Originally posted by: KingGheedora
Originally posted by: adairusmc
I am glad I got both a deer and an elk this year, made my grocery costs go down quite a bit.
Out of the 277 pounds of Elk I got pack from the processing place, I still have about 250lbs of it. Only got about 50lbs of stuff from the deer though, but it all adds up.
I still stock up on ribeyes whenever they go on sale though. When they hit $4.99 a lb (often enough), I usually drop a $100 or so on some ribeyes.
Wow, do you eat deer/elk three meals a day? You must have a pretty big freezer too. Where do you live? I don't think having 250lbs of deer/elk would cut down my grocery costs that much, because I would still want to have chicken, turkey, eggs, and fish. But then again the majority of my diet comes from eating out.
I didn't know they had processing centers. I always assumed people who hunted skinned and butchered their own kills. How much does the processing cost?
I butcher most of it myself, but I have the burger ground and mixed with fat by a meat processing place in town (small place). I also have them make any sausage, pepperoni sticks, and whatever else I want there as well.
It usually costs around 20 cents a pound to have it ground up or whatever. pepperoni sticks and jerky costs a little more. I usually have my deer and elk burger mixed with 10% beef fat myself.
I make all kinds of things with the deer and elk - soups, chili, stews, steaks, roasts, etc. I also hunt birds (chukar, pheasant, grouse, quail, turkey) whenever I can.
I still eat beef and chicken and all of that, but not nearly as much as I would if I did not hunt.