality of cut one would like to give to their customer, which is the highest quality possible.
Now if there are a couple of 'off' cuts into a section of meat these too will dry out and also need to be trimmed, further cutting into your final lean yield. A good quality meat cutter will be able to trim off the dry meat with absolute minimal waste, taking only what needs to come off. This trimmed "skin" can't or at least shouldn't be used in burger and such because due to loss of moisture you will end up with dry hard pieces in the final product.
Also on the subject of bones, ribs. If u leave the ribs on the animal to hang, these will be the first to dry out. Not only is it hard to get at the good meat between the dried layers, but rib bones weigh more than one thinks. The brisket along the bottom of the ribs contains a large, heavy piece of fat/bone that is good for nothing.
If one is wanting all boneless cuts, this also will cut into your yield. No matter how good a cutter one may be, your yield will always be less compared to bone in cuts because u can't get all the meat off like you could if you were eating that same piece as cooked meat, which if cooked properly should come off the bone quite easily.
The flank meat on the hinds is similar to the rib meat in respect to drying out. If they are hung for the same amount of time as the rest of the animal (the larger the pieces, the less loss to 'drying' as their is less surface area) they will dry to just about nothing. In my opinion, flank meat and rib meat (if one isn't wanting short ribs(yum)) could be removed only a couple days after the animal is hung and processed into ground meat or what have you. This will increase your final lean yield and prevent more weight at the cutters, and more waste.
The biggest factor contributing to lean yield, and I cannot stress this enough, is CLEANLINESS. Yes, one can try as they might and there will always be some hair left on the animal, but many things are avoidable. Some things that not everyone may have thought about is exaclty how clean are your knives? Sure its clean when you start processing your downed animal but how clean does it stay as you work on that animal? Are you using the same knife for skinning and quartering as you did for gutting? If so, did you clean it between uses? Even having some wipes of sorts to clean as you go, goes a long way to improving the quality of the hanging meat. Any piece of dirt, innard, hair, or anything really, that you run your knife through will have bacteria. Now you use that knife over your whole animal and spread that bacteria everywhere? Doesn't make sense does it?
Now not every animal dies in a place where one can practice this cleanliness to the standard that he might like but there are ways to still achieve a high level of clean. Once you get your game home, hang it and clean it. Some think water might harm meat, it doesn't! take that hose of yours and hose it down. Use a cloth and remove any and all the dirt you can. Scrub like your life depended on it. No matter how dirty or bloody it may be water and a little elbow grease will get 'er clean. If not, trim it. Take a clean knife and trim it off. Better to lose a bit now, than have that bacteria spread and lose more in the long run. Pay lots of attention to places where the meat will contact itself (areas like the inside of flanks, in wayward cuts, or trimmed areas) as these are prime growth places of bacteria. The more bacteria the more trimming which = lower percentage of lean yield. Once done washing, dry the animal. Take a dry towel and remove all the moisture you can. This will help it attain the nice 'skin' required to age the animal to get a more tender cut. It might 'look' good when you drop your animal off, but age it for 10-20 days and you will really see how good your cleaning job is as bacteria grows more and more over this period.
In the industry yield percentages are approx 30% loss on inspected slaugherhouse beef. This percentage grows a little for game as the meat/bone ratio decreases. Add in all the other factors I mentioned above and your loss percentage will only grow.

Well guys its getting late and the little note I was going to write kinda got away on me. Hope at least someone can cut through the longwindedness and learn something about contributing factors of lean yield.

[Caveman]

Just seemd like a lot...maybe we're wrong. On an 850lb bull we expected I little more that's all. And as for why a butcher would skim...who knows. But apparently some have been busted (heresay I realize).

Where'd you come up with 850#?. I assume that is a estimated "on the hoof" weight, which is irrelevant here. Like I said, poll a few butchers and see hat the yield should be, by percentage, weigh what you got back and see how close you are to the 491# on the hook weight you mentioned earlier.

