Deer processor cheating?

[Iolabowhunter]

I hope I am wrong but I think I have been cheated. I took in a minimum 180 lb Illinois doe and received 50 lbs of combined hamberger and steaks. There was no ruin meat, it was quartered and and no sausage. I have read that the percentage should have been around 65% of hoof weight.
Your opinions please.
P.S. Do your own is one way!

[mitchbcs]

My processor puts your quarters in a tray and tells you they weight prior to deboning...

[Lokmdwn]

I process my own and the last time I actually did the math, The amount of meat in the freezer equaled out to just over 1/3 of the actual deer weight.

[Boomerang]

Could be they cut out a lot of tendons and other things reducing the percentage a little. Or they wanted a small sample of corn and soybean fed deer? The ratio seems within reason.

[dsb6446]

was that 180 on hoof. after gutting and deboning. not a lot left.

[Stins]

well lets see, I get about 30# of meat off a large TX doe, let's say 100#. Then if I make 50% steaks and 50% into burger with 5% fat I would get back probably ~31# of meat.

So let's say you have a 165# doe and you actually get 30% meat off that doe, so thats 49.5#, then you add 5% fat for 50% of that weight to make burger you would get back ~51# of meat. So, I would say that you got back what you took in.

[bowtechman]

ill be the first to tell you, i worked in a well known place in the meat market/deer processing dept. there are alot of factors that go into the amt of meat that you get back, deboning, actual salvageable meat(which in your case you said it was all pretty good), hide weight and actual weight minus all this is alot when you add it up. now you said it was quartered up meat and it weighed a min 180lbs?
theres alot of stuff that goes on in a meat market, but im not sure i wanna tell everything just yet......

[stinkbelly]

I have been robbed before too and it makes you mad.

The formula my processor gave me is that you lose 30% by gutting. You lose 30% by processing. So your 180# on the hoof would give you 126# gutted and 88# of meat if nothing was gun shot. A good processor will throw out all damaged meat. A bad processor will put everything in the final product.

Question the processor. When I did, he went to all the other boxes of meat and started pulling other peoples deer and gave it to me. He gave me an additional 20 pounds of meat. That felt wrong too.

[Iolabowhunter]

Well, thanks for the info. I have used this processor for a while now and would like to think they are straight up, just wanted some opinions. I have asked for the butcher to compare the 65% to what I received and am awaiting his call.
Looking for a good grinder now.

[bearintex]

That's why I will never pay someone else to do a simple job.

[daveally]

I hope I am wrong but I think I have been cheated. I took in a minimum 180 lb Illinois doe and received 50 lbs of combined hamberger and steaks. There was no ruin meat, it was quartered and and no sausage. I have read that the percentage should have been around 65% of hoof weight.
Your opinions please.
P.S. Do your own is one way!

You said 'minimum 180 lb' deer. This makes me think you didn't weight it. If you didn't weight it then is it possible that it was a little lighter? And like the other guys said...was that 'on the hoof' or field dressed?

I shot a 350 lb Nilgai and only got 90 lbs of meat. The bones and guts make up for a lot of the weight.

[Zookeeper]

I use the one third rule. 1/3 gut, 1/3 head hide bone,1/3 meat.
How much did the quartered out portions wiegh?

[xman59]

i guess more than accident than by design but i have always figured about 65 percent was waste, hide hair bones guts, tendon,, so i guess im about on with the 1/3 rule