Meat prices are going up..up...and up, time to buy more tags

[Rembrandt]

Must have a lot to do with ones hunting area and it’s hunter success ratio.......

Have an extremely healthy deer population, between the kids, grand kids, and myself it would be no effort to take 25 head.....probably wouldn't put a dent in the herd. Not everyone wants the meat, quite common to be gifted someone else's deer.

One of the blessings of having your own place is to enjoy what it produces. Won't be much expense to grind it up and in the freezer. Have all the processing equipment and ability to do it ourselves.

 

[Rembrandt]

I get the argument but you also got $1.50 per pound for many pounds of stuff your not going to eat......

Those hides, bone, and guts add a lot of weight. Remember Dad & Grandpa sending cattle to market....put in a lot of salt in the feed final days before shipping and then make sure they drank plenty of water. Not sure how much weight that added, but that's how they did it.

 

[.308 Norma]

With meat inflation prices going skyward, rethinking how many deer tags I'll buy this year.

I have no idea what that would be like. I’ve been deer hunting out here in Idaho for over 60 years, and I can only remember one year when we were allowed to kill a second deer. Besides that, as I’ve said before, only 1 in 3 Idaho deer hunters even get a deer during an average dear season. If you’re a meat eater and you live in Idaho, substituting venison for beef would be pure folly - regardless of what your gun, ammo and other deer hunting equipment costs you.
On the other hand, I was talking with a rancher friend yesterday, and I fear that we might only be seeing the beginning of these outlandish beef prices. I don’t know what things are like elsewhere, but we’re in the middle of a draught here - the worst draught my rancher friend can remember in 50+ years of ranching. And even though my rancher friend might lose his shirt when it comes time to sell his thirsty and malnourished cattle, I’ll bet we’re going to be paying even more for beef at the supermarket.

 

[LNK]

Here in east tn, processing is the bottleneck. There is plenty of beef on the hoof. We have a neighbor that will put up a beef for us. We pay him $3 pound hanging weight. Couple hundred for kill and processing, and it is still cheaper than store bought, and we know what he feeds. Hay and grass! My apponitmeny is for January, been 18 months since the last one was put up. Venison we get right off the farm, and process ourselves. The dove, and other small game allow us to eat really well. No hogs spotted around our parts yet. We have put in habitat to allow quail to flourish, but are waiting until the numbers are higher before hunting them. Did I mention turkey?

 

[jmr40]

If I could walk out my back door and kill game then it might make sense economically. I have a lifetime license here in GA that cost me $500 over 20 years ago so it wouldn't cost me anything extra for tags. And we have very liberal bag limits. I could legally kill 12-20 deer if I play the system right. Archery season started a week ago and rifle season won't end until early January so I have plenty of time.

But I have to travel and or camp to get to hunting spots. I would spend more on gas and meat processing fees than I'd save by just buying meat.

 

[.308 Norma]

But I have to travel and or camp to get to hunting spots. I would spend more on gas and meat processing fees than I'd save by just buying meat.

Yep, gas is sure getting expensive, isn't it? I paid $3.79.9 a gallon for it earlier today. Luckily, my wife and I live in the middle of the best mule deer hunting country in the state, and we've processed our own meat for years. But that doesn't change the fact that only 1 in 3 Idaho deer hunters get a deer during an average deer season - and that includes in this part of Idaho.
I guess we could consider ourselves lucky in that way too. Both my wife and I hunt, and we figure 1 deer is a score for both of us, so "our" chances of getting a deer during an average season out here in Idaho are actually 2 out of 3.

 

[Rembrandt]

.....If you’re a meat eater and you live in Idaho, substituting venison for beef would be pure folly......

308 Norma, I hear what you're saying. One thing you have in Idaho that we don't....Elk and Moose. Takes several of our deer to produce the equivalent amount in meat

 

[buck460XVR]

I could buy a 'ell of a lot of beef/pork/chicken for the money I spend on deer hunting. Between licenses, gear, food plots, gas(my hunting land is about 40 minutes away) and taking time off from work, it's a pretty costly commodity, even doing all the processing myself. While I enjoy venison, eat quite a bit of it and have been eating it for almost 7 decades, I would not want to subsist on it completely. I could shoot as many deer a year as I wanted to. I get 8-10 tags a year with my annual Patron's license and can buy more antlerless tags over the counter. I shoot one a year and am happy.

 

[Captcurt]

I try to put 3 or 4 in the freezer every year, but I pick on yearling does for my fodder. I get to thin the herd on a cattle farm and take a bunch of does, but the young ones are mine. I could eat fried venison, biscuits and gravy every day.

 

[.308 Norma]

308 Norma, I hear what you're saying. One thing you have in Idaho that we don't....Elk and Moose. Takes several of our deer to produce the equivalent amount in meat

Yes sir, we do have elk here, and moose too for that matter. However, drawing an Idaho moose tag is a once in a lifetime proposition. And seeing as how I'm 73 and have not drawn a moose tag yet, I'm probably not going to.
I have killed a few elk over the years though, and over-the-counter elk tags are available for an area not 50 miles from here. We got a deer over in that area last year, but didn't see any elk - we saw a lot of elk hunters though.
I think the other big game animals you folks don't have but we have a lot of are antelope (pronghorns). And in my wife's and my opinions, antelope meat gets a bad rap from a lot of people. We love the stuff - especially in stew and chili.
Unfortunately, pronghorns aren't very big, and in Idaho you can only draw a pronghorn tag once every few years. I haven't drawn a pronghorn tag in so long I don't even remember what the rule is.
Oh, well. Maybe next fall we'll be eating antelope chili again.
Note: The "once in a lifetime" Idaho Moose Tag regulation changed probably 20 years ago. Nowadays, I think a person can draw an Idaho cow Moose tag if they once drew an Idaho bull moose tag.
Like I said though - neither my wife or I have ever drawn any moose tag yet. I keep hoping the Idaho Fish and Game Department will make over-the-counter Moose tags available for us old folks.