[250 sav]

45 % on younger animals
up to 60% in rare cases on mature animals (BONELESS)

[lovemywinchester]

Good read Smithers. I never considered spreading bacteria around with the same knife. I take my game to Ray at Savona custom meats. He has done a few deer for me know and I am very happy with the finished product and reasonably priced as well. $80 for my spike wt all boneless. Pretty good.

[Banjo]

Where'd you come up with 850#?. I assume that is a estimated "on the hoof" weight, which is irrelevant here. Like I said, poll a few butchers and see hat the yield should be, by percentage, weigh what you got back and see how close you are to the 491# on the hook weight you mentioned earlier.

We've spoke to some that we've used in the past (in different areas) and they all seem to think that 2OO was quite low

[Slee]

A bull Elk was taken with a head shot so no damage to the meat. As a percentage of hook weight (skinned), what should be expected?


Your thoughts/opinion are appreciated.

Thanks

Go ask your butcher! maybe there was a reason your yield was so low..... Maybe he can give you some tips on how to bring home more edible meat.

[FirePower]

[QUOTE=Banjo;986339]A bull Elk was taken with a head shot so no damage to the meat. As a percentage of hook weight (skinned), what should be expected?


Your thoughts/opinion are appreciated.
Thanks [QUOTE]

First let me be clear I am not relating this story to be-little your achievement or cast judgement on your hunting techniques or ethics, your post simply brought the inncodent to mind and I relate it as food for thought only.

1971 we were horseback hunting ,primarily for elk, near Radium. We were riding across a meadow when my partner spied what looked to be a large bull elk standing on the tree line. We proceeded to skirt the meadow to put the wind in our faces and as we rode began to notice that something seemed wrong with the bull. He stood head down seemingly oblivious to our presance. As we rode to a distance of about 150 yards we noticed that not only was the bull paying us no mind but that he was very skinny a walking skelton in fact. He stood slightly quartered away with his head hanging and after a breif discussion my partner mecifully droped the bull with 1 shot from his 270. We knew the bull had been in serious trouble but neither of us was prepaired for the sight we found on reaching the downed animal. He was a heavy crowned 6x6 and should have weighed in the neighbourhood of 600 lbs, if he was half of that I would be surprised. Upon closer inspection we found that a quarter of his bottom jaw was smashed and the whole jaw hung limply with a bullet hole clearly visable on one side. We could only surmise it was a head shot gone bad but thats sure what it looked like. When you think about it ,it would take very little to cause a well aimed head shot to miss the mark by only a few inches and take out a bottom jaw. Movement at the critical moment, a twig or gust of wind.
We will never know what actually caused that fine bulls suffering and slow death for sure but I know that when I think about "saving meat" I remember that sad picture and go for the boiler room.
Simply food for thought.

[levind]

I'm sure they take parts of the best meat for themselves dont think it would be 25# cut a few pieces for sure. Also some butchers dont take the time to debone properly and leave a lot of meat on the bones. all factors that can change the percentage. I heard a story from a friend that the butcher told him he would take a couple of the good pieces for himself. i wasnt there so its here say but he is a honest guy so i do believe it happened. not much you can do about it except butcher yourself if you want to be 100% sure.

[willyqbc]

Maybe I missed it somewhere in the post.....was the meat you got back bone in or boneless??? Your number seems reasonable for boneless with all fat, sinew and silverskin removed. If it was bone in it does seem a little low to me. We have weighed many of the bulls we have taken and calculated live weight by using 40% loss due to hide, head, guts, lower legs etc.( I got this number from some article years ago). When taking the hanging weight and adding 40% to get live weight we have found that we seem to get 25-30% of live weight yielded when deboning and trimming ALL fat and silver skin etc during butchering. So as far as I can see a bull that is 600lbs hanging weight should be around 1000lbs on the hoof and should yield approx 250 lbs pure solid boneless red meat. Thats just been my experience.

Chris

[doubled]

[QUOTE=Banjo;986339]A bull Elk was taken with a head shot so no damage to the meat. As a percentage of hook weight (skinned), what should be expected?


Your thoughts/opinion are appreciated.
Thanks [QUOTE]

First let me be clear I am not relating this story to be-little your achievement or cast judgement on your hunting techniques or ethics, your post simply brought the inncodent to mind and I relate it as food for thought only.

