Actual Weight of Meat - Can we be honest?

[Deleted member 28227]

I took the backstraps, neck, and tenderloins to my house and trimmed/packed those myself to save him a few dollars...

Bet you "let" all the neighborhoods kids paint your mom's fence for you...

I GAVE THEM BACK!!! Well, some of them

"Bro, I'm telling you, you just shot an exceptionally small 6pt and there was just gobs of silver skin on them... just trust me 4lbs is a ton of backstrap and tenderloins are tough anyway, here see there is this whole thread about it on that hunting forum I keep talking about."

 

[LopeHunter]

My 2019 CO archery bull. Took all 4 quarters neck meat and backstaps to processor. Weighed meat after I got home. 143 lbs processed deliciousness.

I was at just about the same total weight of meat headed into the freezer from the bull elk I got with a muzzleloader this month in NM. I did lose some shoulder meat on each side and I trim aggressively so have a clean grind then put in about 10% beef fat up to 20% at times.

A butcher took care of this year's NV bull elk from September and added 20% pork fat to the burger. I had kept about 10 pounds of backstrap when I dropped off the quarters and rest of the meat so I could make fresh elk burger for my Uncle that is having some tough health issues. The butcher later shipped three coolers. Total weight of meat was right at 155 pounds if add back in the backstrap.

A butcher that mainly handles cattle processed the bull elk I shot about a decade ago in Jackson WY. I ended up with 290 pounds of meat including the 10% beef fat I had added. Was a very big-bodied bull elk and much of the bull was ground for burger. Lung shot so only a bit of rib meat lost. Perhaps the butcher cleaned the big bull elk carcass to the bone and may have not trimmed much before the grind.

So one bull almost provided what two other bulls did for weight of what made it into the freezer including added fat.

 

[LuketheDog]

"Bro, I'm telling you, you just shot an exceptionally small 6pt and there was just gobs of silver skin on them... just trust me 4lbs is a ton of backstrap and tenderloins are tough anyway, here see there is this whole thread about it on that hunting forum I keep talking about."

I saved them from the atrocity of untrimmed and butterflied backstrap steaks, probably changed my friend's culinary life forever, for the good...

 

[smarandr]

This moose (4-8 years old) was loaded up whole into the bed of my truck. The hanging weight (gutted, skinned, no head, no hooves) on the butcher bill says 337 lbs. I got just shy of 200 lbs of meat back yesterday.

 

[sapperJ24]

My 2019 cow elk weighed in at 330 (gutted, skin and feet still on) pounds at the check station. Bone-in hind quarters were about 47 and 44 pounds each.

Edit/update: 130 pounds of packaged meat and grind after butchering ourselves.

 

[jrabq]

This post prompted me to tabulate the boneless meat weights (before trimming) of some critters I've shot in the past ~15 years; 12 bull elk, 3 cow elk, and 2 Shiras moose bulls. I weighed most using a spring type scale in parts ranging from 30-60 lbs., so a lot of the numbers are totaled to the nearest 5 lbs. For some I used a fish scale which had more precision, not sure about the accuracy. In all cases the weights did not include the shanks or rib meat, but I usually left the scapula in the shoulders for easier handling. But that's a very light bone so it probably only added a few pounds. The average of 12 bull elk for me was 204 lbs., but with a huge range in size, from a puny raghorn at 140 to a big-bodied 6X6 at 295 lbs. I lost about half the neck meat of that biggest bull so he was probably well over 300, getting close to WapitiBob's bull.

Cows (3) averaged to 150 lbs.

2 Shiras bull moose averaged to 363 lbs.

 

[NEWHunter]

Well, since I don’t see much on pronghorn on this thread, and I’ve never packed anything other than that . . . this guy’s skinned quarters (bone in) with the lower legs removed, back straps, loins, neck meat, and no rib meat weighed 47 pounds on the bathroom scale.



Didn’t weigh the cape with the skull in it, but wish I would have.

Shot these two out there and did the cutting myself. Everything went to the grind pile except for the loins and back straps. Per the butcher, the grind pile (all cleaned up with most silver skin removed) was 50.1 pounds. Bathroom scale had all four backstraps at 11 pounds. Left the silver on the backstraps - I leave it on till I’m ready to grill.

