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Did I get bamboozled?

The last processor I used tried to pull a fast one on me. He brought out my deer and I thought it looked light but he assured me it was all there. When I got to my car I noticed none of my brats were there. I went back in and said my brats were missing he said “ let me get them.” He came back in a few seconds with my brats. Cold have been a mistake but he acted really shady. One of the conservation agents I know said they place had been investigated for scamming the share the harvest program.
 
in my opinion To be honest Its not that off but if it is. It’s probably 5 lbs maybe.
I would definitely seek out another reputable butcher not one of these fly by night back yard shed butchers.
i take mine to an actual butcher shop where itsut, cleaned, and wrapped the right way.
thick plastic wrap is a must.
if you are getting thin wrapped meats its time to search out a new processor.
Definitely will be more money but think of it like this.
you spend money on your equipment and numerous hours doing what needs to be done to harvest a deer so now are you going to skimp out on deer meat processing?
 
Robert loper said:
in my opinion To be honest Its not that off but if it is. It’s probably 5 lbs maybe.
I would definitely seek out another reputable butcher not one of these fly by night back yard shed butchers.
i take mine to an actual butcher shop where itsut, cleaned, and wrapped the right way.
thick plastic wrap is a must.
if you are getting thin wrapped meats its time to search out a new processor.
Definitely will be more money but think of it like this.
you spend money on your equipment and numerous hours doing what needs to be done to harvest a deer so now are you going to skimp out on deer meat processing?
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I agree about thin plastic. As I’ve said in other threads as well, I really prefer my venison to be wrapped in plastic liner then brown, pink, or white butcher paper. If butcher only has clear plastic, I will try to get paper/dark plastic grocery bags to keep light and air away JiC there’s a snag in the plastic or anything.
I will also say that a huge red flag for me is if they package your deer meat in a foam tray with cellophane like the grocery store’s meat section. That stuff is a recipe for disaster.
And never discount the value of tried-and-true Ziploc-brand freezer bags! Worst case scenario you wrap in plastic then seal in Ziploc bags with all the air squeezed out. It’s definitely better than the foam trays, almost as good as thick vac-wrap or butcher paper.
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
Doesn’t sound too far off. Antlers, hide, hooves, the liquid within the meat, skeleton, eyes and tongues and all of that crap…still contributes to dressed weights, and all of them are variable from one deer to the next. I have heard that you can get 60% or more from a deer, but I have only seen a really pro butcher get even close. So when you consider how much weight is shed just to get to your meat, a butcher throwing 33-40% in your freezer is a hell of a great guy lol. One thing you can also do is just be clear when you drop the animal off that you want as much as you can possibly get off it, and don’t turn your nose up if the “extra” bits they get end up in your ground pile.
I shot a buck last year that dressed around 200, ended up with about 70#. Shot a doe this year that dressed out just under 200, ended up with about 70#.
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I think the only way to hit 60% is to leave a lot of bone in cuts in the final product; shanks, neck, front shoulders and rib meat being bone in will for sure push your yield percentage up considerably higher, and get you some delicious meals if you prepare them properly. The only things I don't leave bone in off that list are the neck and the ribs. Ribs don't seem worthwhile to me and my wife is adamant that she won't eat neck roast cooked with the spinal cord in it

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 
Bwhana said:
I preferred less weight of meat when I used processors in the past. The only way to maximize yield is to keep "junk" meat, some silver skin, and other non-desirable stuff in it, especially in ground meat, so I wanted less to hopefully ensure better quality.

I have done my own processing for a very long time simply because I do not trust ANY processor to live up to my standards. I have shown 2 friends how I process my deer this fall and they were amazed by the low amount of final meat, but also at the quality, which is off the chart better than they've ever gotten from a processor before. It's a personal decision that each of us have to live with if we use processors and just have to understand they will not put in the same time and effort as an individual. It is a business, after all, and time is $.

