I got a hot take on this one.
Law should only require the backstraps be taken.
Ok ok I know that’s probably unpopular, and I take and use all of the animals I kill, BUT the fact is in most of the country whitetails are overpopulated. 99% of rifle only hunters or people who hunt a couple weekends a year and don’t really get that into hunting will only shoot 1 buck or 2 bucks and no does. That does not help control the population. These type of people see the processing of a deer as a chore. It needs to be socially acceptable to kill a deer for the sake of killing a deer, and maintaining a healthy population. I’m no biologist, but if you can see 40 of something in a hayfield at once that means there’s too many of them.
I’ve got 6 deer down so far this year. I also have giant freezers full of all the beef I want. I do not need more meat, but I need to kill more deer. We have found creative ways to use the meat and I encourage more people to do so. The fact remains, most people will not kill does until it becomes less of a chore.
My family honestly does not eat that much burger or ground meat. We do steaks and roast mostly. So this is something that I really do consider doing when I am learning how to quarter in the field. I don't want to waste meat, but I always assumed that it was 'wasteful' to leave in on the field. But maybe that's not the worse thing you can do. I might honestly try to learn how to debone in the field for just the main cuts, use leftover spare smaller piece for stews.