Did not weigh the inner loins - I will guess a little more than a pound for all four (being honest about my guess @wllm1313). I will also guess that I lost about two and a half shoulders to shot placement. The shot up shoulders were buried out back rather than landfilled - makes me feel a bit better about the loss.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

This post prompted me to tabulate the boneless meat weights (before trimming) of some critters I've shot in the past ~15 years; 12 bull elk, 3 cow elk, and 2 Shiras moose bulls. I weighed most using a spring type scale in parts ranging from 30-60 lbs., so a lot of the numbers are totaled to the nearest 5 lbs. For some I used a fish scale which had more precision, not sure about the accuracy. In all cases the weights did not include the shanks or rib meat, but I usually left the scapula in the shoulders for easier handling. But that's a very light bone so it probably only added a few pounds. The average of 12 bull elk for me was 204 lbs., but with a huge range in size, from a puny raghorn at 140 to a big-bodied 6X6 at 295 lbs. I lost about half the neck meat of that biggest bull so he was probably well over 300, getting close to WapitiBob's bull. View attachment 119097

Cows (3) averaged to 150 lbs.

2 Shiras bull moose averaged to 363 lbs.

Ladies and Gentleman the bar has been set.

 

[rideold]

Ladies and Gentleman the bar has been set.

We'll, I ain't gonna move it. I have two days left of this elk hunt and somebody up and moved all the elk someplace else!

 

[Flatrock]

Very good thread here. I read an article not long ago where 3 guys shot 3 bulls in Idaho and claimed to have 1,200 pounds of meat. 2 raghorns and a 5x5.

 

[Tradewind]

This has been a good thread. I've always wondered why folks over-estimate - and part of that is surely due to ego.
.

Mostly due to the fact tht is weighs a heck of lot more when you haul it out on your back and you finally get to the truck. Prob a 20% gain in wieght on the trip in my estimation.....

 

[Tradewind]

I GAVE THEM BACK!!! Well, some of them

kind of like th butcher does, eh...

 

[golfer]

After reading this thread, everyone has boned out weights. Does anyone have finished weights after trimming meat up? Or is everyone just taking all that boned out meat and processing it from there leaving the silver in the meat?

 

[Gr8bawana]

I agree that honest real world weights are usually much lower than what many people claim. I've lost count of how many guys claim to have taken 300+ lb mulie bucks here in NV. I'm sure there are some but they are like hens teeth.
Before I left my scale hanging in a tree I recall most of our northern NV bucks weighed between about 110 and 140 pounds field dressed.
They sure felt like 300lb bucks when packing them out though.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

After reading this thread, everyone has boned out weights. Does anyone have finished weights after trimming meat up? Or is everyone just taking all that boned out meat and processing it from there leaving the silver in the meat?

Finished weight is a bit tough because everyone does it a bit different, more or less trimming, adding fat for burger, how much fat 10%, 20% etc.

Finished weight is just more variable.

 

[nrpate05]

Packaged weight of my mule this year was 45 pounds. I lost the neck meat due to needing a finishing shot. I haven't added any fat to the ground meat yet so that will bump it up a little. He was only a 1.5 yr old buck so no doubt he was on the smaller side.

 

[Blacktailbc]

I guess I don’t get what the big mystery has been. I’ve done my share of backpacking critters and I’ve always figured 90-100lbs for a mature mule deer + camp. So figure gear =40 lbs and boned meat 60-70.
Elk is generally a 3 load trip. One trip for 3 people . Figure 70 lbs a piece. That’s with no gear, just packing meat.

 

[Irrelevant]

‘That ain’t a moose’: 104 years later, Hill Gould’s 31-point buck still the Maine standard

Late last month, BDN readers proved (again) that photos of big animals taken by hunters are still incredibly popular: A pair of stories — one on a

bangordailynews.com

WT buck, 355 gutted. Makes some of those bulls looks like dinks.

 

[hammerguy]

This season I brought a scale into the field for the first time, actually had two different scales for my elk hunt.

I tried to make my measurements as scientific as possible, my yields were dramatically different from the numbers people throw around. Neither of my animals were massive, but neither were dramatically small. I believe both were fairly representative of what your average hunter pulls out of the woods in Colorado.

Would you be willing to weight your meat, post a pic of the animal, and post pictures or give a short description of how you butchered.

I literally give no chitts about "oh well we usually get bla bla bla" the internet abounds in blowhards, I'm asking for some objective facts, if you can't "prove" the weight of a specific animal your info isn't of interest. Also please keep the shaming to a minimum, I'm interested in your numbers I don't care what you do or do not bring home as long as you are acting legally in your jurisdiction.

I realize this is kinda a pain the butt, so thank you to anyone that chooses to participate. All critters welcome.

192lb before his throat was slit.
157lb after gutted
75lb completely deboned. 36lb of that is sausage trim.

 

[Jmnhunter]

I shot this buck last weekend, I guessed 160lbs when I walked up to it; weighed it last night 130lbs; thought the scale was off until i weighed myself; I would like to see a 200-250lb buck in person now that I bought a scale the last couple of years ago, i thought a few of my older bucks were 200+ but now i'm not so sure...as alot of guys claim they shoot 250lb+ bucks
I'll report meat back when I can butcher it after it thaws out...