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differences in meat yields until you can compare a mature buck with the rest of the meat-pole
crowd.
The typical Northern fawn, which includes "button bucks," weighs about 55 to 75 pounds field
dressed, while a healthy doe fawn weighs 45 to 65 pounds field dressed. Southern fawns weigh less
Yearling bucks, which range from small spikes to basket-racked 10-pointers, typically weigh 105 to
125 pounds.
For decades, some hunters have relied on chest-girth charts to estimate live weights of deer.
Unfortunately, such charts are often inaccurate because - among other things - they don't account
for fluctuations in the body sizes of bucks before and after the rut. Most biologists put no stock in
A hunter can obtain a ball-park estimate of his deer's live weight by multiplying its field-dressed
weight by 1.28. This number came about after comparing it with several chest-girth charts.
Granted, this estimate won't pass muster with biologists, but it should be good enough for deer-
camp comparisons. For example, a yearling buck with a field-dressed weight of 125 pounds will
Misconceptions
By misjudging field-dressed weights of whitetails, hunters often have unrealistic expectations of how
much venison they should receive from their butcher. Many aspects combine to determine venison
yields. Although a neck-shot mature buck can yield a big amount of steaks, chops, hamburger and
stew meat, the amount of meat seems minuscule when compared to the meat yield of domestic
animals.
All animals are built a little different. For hogs, almost everything is used - bacon, hocks, etc. A deer
has long legs with little meat on them, whereas steers have the same bone structure (but with more
meat). It's the muscle and fat that make them different.
Although it would be convenient to say a deer's meat yield is equal to 50 percent of its field-dressed
weight, it wouldn't be totally accurate. A buck's condition plays a large role in how much boneless
Lamb** 50 40 10 80%
Hunters can learn more about their deer and how much venison it will yield by first obtaining an
accurate field-dressed weight. This figure helps determine the deer's carcass weight - the deer's
body weight minus its head, hide and innards. From there, it's easy to calculate how much venison
is on the carcass.
It's important to note that this equation assumes that no part of the deer is lost to waste from
tissue damage. Obviously, a deer suffering bullet - or to a lesser extent, arrow - damage to its back,
hams, shoulders or neck will yield substantially less venison. Therefore, it includes calculations for
"ideal" meat yield - the maximum amount of meat on a deer with nothing being lost to waste, and a
"realistic" meat yield - the amount of meat a hunter can expect to receive after subtracting the
The equation does not account for meat that must be removed after being ruined by stomach
Here are some examples of how weight is distributed in Northern deer. (live weights in parenthesis)
Hide Factor
Bone Factor
Blood Factor
Using this guide as an example, a 180-pound buck would have 16.2 pounds of hide, 21.06 pounds
of bones and 9 pounds of blood. Unfortunately, it's difficult to estimate the live weight of a deer if it
has been field-dressed because the weight of a deer's innards varies depending on its health and
diet.
Let's say a hunter kills a mature buck, and it weighs 165 pounds field-dressed. Using the above
equation, we estimate its carcass will weigh 124 pounds, and it will ideally yield 83.08 pounds of
boneless meat. The deer's realistic meat yield is about 58.15 pounds.
Because waste can vary between deer, we suggest using the "realistic" figure as a gauge. In the
above example, the buck's realistic meat yield would range form 58 to 68 pounds. A 10-pound
difference doesn't seem like much when dealing with a large deer , but it's noticeable when the deer
is a fawn or yearling.
Conclusion
In most cases, hunters will likely see little difference in meat yields between the deer they shoot.
Does and bucks from similar age classes yield similar amounts of venison. In fact, don't expect to
see big differences in your net venison yield unless you're comparing relatively young deer with a