Typical yield from a doe?

[goosifer]

I processed the doe I harvested and only got 39 pounds of meat from it (plus heart, liver and shanks). It's hanging weight was 110 pounds, so about a 35.5% yield. It seems a bit low to me. The doe was a but unusual. It had a large head and hindquarters, but the front quarters, et al, seemed to not yield much meat. Meat loss to bullet damage was minimal as the shot was in and out of the rib cage. Maybe just a funny proportioned doe?

[DoubleDose]

Agree, a little low, but not by much.  A friend of mine who was a professional butcher told me that boned out meat yield is about 50% (+/-10%) the field dressed weight.  I watched him bone out a doe I had killed and the meat yield was exactly in that range against the field dressed weight.  

[BowmanMike]

50% seems high to me,but maybe i trim too much. I think the yield is about right,maybe a tad low.

[Steve D]

Probably not as accurate as the chest girth method but I use this as a guide and found it to be reasonably accurate.

 

[Bolt action]

Sounds a little low, but that may just be the difference between a pro butcher and someone who isn't. I tend to get 40ish pounds from a typical doe and I know that I get a little crazy trimming..

[turkeyfeathers]

Just picked my button buck up from buck n doe. Got fd as usual. 29 pounds of nicely processed, wrapped clean venison. But really?! 

[mlammerhirt]

Just picked my button buck up from buck n doe. Got fd as usual. 29 pounds of nicely processed, wrapped clean venison. But really?! 

Only processed a few by myself before .......so you got 29......what did he weigh after being gutted??

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

[turkeyfeathers]

21 minutes ago, mlammerhirt said:

Only processed a few by myself before .......so you got 29......what did he weigh after being gutted??

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk
 

Didn’t weigh him. The shed buck probably ready tomorrow. I’ll weigh meat again and walk funny outta there. My buck who wasn’t a huge body yielded 59 pounds at different place. 

[Moho81]

13 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Didn’t weigh him. The shed buck probably ready tomorrow. I’ll weigh meat again and walk funny outta there. My buck who wasn’t a huge body yielded 59 pounds at different place. 

29 from a BB doesn't seem out of the ordinary unless it was a really big BB. 

[Nomad]

My doe fawn yielded 31# . My processor once he stopped breaking my balls , said he’d work his magic .

i was happy it broke the 30 barrier !

[mlammerhirt]

The doe I shot was a 1.5 year old.......and I got 31 or 32 lbs back.....she was taller but scrawny.
I got an old shed that came with the house and it's seen better days. Gonna get a new amish shed in a few years and this will provide enough space to process away from the house. My wife is a hunter as well.....but there is no way she is gonna let a deer with ticks near her home....so the shed it will be.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

[Daveboone]

39 lbs you did real good. Actual edible meat from a typical white tail about 30-35% meat is alot more likely by far than 50%.. The bigger the deer the ratio stays the same unless you count the layered fat...which I certainly wont. 

[Red]

I got 54#s out my doe from a week ago it was a pretty big doe possibly my biggest doe ever.

[chrisw]

Just picked my button buck up from buck n doe. Got fd as usual. 29 pounds of nicely processed, wrapped clean venison. But really?! 

It was a button buck!? What do you expect?? That would put him in the 80lb range which is likely. Start weighing your deer, you might be surprised.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[wjay1552]

3 minutes ago, chrisw said:

It was a button buck!? What do you expect?? That would put him in the 80lb range which is likely. Start weighing your deer, you might be surprised.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk
 

I agree once you start pulling them up on the scale you get a real appreciation for what they weigh. A average size doe is around 100-110 pounds dressed, get towards the 130 mark and that’s a big animal. Bucks of similar age carry about 30-50 pounds more than that.

[chrisw]

I agree once you start pulling them up on the scale you get a real appreciation for what they weigh. A average size doe is around 100-110 pounds dressed, get towards the 130 mark and that’s a big animal. Bucks of similar age carry about 30-50 pounds more than that.

