Butchering video

[Gunner46]

This is not meant to a question as to how to butcher a tagged big game animal, but to ask if any of Y'All know of a publicly available video that actually shows how much cook-able meat is honestly attainable form the game animal. (preferably showing the weight loss process along the way)

One that will explain/show that a:

~150# whitetail will = X#'s of meat in the freezer

~500# cow elk = X#'s

Yada, Yada....

 

[ImBillT]

As far a video, I’m not aware of one, but I have read a number of articles on the internet suggesting that yields on elk from professional game processors are in the range of 30-36% of live weight, and beef from professional butchers is usually in a similar range. It’s easy to think that if a person took his time he could get a higher yield than a butcher whose job it is to process an animal quickly, but if you watch some beef processing videos you’ll quickly discover that the pros get almost every last sliver of meat, and they do it a lot faster than any hunter I’ve ever seen.

You can’t get an exact number as each animal is different. Beef butchers get a narrower range because commercially raised beef is generally brought in at roughly the same age and in good body condition. Wild hunted animals can be killed pre/post rut, varied age classes, and dramatically different range conditions with different levels of supplemental feed.

If you get less than 30% of live weight you either got sloppy, lost some meat to the shot, or had some crazy heavy antlers. If you get more than 36% of live weight, you probably screwed up somewhere, included a lot of bone-in cuts in your weight, or included a lot of organ meat. Expect 1/3.

 

[TM0218]

Elk-

Deer-https://youtu.be/x3OaFdP3psc

I’ve only watched the deer one so far but they got just about every scrap you could and if I remember correctly they talked about total yield at the end. I assume the elk will be a similar video. Hope this helps!

 

[kylemcintyre67]

I was going to suggest checking out the Bearded Butchers YouTube page as well.