How Much Meat Do You Get off of an Elk?
Elk
How many pounds of deboned meat do you get off of an averaged size bull?
Cow??
150 to 175 boned from average 5 point bull. Cows will be in the 120 to 150 range.
We do ALL of our own processing from the ground to the freezer, and I actually don't know. I've never actually weighed it, and they do vary greatly in size. It is a great question, I will be curious to see response variation. My bull this year was a young 2-1/2 year old. I would say he was at least 150 to 200 pounds lighter than my 2014 Bull. The Black and white is the 2014 Bull and the other is this years. You can see a big difference, and that is nothing compared to some of the older bulls I've taken over the years. I will post a photo if I can find it of a 13 year old bull I took some years ago that was an absolute behemoth.
This is the biggest/heaviest N. American animal I've ever seen on the ground, and I've been in on two Shiras Moose kills... (Wish I had better photos of him)
We usually get a bit over 200# on most bulls. Definitely tough to pack in 2 loads.
My meat bags weighed 240 lbs when I dropped them off at the butcher shop.
My cows the last few years have been between 140 and 170. I process all my own meet and weigh it all every year also.
Generally 170-240 on Bulls.
I got 315 from this big bodied bull.
This bull was all boned out except for the front shoulders and I took in 332. Big, Big body. couldn't turn him at all until I got the meat off one side.
It varies. Weights reported so far are accurate.
330#, nothing but muscles from a NM bull. Probably 100# more than any other bull I've killed.
Depends.... you talkin' uphill or downhill?
Blowdowns add greatly to the weight....
So is he asking about cut and wrapped ready to eat? Or just boned out on the hill?
Depends on where and when
In Colorado, there are places where the elk size strain is larger than others.
I have shot in late August and most times these elk arent nearly as big as elk Ive killed in late Sept
Usually in late September they are lighter from all the weight they lose during the rut.
Maybe it's just been coincidence.
I have to agree with TD.. :)
I know this isn't the answer ur looking 4. But it depends on how may guys I'm hunt with. If I'm hunting with 3 other guys, at the end of the hunt I get 25% of the meat we got off the mtn.
Ed
My cow this year was 177# at the butcher after trim ect is assume 140-150lbs
Average sized bull you should plan on 200-225 pounds of boned meat, this should be close & help you plan out beforehand how to handle it. Average cow 150-175 pounds would be close.
ElkNut1
Good replies, ties closely to my experience weighing game bagged meat and packages heading to the freezer.
My last bull was a 2-1/2 year old Roosevelt, and he was heavy versus a Rocky.....230# of 100% lean edible in the freezer.
Cows don't lose weight during the rut
Ya I know, I was talking about Bulls.
There also can be a big difference in the butchers and the condition of the meat you bring in. Is it dirty, how detailed did you get in the deboning, Did you debone, quarter or bring in whole. How long did it hang.
Somewhere between a freezer full and years worth.
OMG ELKMAN!!! That thing is a monster!
around 250 is the largest I have killed. I believe it was 247 but that was boned out meat. This makes right at a 900 to 1000 lb animal on the hoof. Most of the Rockey mountain elk have been smaller than the Rosies we have killed/
God bless, Steve
Most really big cows yield around 75 -80 lbs of bone. So, if a really big cow dresses (complete, skinned hanging carcass) 300 lb, you will get roughly 220 lb of meat, assuming thorough de-boning. A big bull is in the the range of 100 lb of bone and if dresses at 400 lb, you get roughly 300 lb back.
Mind you, this is very thorough deboning...
My mature New Mexico bull come up with 256# of boned out meat.
200-225 is the proper range for a mature bull.
It certainly depends on how close you are trimming, and if you are taking right down to the hock and every scrap of meat up the skull. Not impossible to get to 250, but few will take every last scrap without some trimming. The goal, in my opinion, isn't to take scrap that I will be trimming away at home. On the other hand, no need to spend to much time trimming in the field, as it is rarely a clean, comfortable environment.
BTW, it will seem like more if you are carrying it, and the weight goes up the further you are from camp!
Bill
Good grief Teeton... couldn't you find any uses for the hooves?
wow.... great job!
Photo of some quarters off this years bull. You can see they were not huge, but still ELK... Nothing about them is small! I'm going to weigh this stuff from now on when I have the opportunity. (Which will be almost never!) LOL!
From this Colorado bull I loaded 228 pounds of boned-out meat into my coolers.
Here's a great little study done on this.
http://www.wyomingextension.org/agpubs/pubs/B594R.pdf
150-175 boned meat is average.
Well over 300# of deboned meat off of this one. The amount of neck meat alone was amazing.
Taxidermist said he use the biggest form available and the form could have actually been a little bigger.
308# of boned out meat off this az bull. Glad we could drive the quad right up to the recovery sight!!!!
You sure you "boned" him??? ;-)
Thanks for the link Sage Buffalo
My best, A 6X5 bull on a early-rifle fully guided trip to the "Frank Church Wilderness" yielded 232 lbs of the finest meat I ever harvested. This did not include the neck meat that my guide claimed we had no room for? Have since recovered 25-30 lbs from the necks of many smaller bulls. I returned home on the plane with 66lbs (wrapped & Frozen) from one hind quarter! The remaining bounty was shipped 10 days later via UPS 2sec-day-air in to two directions. I got 100 lbs, and my favorite Brother got 72#. I know the shipping was very expensive, but can't remember the actual amount. The processor in Challis,Idaho did an outstanding job!
LaGriz
I should have said i paid for 308# of butchered meat with nothing added. Nearly 80 degrees when i shot him in the middle of the season- had to try to get my dads tag filled otherwise i usually butcher them myself