1971 we were horseback hunting ,primarily for elk, near Radium. We were riding across a meadow when my partner spied what looked to be a large bull elk standing on the tree line. We proceeded to skirt the meadow to put the wind in our faces and as we rode began to notice that something seemed wrong with the bull. He stood head down seemingly oblivious to our presance. As we rode to a distance of about 150 yards we noticed that not only was the bull paying us no mind but that he was very skinny a walking skelton in fact. He stood slightly quartered away with his head hanging and after a breif discussion my partner mecifully droped the bull with 1 shot from his 270. We knew the bull had been in serious trouble but neither of us was prepaired for the sight we found on reaching the downed animal. He was a heavy crowned 6x6 and should have weighed in the neighbourhood of 600 lbs, if he was half of that I would be surprised. Upon closer inspection we found that a quarter of his bottom jaw was smashed and the whole jaw hung limply with a bullet hole clearly visable on one side. We could only surmise it was a head shot gone bad but thats sure what it looked like. When you think about it ,it would take very little to cause a well aimed head shot to miss the mark by only a few inches and take out a bottom jaw. Movement at the critical moment, a twig or gust of wind.
We will never know what actually caused that fine bulls suffering and slow death for sure but I know that when I think about "saving meat" I remember that sad picture and go for the boiler room.
Simply food for thought.

That is exactly why I do not take head shots anymore. We found a 4 point muley in the same shape a few years back and put it out of it's misery.

[Banjo]

[QUOTE=FirePower;986896][QUOTE=Banjo;986339]A bull Elk was taken with a head shot so no damage to the meat. As a percentage of hook weight (skinned), what should be expected?


Your thoughts/opinion are appreciated.
Thanks

That is exactly why I do not take head shots anymore. We found a 4 point muley in the same shape a few years back and put it out of it's misery.


I see where you both are coming from, but keep in mind that a heart shot that misses by a few inches can debilitate an animal as well. I know you aren't meaning to question the ethics of this particular shot, but putting on this thread kinda implies that. This shot was executed properly and dropped the animal where it stood.

[Caveman]

We've spoke to some that we've used in the past (in different areas) and they all seem to think that 2OO was quite low

Well, I guess at the end of it all, all you can say is a lesson learned and you or anyone you know will no longer be using this guy. I've seen it before. A good trusted butcher ranks right up there with a good trusted hunting partner. If youy can't trust him you're not going to use him, simple as that. A face to face though might be in order before you jump to that though

[Vader]

Had an experience with a southern BC cutter before and a few others that gave me less than what I expected. This particular cutter told me that he de-boned the meat and I would really enjoy it.. well.. I got exactly 114 lbs of meat from a 375 lb bull. Including 40 lbs of sausage that had 20% pork put in. Ripped off or what.. I had a fair go around with the idiot who tried to convince me that it was all there. He tried to tell me that the bones of an elk are big and heavy compared to beef bones.. Told him I was a farm boy and any cows I saw had short stubby legs.. And all the elk I been killing have long slender legs.. Oh he said a smart guy... I asked how many t-bones in an animal.. he correctly identified 26, 13 per side... I told him to count mine.. 6 packages was all he could find.. 2 to a pack.. So I said you would have to think there is part missing.. he said might be some other boxes around he'll look.. Nope no other boxes he said.. I said well where is it then, maybe it got mixed up with someone elses meat.. He said no.. we cut each animal separately so that can't happen.. I reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a deer chop and said I think some picked up a 300 lb whitetail... which we know doesn't exist in BC, and left with it. Well he said I'll look around some more... I got another 40 lbs of beef sausage.. no charge he said.. I put an ad in the paper like I told him I was going to and tell all my buddies not to go there.. Oh and by the way.. there was bone in every fricken steak I ate except the rounds which he pounded to 1/8 inch thick, quick fries he called them..
Expect to lose 35 to 45 %.. 50 on a really dirty or shot up bull. 265-300 lbs is what you should have got back. I never ask for mine to be deboned for that reason.. also adds flavor.. at least I think it does.
As been said.. good butchers are hard to find..

