Meat yield?

I

ID_Paul

Guest
Have any of you ever calculated exactly how much meat you get from your elk? I did this season. After each package was wrapped I weighed it on a postage scale and made notes. Here is what I got from my cow. All cuts are boneless.

Pounds - Cut
5.06 - Tenderloin
4.75 - Loin Cap (base of neck)
10.56- Backstrap
48.56- Hindquarter Steak
11.06- Front Shoulder Roast
6.00- Stirfry Strips
7.00- Stew Meat
9.25- Jerky (before drying)
48.50- Burger
6.69- Link Sausage(cooked weight)
8.75- Salami(cooked weight)
5.81- Pepperoni Sticks

172.00- Total Meat Yield

How does this compare with what you have got? Was she a big cow, or just average? What do you get from a big bull (some day I'll get one, I hope)

Paul
 
I have been a butcher for 25 years.
I would have to say that's pretty good!
I hear hunters' ##### all the time.."where's the rest of it!" "that thing weighed a ton when I dragged it outta the woods"
What they fail to realize is all the waiste involved especially if they choose to "age it"(Of which I am not really a fan!) I think you loose too much!
I think most people don't realize that hooved animals are like chocolate Easter bunnies...They are hollow on the inside!
 
your cow should have filled your freezer!

Sounds like the 2.5 year old bull i shot this year was only worth the same as your cow (170 lb net), but i ruined about 75% of one front quarter with my shot.

my dad's 5.5 year old bull had about 30% more meat (225 lb net) than my bull, but none of the meat was ruined on his.

berto
 
175 to 200 lbs for a mature elk sounds on the money to me, I do all my own butchering and thats what I always come up with.

Mike
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HunterHarry:

I have a question about the "age" process. I have not convinced myself what is actually better. In the past I have aged the meet for a day at best.

This year my elk aged a little longer(3-4 days) before I cut it up. It turned out to be some of the better tasting elk that i have had. I always get the hide off as quick as possible, and if the weather warm I do not age it.

Please, educate me.

Jason
 
If the weather cooperates ( 25 to 30 at night and 40 in the day) I will age my meat for 7 days, with the hide off of course. I have found that makes the tastiest,tenderest venison. Some guys will pay for cold storage for a week for that purpose. I just play the weather, if its hot then I butcher if its favorable for aging then it hangs in the backyard for a week, the neighbors just love me for it.

Mike
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my bull 2 years ago i netted 401 lbs. of meat. I'm still eating on the thing and have been generous with friends. Didn't have alot turned into stirfry strips and stuff like that, steaks and burger.
 
401 lbs sounds like alot to me, but what do I know, here is a paper written on the elk carcass by the Univ ov Wyo. Its 8 pages long but if this kind of stuff interests you its great reading. It has the info on carcass yields, effects of aging etc etc. Good stuff for a meat nerd.

http://www.uwyo.edu/ces/PUBS/B594R.pdf

Mike
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Paul:
Here is a formula,that's for Elk.Multiply the field-dressed weight by 1.48 to get live weight..830 to get clean dressed weight,.540 to get the packaged retail cuts(bones left in,and .430 to get the weight of boned elk meat.

The way I figure it,YOU killed a "BIG" cow.172 lbs divided by .430=400lbs field dressed and 1.48X400=592 live weight.

As for "Aging Meat"that can open up a can of worms.Wildmeat is considered "Cooled"at 2-5 days,ready to be cut up.Beef,in the old days was hung/aged for 21-28 days,then cut up.Somebody figured out that the "Lost Weight"of doing this,Shrinkage and stopped this long ago.
 
Some interesting replies. Thank you.

azbiggame, thanks for the formulas. I'll save those for future use.
 
I took a 5X5 this fall muzzleloading in Colorado. We entirely boned out the bull. I did not keep the ribs or some of the neck meat. The butcher in Denver weighed the meat in at exactly 146 lbs. I got about 160 lbs out of it as he must haved added some meat and certainly some jalepeno pepper cheese to the different sausages I had him make.
This bull looked neither huge nor small, he was a fairly typical, not fully matured 5X5.

Bill the Dog
 

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