Wild Game Processing

[GruntHunter]

Anyone have a good handle on what an average percentage of processed meat you should recover from a deer or wild hog? I took a 192 lb boar (live wt.) to a guy locally who just does wild game. I had him process it as 'General Merchandise' (chops, shoulder chops, pork loin, ribs, country style ribs, one ham, some ham steaks, tenderloins and the rest breakfast sausage. I only got back 48 lbs and that seems a little light to me. (BTW; cost was $45 and all we did was field dress it) I have always figured you get 1/3 back. This was on a real clean neck shot so there wasn't a lot of damaged meat to account for. I had previously taken two hogs over (197 lb & 138 lblive wt.) and got 67 lbs back. My neighbor just took two over totaling 340 lbs (185 & 155 live wt) and he only go about 80 lbs back. What goes here? What kind of results is everyone else getting? Sure would like to get some feedback on this topic. Thanks Guys.

Florida Grunthunter

 

[hntndux]

I don't know about hogs, but with deer I was told to expect about 40% of your dressed weight and that's about what I get every time. Sounds to me the butcher split the hog with you...

 

[GruntHunter]

hntndux,

Well I do concede that you'll get less out of a hog. There's a LOT of weight in just the head alone as you see in some of my photos on webshots. I would accept 1/3 but am really having a hard time with only 23 - 25%. Thanks for your input. Hopefully, we get some more from other Hog Hunters.

 

[MrRee]

I have been down that road!!
To me at least, there seems to be a trade off, The big processor runs them through fast, has all the equipment, but is not concearned about waste. So he will waste good meat to get on to the next one, as he does them in volume. You get less meat!.

The small guy has less to do, so he can take a little longer, and will take more time saveing what the other tosses away to save time. But this guy doesn't have the equipment, so the meat may or may not be processed to your likeing. You get more hair maybe, or he doesn't clean his equipment from one to the next, or he hangs it in a crowded cooler
shoved up next to something else that rubbs off on it.

For me, I get to know the guy who does a lot of them for the "LOCAL" people. not the guy who handles for the masses.

Sometimes there is no choice,

but I go for the "little GUY" and I get & expect better cuts, more meat from the kill, but more hair, bone saw residue, and not the vacume packageing. I do that when I get it home & select what I want in each pkg.

Hey, I am gonna wash it anyway before I cook it, I can spend more time to look at each package at that time.

I also noticed what cut you tell them makes a BIG diffrence!! and they don't all cut the same, so talk to them about what the cut means.

 

[Bruz]

Sounds to me the butcher split the hog with you...

Only getting one ham would give me this first hint!

 

[hogs wild guide]

basic average for wild hogs, 1/3 guts, 1/3 head and hide, and 1/3 carcuss. Once a 200lb boar has been processed if there are no bones one should expect 50lbs of meat. However sows and boars differ. since a boar is more head and hide, a 200 lb sow will yield a little more than a boar.

 

[SDHNTR]

I agree with hogs wild guide. I process all my game so I think I have a pretty good handle on what to expect. With a 192# live hog you should have about a 70-80 lbs (+/- a few pounds) carcass that you would take to the butcher. Then after trimming fat and removing bones, you should get about 45-50 lbs of meat. I'd say yours is about right on. A lot depends on how much trimming the butcher does and the condition of the pig. Some have more meat and fat than others and some have more bone than others. This plays a factor in how much processed meat you end up with. Some butchers will save the neck meat and some will scrap it. Some will really get every ounce of meat off a front shoulder and some will take the major roasts and scrap the rest. Overall I'd say what you got was about fair and for $45 its a darn good price. Enjoy the meat.

 

[hntndux]

I'd have to agree with SDHNTR now that I re-read your post and the 192 was a live weight. I think the butcher did you right and the price was good.

 

[nobuckkev]

The hogs wild guide would know the best. They process them all the time up there themselves and do a great job at it. Plus they can eat all the pig they want so they surely don't want any of yours. I have heard some stories about California wild game processers. They tend to be like your neighbors are for the most part, Like the meat but don't want to do the hunting to get it. 2 for you, 1 for me type deal. Mnfshrman and myself bagged a 130lb and a 90lb this past weekend and after we processed everything, counting the ground pork(all the leftover scraps) we had a total of about 60-65lbs of various cuts. Guts alone can be 30lbs of the weight. Then the hide and head are another 25plus, plus you have the carcass itself. Does not leave much in the end. I recently bought a food saver, a meat grinder, and have plenty of counter space to do our own processing. If you give your boss a nice piece of pork butt, they are more inclined to give you half a day off to do the work on company time. Just an idea. Otherwise, drop it off somewhere and take your chances and pay to put food in some one elses mouth. I'd be happy to process your pork for you myslef. Except at my shop, a 200lb pig only yields 30 pounds of various cuts.

 

[Rocky_LC]

It would seem to me that most butchers have so much meat in their lockers that skimming some meat off some guy's wild Hawg just doesn't seem necessary.

I just took one in to be butchered, and I got back less than I had hoped for, but I think the low yield was mostly due to my optimistic estimate of how much meat is on a hog!

Any butchers care to comment?

Rocky

 

[shooter44]

Can't claim to have a whole lot of experience, but there does seem to be a lot of waste on a hog, especially if it's a big boar. The head is pretty big on a hog. The skin is real thick, and covered with fat. Pick a fresh skin up and you'll see they weigh a lot. Then there's the fat on the body, the feet, and if it's a boar maybe a lot of cartilidge too. And depending on how the meat is cut, you might be throwing away bones too. I would guess about 25-35% of the on the hoof weight on a cleanly shot hog would be average.