I also do not eat shoulders, necks, ribs, etc. Those are for shooting and destroying. I bone out the hams, backstraps, and inner loins only using a no gut, no full skinning technique. If I want more meat, I will shoot more deer with our unlimited doe tags. I fine grind 100% of my meat and make it all into prime jerky. When done properly, you can not tell the difference between a piece ready to grind from any of the other cuts of meat. They are all beautiful red with zero silver skin or anything white.

Good luck with processors if you keep using them, but don't critique them too hard unless they are throwing in bloodshot meat and other crud!
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So you you throw away half the deer and turn all the rest into to jerky? No steaks?
 
will4554 said:
I process my own. And I don’t add anything to it. I’d say that’s about right without any added pork or whatever. Not a personal knock on your friends, but most people who don’t process themselves have no clue what they get from a deer. It’s not a steer.
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second this. When i first started doing my own deer, i realized they are not as big as you’d think. That, and some shot ruin an entire section or shoulder.
 
John 35 said:
So you you throw away half the deer and turn all the rest into to jerky? No steaks?
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Yes, and I have done so for 35+ years. There is nothing useful left up front after a high shoulder shot anyway (I dont bowhunt anymore either).

No steaks, I only like jerky and alao giving it away to non-hunting friends. I used to give away the rest of the deer to local families that didn't care about the shot placement, but no one will take them these days.

Again, we have unlimited tags and targets, so the coyotes eat well here, and it is better than getting hit by cars. I used to take over 20 a year in the past. There is no midwest bias here.
 
I read an article today (I think it was linked on FB) that claimed processors were seeing deer with 15x more (15lbs instead of 15oz) tallow this year compared to previous years. If it was a pre-rut deer, maybe it had excessive tallow weight that pushed up the dresses weight. The article was speculating whether the deer are signaling we are in for a harsh winter.
 
ofor said:
I read an article today (I think it was linked on FB) that claimed processors were seeing deer with 15x more (15lbs instead of 15oz) tallow this year compared to previous years. If it was a pre-rut deer, maybe it had excessive tallow weight that pushed up the dresses weight. The article was speculating whether the deer are signaling we are in for a harsh winter.
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Forgot about that. Great point! When there's an acorn year the deer will have a lot more fat on them.
 
ofor said:
I read an article today (I think it was linked on FB) that claimed processors were seeing deer with 15x more (15lbs instead of 15oz) tallow this year compared to previous years. If it was a pre-rut deer, maybe it had excessive tallow weight that pushed up the dresses weight. The article was speculating whether the deer are signaling we are in for a harsh winter.
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I will add that my close-to-200# doe had so much fat around her inner lady workings, it was clear she was ready to get her groove on and gearing up to feed a fetus over a cold winter.
 
It's not uncommon for deer processors to "tip" themselves a portion of the meat. Shady and probably illegal, but super common. Also, watching some of the "pros" process deer on YouTube, it's clear that they don't care how much meat the customer gets from the carcass. Several years ago when I was in school, the MN DNR did a sting against a crooked deer processor, and re-assembled the deer from what the processor returned.... only about 80% of the meat came back to the undercover "customer", and a subsequent search warrant showed the processor's home freezers were full of wild meat he never got licensed to hunt for.

My first deer, the "processer" put on a bandsaw, I got back a pile of random chunks of venison covered in bone dust. I taught myself to cut my own venison, and take my time doing so.

Also, if you keep the bones you can make a dozen or so gallons of bone broth. You won't have to buy beef stock all year.
 
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JASmith said:
I thought the same thing. Man that's monster doe!
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The first deer I shot at in OH, I asked the landowner (a seasoned bowhunter himself) if I was crazy in assuming the mature doe was around 180-200. He said “wouldn’t be crazy at all”, which was a big eye-opener for me. I was used to a swamp doe in DE of about half the size, and a 200# buck in DE is a good trophy no matter what. But OH is crazy, man. Just big ass deer no matter what. Sure, the average 1-2YO doe is about 150, but seasoned does or a mature buck with decent rack on the hoof? I have seen bucks at 250+ easy during Oct/Nov. when the groceries are really in stock.
 
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