[300H&H]

For me, it seems if I bring in a deer at 140lbs I get back about 70lbs.

[huntwriter]

A bull Elk was taken with a head shot so no damage to the meat. As a percentage of hook weight (skinned), what should be expected?


Your thoughts/opinion are appreciated.

Thanks

This is what I learned in the Swiss Master Butcher School about the yield of meat gained from an on the hoof animal:

From the hoof to the dressed carcass (skinned and gutted) you're left with 60% to 62% hanging carcass yield.

From the dressed hanging carcass to take home meat (boned, trimmed and cut) you will end up with approx. 50% to 56% edible meat yield.

Many hunters are not aware just how high the percentage of skin, guts, organs, bones, fat, silver skin, gristle, bloodshot meat, tendons and inedible glads is on an animal. While it is certainly true that some meat processors cheat most don't but are accused of it simply because the hunter expects more edible meat then there really is on a carcass. The edible meat yield can be even less (down to 40%) if the animal is skinny, old, or not enough care has been taken during field dressing, dirty on the inside, or if the carcass has been hanging for to long in less than ideal temperature conditions.

Hope this helps to clear up misconceptions and put meat yield expectations into realistic perspective.

[CanuckShooter]

Had an experience with a southern BC cutter before and a few others that gave me less than what I expected. This particular cutter told me that he de-boned the meat and I would really enjoy it.. well.. I got exactly 114 lbs of meat from a 375 lb bull. Including 40 lbs of sausage that had 20% pork put in. Ripped off or what.. I had a fair go around with the idiot who tried to convince me that it was all there. He tried to tell me that the bones of an elk are big and heavy compared to beef bones.. Told him I was a farm boy and any cows I saw had short stubby legs.. And all the elk I been killing have long slender legs.. Oh he said a smart guy... I asked how many t-bones in an animal.. he correctly identified 26, 13 per side... I told him to count mine.. 6 packages was all he could find.. 2 to a pack.. So I said you would have to think there is part missing.. he said might be some other boxes around he'll look.. Nope no other boxes he said.. I said well where is it then, maybe it got mixed up with someone elses meat.. He said no.. we cut each animal separately so that can't happen.. I reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a deer chop and said I think some picked up a 300 lb whitetail... which we know doesn't exist in BC, and left with it. Well he said I'll look around some more... I got another 40 lbs of beef sausage.. no charge he said.. I put an ad in the paper like I told him I was going to and tell all my buddies not to go there.. Oh and by the way.. there was bone in every fricken steak I ate except the rounds which he pounded to 1/8 inch thick, quick fries he called them..
Expect to lose 35 to 45 %.. 50 on a really dirty or shot up bull. 265-300 lbs is what you should have got back. I never ask for mine to be deboned for that reason.. also adds flavor.. at least I think it does.
As been said.. good butchers are hard to find..

Sounds like an appropriate situation to file a small claims court action.....about the most effective way to fix those turds other than beating them to a pulp!!

[elkdom]

picked up my elk meat from the butcher toady, the 5x5 bull was killed Sept 22,2011,
the 4 quarters dressed and hanging at the butcher shop was 560 lb,
no meat loss, shot once through rib cage, died on the spot,

the meat I picked up today was boneless, all fat trimmed off,
and was all packaged steaks, roasts and burger,
the amount I took home today, cut wrapped and frozen was 310 lb,

there you go, much the same ratio of finished meat , as the last 20 other mature bull elk over the years,,,,:wink:

[elksmasher]

300 to 350 of boneless meat that is ribs,neck,everything add 30 percent for bones.

[cameron0518]

My dad's elk was 384 on the hook and got back approx 200 lbs of deboned.

[5 spike]

the bull my buddy killed last year was 489 on the hook.

[dave_83golf]

Insightful read Smithers. Thanks very much for the input... I think some of us also forget that we lose a significant amount (%) of weight in the hanging process.