Yea, I weigh every deer. A BIG doe is 120+, my average does are 100-110, typical 1.5 buck is around 130, average 2.5yr old buck for me is about 150-160. My 4.5yr old buck last year went 190. I'm usually within 5-8 lbs when I guess now after weighing so many.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[wjay1552]

2 minutes ago, chrisw said:

Yea, I weigh every deer. A BIG doe is 120+, my average does are 100-110, typical 1.5 buck is around 130, average 2.5yr old buck for me is about 150-160. My 4.5yr old buck last year went 190. I'm usually within 5-8 lbs when I guess now after weighing so many.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk
 

I do the same thing I wanted an answer to buddies guessing x,y,z on weights so I bought a scale now there’s no guess work and like you I’d say I’m close to guessing within ten pounds, I think knowing weights of previously harvested animals and their body sizes and snout lengths has helped me not shoot smaller deer in the moment.

[goosifer]

8 hours ago, Steve D said:

Probably not as accurate as the chest girth method but I use this as a guide and found it to be reasonably accurate.

 

This is a great chart. Thanks for posting it. I should have said dressed weight rather than hanging weight in my OP.

[BowmanMike]

5 hours ago, Red said:

I got 54#s out my doe from a week ago it was a pretty big doe possibly my biggest doe ever.

it is amazing how big some does can get. Several years ago we were doing a drive and i only had a buck tag left. So.e deer walked past me at 50 yds and the first was a doe. The ones behind her were a lot smaller and i almost didn't pay them any attention. I did a double take when the deer behind her turned out to be a six point. It looked like that years fawn behind her. She was a horse. The buck was a decent 1.5 year old i think,i had some sort of mishap with the muzzleloader and didnt get him. Later that day my buddy shot a six and when he skinned him my bullet was stuck in his backstrap and the bullet was not deformed at all. Maybe only one pellet went off.

But the point of the story is how big that doe was. If I would guess now she would have been over 140 dressed.

[BowmanMike]

1 hour ago, wjay1552 said:

I do the same thing I wanted an answer to buddies guessing x,y,z on weights so I bought a scale now there’s no guess work and like you I’d say I’m close to guessing within ten pounds, I think knowing weights of previously harvested animals and their body sizes and snout lengths has helped me not shoot smaller deer in the moment.

I missed having a scale this year. I used to process at a buddies house and he had one. That is the only way of really knowing how big the deer was. My archery buck seemed giant to,and it was a forkie. My gun buck seemed smaller but was a really nice 8. So i am definitely buying a scale this offseason.

[Hock3y24]

A processor is there to make $, and do many deer to accomplish that. 39lbs of a 110lb doe from a processor is very fair. If you want more yield you got to do it yourself where time is not a factor. 

[Arcade Hunter]

I just got a 100 dollar gift card from work for Cabelas, I am definitely going to buy a scale...  If for nothing else, I would know how heavy it was.  Wont help me this year though..lol 

[The_Real_TCIII]

1 minute ago, Arcade Hunter said:

I just got a 100 dollar gift card from work for Cabelas, I am definitely going to buy a scale...  If for nothing else, I would know how heavy it was.  Wont help me this year though..lol 

Dont do it. As soon as I got one the deer I killed got smaller lol

[turkeyfeathers]

Just now, The_Real_TCIII said:

Dont do it. As soon as I got one the deer I killed got smaller lol

Bought a house scale to weigh myself. Your theory didn’t hold true 

[The_Real_TCIII]

10 hours ago, Hock3y24 said:

A processor is there to make $, and do many deer to accomplish that. 39lbs of a 110lb doe from a processor is very fair. If you want more yield you got to do it yourself where time is not a factor. 

Definitely. I only take them in if its real warm, like the two I got 10/6. I got a great yield though because theyve only got a few deer in and take their time. I got 58lbs from a buck that was under 120. Bring a deer the first week of gun when they have a mountain of them and youll get substantially less