 

[Speedo66]

It’s about control of the process and knowing where your food comes from.
My wife wasnt a vegetarian but she didn’t know where different cuts of meat came from until I started cooking for her.

I was a hunter, and a city person, and I can tell you it seems a lot of city people must think meat comes down from heaven wrapped in cellophane and styrofoam. The idea that meat is part of an entire animal seems to elude them.

Aside from the difficulty I now have dragging out a deer, I'm also the only one who eats it and storage of an entire deer's worth of meat is a problem. I don't know anyone else locally who would take some.

 

[daniel craig]

Reminds me of a video that was sent to me years ago. The guy adds up the cost of all his gear, the truck, trailer, blind, etc. then divides that by the number of pounds of meat he brings home to his wife as an illustration of how fine of meat he brings home for her. Even the finest beef tenderloin was cheap in comparison.

This is why I constantly tell people you don’t need to buy all that gear and why I hunt with a cheap gun cheap ammo and free clothing. I’m also very fortunate to have private land available to me.

 

[daniel craig]

I was a hunter, and a city person, and I can tell you it seems a lot of city people must think meat comes down from heaven wrapped in cellophane and styrofoam. The idea that meat is part of an entire animal seems to elude them.

Aside from the difficulty I now have dragging out a deer, I'm also the only one who eats it and storage of an entire deer's worth of meat is a problem. I don't know anyone else locally who would take some.

Where it not for the fact that my parents had a really old freezer from like the 60s or 70s in the basement I’d be looking at getting a small chest freezer for my apartment

 

[daniel craig]

This is why I constantly tell people you don’t need to buy all that gear and why I hunt with a cheap gun cheap ammo and free clothing. I’m also very fortunate to have private land available to me.

It’s also why I’m going to be butchering my own deer this year. I can’t afford to spend $100 they have somebody else do it for me.

 

[Seedy Character]

It’s also why I’m going to be butchering my own deer this year. I can’t afford to spend $100 they have somebody else do it for me.

The biggest question I have heard from people, how much meat should I get? A co-worker took a buck in, to be processed. He picked up 60# of smoked sausage, for his $100 processing, plus the cost of added pork.

A 200# buck should yield approximately 100# of meat. He was charged 30# of pork, and received 60# of sausage?

I am calling B.S.

Another co-worker claimed that particular shop would process 5 deer at a time, add the pork and divide the sausage evenly, between the 5 customers. He had taken in a 100# does
and received 63# of sausage.

Double B. S.

I will process my own

 

[LNK]

You should get around 50% of the weight back in meat. The deer here are much smaller than the deer up north, seems a deer has to be small to survive the summer heat and humidity. I didn't weigh the deer I processed last year, but got about 50# meat from a small (to me) doe. Will see how I do this year. Been watching them all summer on the farm. I hope to harvest at least one, but there has been quite a bit of coyotes howling around at night.

Too bad I don't have the facilities to process a cow.

 

[Seedy Character]

You should get around 50% of the weight back in meat. The deer here are much smaller than the deer up north, seems a deer has to be small to survive the summer heat and humidity. I didn't weigh the deer I processed last year, but got about 50# meat from a small (to me) doe. Will see how I do this year. Been watching them all summer on the farm. I hope to harvest at least one, but there has been quite a bit of coyotes howling around at night.

Too bad I don't have the facilities to process a cow.

We laminated 3 2x12 to a 6x12. Put between 2 oak tree limbs and chain a come-along to it. Wrapped chain around 1 hind foot and hoisted.

Took about 6 hours. 2 of us cutting and 1 sharpening knives.

 

[LNK]

We laminated 3 2x12 to a 6x12. Put between 2 oak tree limbs and chain a come-along to it. Wrapped chain around 1 hind foot and hoisted.

Took about 6 hours. 2 of us cutting and 1 sharpening knives.

When I processed deer, I hoist up the deer high enough to work the bottom, and lower as needed until done. I can not even imagine how high I would need to hoist up a 1000# cow. I hope it never comes to my needing to do this. Good idea using trees. I can think of some places on my property where I could do this. I have a couple of 300+ year old oaks with 24" horizontal, limbs that my neighbor call the hanging trees, so I can forgo the laminating.

Food for thought, thanks.

 

[Seedy Character]

When I processed deer, I hoist up the deer high enough to work the bottom, and lower as needed until done. I can not even imagine how high I would need to hoist up a 1000# cow. I hope it never comes to my needing to do this. Good idea using trees. I can think of some places on my property where I could do this. I have a couple of 300+ year old oaks with 24" horizontal, limbs that my neighbor call the hanging trees, so I can forgo the laminating.

Food for thought, thanks.

We did the 2x12s so as to hang the bull between the trees, for room to work around and not have the meat swing into the tree.

Have seen some old oaks that could hang a bull, but not around here.

 

[wbm]

Asked a Southern Arizona rancher friend how much they were getting on the hoof today's market. $1.00/lb.

 

[LoonWulf]

Theres literally no limit to how many animals I can shoot in a year, just a limit to how much work I want to do.......

With the rising costs in store bought meat, hunting is once again becoming a more cost-effective option than it was for me these last 5-6 years......