[elknut]

Banjo....When you pick up the cut wrapped meat you probably will only get 50 percent back of edible meat...Boned out that is..Shrinkage due to dehydration ....trimming the dry exterior ... Bones...fat removed...inside and out etc...Discouraging I know...But thats still a lot of chewing...Elknut Caveat....A large mature animal has more meat to bone ratio....An immature bull has the bone but has not filled out yet..

[chola]

you received the right amount back unless of course you to it Ricks, then you received the right amount back but might not have been yours.

LOL...that one just made my day

[3kills]

yield on average is 50 to 55%

[steepNdeep]

You pay based on the "On the Hook" weight. My bull last year was 560#. I'd guess I ended up with 500#, maybe

According to this Chart from Wyoming it's ~43% of field dressed weight. So 560 lb on the hook x 43% = 241 lbs of meat

Colorado - Game Processing Guide (http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06504.pdf)

Table 1: Average yields and weight losses from various big game animals.

Field Dressed W/ bones Boneless % meat from field dressed weight
Elk, male 437 236 188 43
Elk, female 339 195 159 47

Source: Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wyoming.

[elksmasher]

Head shot whole carcass out bone in 491 -600 sounds right,depending on age and condition how long it got to hang and dry out ,fat etc.Bones account for almost 30% of the hanging weight and you pay the butcher for what is on his hook with bones in.

[elknut]

Caveman....No disrespect but....if 4 quarters skinned and hanging legs cut off weighed 560# ...then i would like to be there and weigh 500# of bone in or boneless cut and wrapped meat...Those bones must of been toothpicks..Any butcher will provide you with the proof just ask but dont guess...Elknut...Respectfully...Dennis

[shaydog65]

As a meat cutter myself and avid hunter there are a large number of factors to bring in to consideration when figuring out lean yield on an animal.
As mentioned by many on here bones are a large contributing factor. There is a trade off to removing some bones is it exposes meat. The more meat exposed, the more that will have to be trimmed. If a lean game animal is hung properly, it will eventually have a hard "skin" form from the outer layer of meat drying up. If an animal stays moist this "skin" will not form, the outer layer will stay moist, and be the ideal growth place for bacteria, causing more waste. When one goes to cut up an animal, this hard "skin" must be trimmed to achieve the quality of cut one would like to give to their customer, which is the highest quality possible.
Now if there are a couple of 'off' cuts into a section of meat these too will dry out and also need to be trimmed, further cutting into your final lean yield. A good quality meat cutter will be able to trim off the dry meat with absolute minimal waste, taking only what needs to come off. This trimmed "skin" can't or at least shouldn't be used in burger and such because due to loss of moisture you will end up with dry hard pieces in the final product.
Also on the subject of bones, ribs. If u leave the ribs on the animal to hang, these will be the first to dry out. Not only is it hard to get at the good meat between the dried layers, but rib bones weigh more than one thinks. The brisket along the bottom of the ribs contains a large, heavy piece of fat/bone that is good for nothing.
If one is wanting all boneless cuts, this also will cut into your yield. No matter how good a cutter one may be, your yield will always be less compared to bone in cuts because u can't get all the meat off like you could if you were eating that same piece as cooked meat, which if cooked properly should come off the bone quite easily.
The flank meat on the hinds is similar to the rib meat in respect to drying out. If they are hung for the same amount of time as the rest of the animal (the larger the pieces, the less loss to 'drying' as their is less surface area) they will dry to just about nothing. In my opinion, flank meat and rib meat (if one isn't wanting short ribs(yum)) could be removed only a couple days after the animal is hung and processed into ground meat or what have you. This will increase your final lean yield and prevent more weight at the cutters, and more waste.
The biggest factor contributing to lean yield, and I cannot stress this enough, is CLEANLINESS. Yes, one can try as they might and there will always be some hair left on the animal, but many things are avoidable. Some things that not everyone may have thought about is exaclty how clean are your knives? Sure its clean when you start processing your downed animal but how clean does it stay as you work on that animal? Are you using the same knife for skinning and quartering as you did for gutting? If so, did you clean it between uses? Even having some wipes of sorts to clean as you go, goes a long way to improving the quality of the hanging meat. Any piece of dirt, innard, hair, or anything really, that you run your knife through will have bacteria. Now you use that knife over your whole animal and spread that bacteria everywhere? Doesn't make sense does it?
Now not every animal dies in a place where one can practice this cleanliness to the standard that he might like but there are ways to still achieve a high level of clean. Once you get your game home, hang it and clean it. Some think water might harm meat, it doesn't! take that hose of yours and hose it down. Use a cloth and remove any and all the dirt you can. Scrub like your life depended on it. No matter how dirty or bloody it may be water and a little elbow grease will get 'er clean. If not, trim it. Take a clean knife and trim it off. Better to lose a bit now, than have that bacteria spread and lose more in the long run. Pay lots of attention to places where the meat will contact itself (areas like the inside of flanks, in wayward cuts, or trimmed areas) as these are prime growth places of bacteria. The more bacteria the more trimming which = lower percentage of lean yield. Once done washing, dry the animal. Take a dry towel and remove all the moisture you can. This will help it attain the nice 'skin' required to age the animal to get a more tender cut. It might 'look' good when you drop your animal off, but age it for 10-20 days and you will really see how good your cleaning job is as bacteria grows more and more over this period.
In the industry yield percentages are approx 30% loss on inspected slaugherhouse beef. This percentage grows a little for game as the meat/bone ratio decreases. Add in all the other factors I mentioned above and your loss percentage will only grow.

