How to Estimate Deer/Bear Weight

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ianmcdz

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Hey I was wondering, is it possible to estimate game weight based on the weight at the butchers?

For example if a deer is say 120 lbs at the butchers how much would he weight in the field (roughly)?

Has anybody weighed something (deer / bear) in the field and then gotten the weight at the butchers?
 
ianmcdz said:
Hey I was wondering, is it possible to estimate game weight based on the weight at the butchers?

For example if a deer is say 120 lbs at the butchers how much would he weight in the field (roughly)?

Has anybody weighed something (deer / bear) in the field and then gotten the weight at the butchers?
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I once read in a book written by Leonard LaRue III, that an average deer once boned out completely would weigh about 40 percent of it's live weight. He was/is an ungulate biologist in Michigan I believe. From my past experience with this estimation I would think this figure to be a bit generous.
 
M12shooter said:
I once read in a book written by Leonard LaRue III, that an average deer once boned out completely would weigh about 40 percent of it's live weight. He was/is an ungulate biologist in Michigan I believe. From my past experience with this estimation I would think this figure to be a bit generous.
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I was thinking gutted skinned without head and hooves
 
M12shooter said:
I once read in a book written by Leonard LaRue III, that an average deer once boned out completely would weigh about 40 percent of it's live weight. He was/is an ungulate biologist in Michigan I believe. From my past experience with this estimation I would think this figure to be a bit generous.
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It is Leonard Lee Rue III (not LaRue)... he is not a biologist in Michigan... he is a nature journalist and photographer. From his biography;

"In 1965, I gave up my scouting and guiding jobs and, ever since then, I have devoted my full time to freelance writing, photography and lecturing. For more than twenty years I have printed, or had printed, over 100,000 black and white photographs each year, with which I set up files with eighty-seven magazines. My photographs appear in at least fifty publications each month. I have over 1,800 magazine and book covers to my credit and once had five magazine covers in one day."
 
If 40% was generous I am sure 50% of live weight is overkill.
Domesticated animals is around 32% back from my training days at BCIT.
But, when you say harvest a buffalo near Pink Mountain BC all bets are off, the bone structure of those animals is amazing.
BTW, it is to your advantage to skin and remove as much excess weight before you hang the harvested animal at the butchers cause your paying for extra that you do not eat or use.
BTW, my 32% at the time used by industry for information purposes and those calculations may have changes since 1986/87.
Mmmm loin steaks.
Rob
 
There are charts you can get for bear to estimate weight. It involves measuring the length of the animal, plus girth of the chest. Kinda basic, but it's the next best thing to putting it on a scale.
 
hoytcanon said:
It is Leonard Lee Rue III (not LaRue)... he is not a biologist in Michigan... he is a nature journalist and photographer. From his biography;

"In 1965, I gave up my scouting and guiding jobs and, ever since then, I have devoted my full time to freelance writing, photography and lecturing. For more than twenty years I have printed, or had printed, over 100,000 black and white photographs each year, with which I set up files with eighty-seven magazines. My photographs appear in at least fifty publications each month. I have over 1,800 magazine and book covers to my credit and once had five magazine covers in one day."
Click to expand...

I have not opened his book on North American deer since my college days in 1982. My Bad, as I should have Googled his name as I would assume you have. Still, I do believe his was working for the State of Michigan at the time of writing the particular book in mention.

...and as per the OP, I do believe his estimate of percentage of a deer that is pure meat was in the 40 percent range. It stuck in my head as I always felt this to be a generous estimate...
 
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