Field quartering vs hanging whole carcas
General Topic
Meat yield: Field quartering vs hanging whole carcass
Wanted to know how much more meat one could yield(as a percentage) taking the entire carcass to butcher at home(/at butchers) vs general field quartering. I'm thinking maybe 20% more net meat weight?
IE... Minimum requirements/general quartering includes the quarters, backstraps, and tenderloins..... Optional.... Maybe you grab some neck meat, maybe even some rib meat, maybe try to pick it clean as best you can in the field.
Obviously dragging whole doesn't work for many, and field situations(temp, weather, ground conditions) dictate how long you can spend picking a carcass clean in the field and field butchery skills(weather dependent) dictate how much you will pull off the carcass
I wanted to know how much meat us quarter and carry guys are missing out on, on average. Can't seem to really find anything on the internet other than live, field dressed, bone in, and boneless meat weights.... which are based on whole carcass meat trimmings.
My guesstimation for general field quartering would be close to 20% of your final meat weight is being left behind as edible meat.
What's your percentage guess?
If you're careful it's nothing like 20% maybe 10%
If you can pack the ribs and neck it’s like 100%. Would need a good saw with you though.
You will never be as efficient quartering/deboning on the ground as you will indoors on a table, especially by yourself.
I'd say the maximum loss would be 20%. A clean kill on a flat surface (rather than the side of a mountain), it may likely be closer to 10% - 15%. This is assuming you're trying to take everything you can.
Yeah, if you're diligent in the field, you shouldn't waste much. In fact, IIRC, you can be ticketed and fined in Alaska for leaving meat behind.
Matt
Agree with fuzzy not 20%. A lot depends on how thorough you are in the quartering process. I got a cow elk in Wyoming this year it was the afternoon and 36 degrees before the wind chill. With daylight and the right temp I really took my time and guarantee if I'd have hung her no way I'd have got 10% more yield maybe 5% maybe. I always take the heart, tender loins, and neck roast deboned the rib meat on deer and antelope usually gets left elk I've taken and left when warmer. I do 90% of my deer hung and gutted here at home. I'd say the main benefit is it makes things easier so you can get a higher yield with less effort. You can get the same yield from gutless quartering your effort is just greater and so many factors go into the "effort" factor. Weather, distance from truck, solo vs partners can all effect the final % but I'd say 10% would be a solid average.
I often don’t process to freezer for a week. Sometimes a lot longer depending on conditions. So, my loss quartering vs at home on the whole carcass is probably 10% due to grind.
If it’s hot it’ll be very close. If im a few days from going home, the loss is going to increase. Because all the grind meat gets dry. So, I do t clean it like I would if I could get the grind meat froze in bulk until I process it all at once after season.
Not even close to 20%.
If you get 100# of boned out meat from a deer, 20% would be 20#. If you're leaving 20# of meat in the field we need to talk. That would be a disgrace.
When I finish deboning a critter I take some time and trim off any excess meat that I can get to. When I finish, I expect there to be less than a couple of pounds left, mostly really hard to get to, like around the spine, hips, etc. Do you really think a professional will spend an extra 5 minutes getting that last pound of meat? I just don't see it.
When I'm deboning in the field I either have a small tarp or large garbage bag to keep the meat off the ground. If you are prepared, there's no reason to not do a great job.
I don't feel like I leave anything in the field that I wouldn't leave at home. 2 rear quarters bone in/ 2 front quarters bone in/ 2 tenderloins/ 2 backtraps/ 2 neck sides and 2 brisket. I don't take rib meat. But as mentioned above. AK it is law to take it all. And even has to be bone in from what I have been reading. My brother and I decided we are going to AK moose hunting in a few years so we have been looking into things there.
In reality. That 20% is really 10% above the normal 10% left behind...
Whatever it is, it’s what you choose it to be there doesn’t need to be any difference that is unpreventable. Get your quarters in four bags in a fifth bag for everything else so it’s really not quartering you’re actually deboning and if you’re deboning what you lose is what you choose to lose versus what you’re forced to lose based on making that choice.
I can get just as much off the carcass in the field as I would from the hanging carcass. It all depends on how you do it. The trick is to take the bone out of the meat vs. the meat off the bone. Most of you would be shocked at the condition of the carcass that most bring in to be processed. Definitely not worth trying to sift through all the crap for two more lbs of meat. If the carcass was clean then a heck of a lot more meat was deboned and returned.
One of the things you don't have to do most places (not AK) is take the neck meat. On a big bull you can get from35-40 lbs of great tasting meat which can be burger or slow cooker roasts. It's probably the most tasty meat on the critter.
I think you could expect to get another 5-10 lbs depending on how you did the brisket and flanks.
The last time I took an entire elk to the processor, meaning 4 bone in quarters, backstraps, neck and rib cage, I about died when I got the bill. They charge by green weight so you pay for the bone.
Here’s what I left behind elk in the field. I know I have near identical pics of moose carcasses somewhere. Point being there is no reason to be less efficient in the field unless you are working under some kind of constraint - like time or temperature….which is essentially time. You may or may not decide to cut rougher in the field but as far as what CAN be done - there is no difference.
Dragged a heavy buck last year and my old fat azz thought I was going to have a heart attack and swore at the time that was the last big deer I'll ever drag alone...
Well lucky for us who hunt Illinios it's illegal to field quarter your deer, the DNR would rather you drag and drag that heavy animal and possibly have a heart attack. At least on public ground, but safe to say the field trial guys can use atv to drive all over the place to carry those heavy quail. How messed up is the Illinois DNR? Lol
APauls, I see you left the haggis essentials behind.
Butcherboy you got that right. I've got two friends who bring me deer to process and I always tell them it's a joy to work in a carcass they bring in. Others not so much. I took in (my last) black bear thus year and sent out less than 50 pounds of packaged meat from an estimated 200# live weight animal. It was a mess! I probably discarded 25% of what I could have gotten from a clean carcass. (ie: they should have gotten at least 60 to 65# )
The worst bear I ever did was not only spoiled but covered in black dirt from one end to the other. I averaged around 7 elk every year I had to throw away due to spoilage. Sometimes quarters that add up to 7 or more animals. Sometimes whole carcasses. I used to take pictures of the worst ones but have since deleted them. I wish I wouldn’t have now. I would have a couple of photo albums full of them.
Absolutely no way you should leave behind 20% more breaking down and in the field vs taking the whole carcass out! You should take all the neck meat, rib meat, and flanks. If done right, there should be no difference.
I will typically trim the ribs but also will take them whole on occasion and smoke. Then it looks like what APauls shows above.
Going to loose at least that much after dry aging also. Not so sure 20% gets left in the field.