Well guys its getting late and the little note I was going to write kinda got away on me. Hope at least someone can cut through the longwindedness and learn something about contributing factors of lean yield.

Thank-you Smithers. That was a very helpful post.

[Goliath]

I was going to give a summary of my last 4 elk...all home cut, but not after reading this thread.

Fumbling through the garbage on HBC is numbing...way too many folks beating their chest offering up useless info and trying to pass themselves off as a "pro".

Except for a few posts, including Smithers, the rest is garbage.

[Clouddog]

First congrats on a clean head shot!

I shot a Peace region bull elk Oct 7th. It was a head shot behind the left ear, very clean and bang, lights out for the bull. We hung thr 4 quarters skinned of course, for two days in sub zero weather, so there was not much dehydration loss. We delivered to our butcher in Williams lake. Since we pay with bone in we weighed the bull in the shop and came out at 448 pound. Rick the butcher said is was large and like a moose size.

We are picking up our meat next weekend. Yummy.

BTW - what was your yardage on the shot and caliber?

Regards

[Banjo]

100 yds 30-06

[emerson]

40-50 % yield of deboned trimmed meat has been my learning as I go, butchering experience. I don't understand how many complain but aren't ready to try it themselves. If it is too warm outside I will pay to hang it, but cut it myself. I deboned half a 2 point muley for sausage and ended up 17lbs of meat plus the backstrap and tenderloin which I didn't grind.

[Brambles]

Depends if its all boned out or of it was bandsaw cut.

You get a lot more weight back if it was bandsawn

[Allen50]

well this one might help you, i just cut up a moose weighting 489 lbs on the rail, the bones out were 47 lbs legs front and rear, there was i tub of trim weighting about 150 lbs, and the shot broke two ribs, but not a lot of waist around the area, the fat was 2 inches thick alone the nack and over the hind, that was trimed,sholder blades were deboned and the shoulder bone was in with the fat, leg bones were in tub on there owne cut up, so if you take away the trim and bones 197lbs, off the total weight that leaves about 294 lbs, i did not weight the eatable meat, but i also do not skim meat,, not all butchers are dishonest,, also cut up a 50 lbs deer( yes island deer) hind into roasts and rest deboned, was 15 lbs of hind and 16 pounds of trin, leaving 31 lbs of take home meat, from 50 lbs,, just a few numbers for youto check and see..

[dave_83golf]

I shot a Boone and Crockett Rosie and essentially deboned weighed just over 400 pounds.... We figured he was between 900 and 1000 pounds live weight.... As mentioned earlier, it all depends on a few different things.... Fat, Bones, etc etc