11-04-2005, 06:58 PM
I think there are good processors and bad but I learned a long time ago that a lot of them will take some of the better cuts of meat. For those of you that have processed your own meet, you know what the tenderloins look like (the grain is fine not course like the rest of the animal). As long as the animal has not been shot up or spoiled there should be a certain number per carcass. When I use to take my animals in to be processed, I would get few if any of those packages, when I ask them why they would always say the same thing, spoiled meat, even though I knew that wasn't the case. The last time I took an elk in, I just took the tenderloins out and only had them process the four quarters. The four quarters weighted over 300 lbs, when I picked up the elk there was only four boxes that weighted under 100 lbs. I thought that was a little short but was glad I had taken the tender loins and did them myself. When I do my own animal, I figure 1/2 can be lost to trimming the meat and bones, maybe more if it is shot up. Years ago when I got a moose, I did not have room to store it, so I took it to a place that had a walk in cooler that charged a fee to store the meat. I started talking to one of the workers and he told me it was common practice to take some of the meet they processed. That was the last time I had anyone process an animal for me, the next year I bought a freezer and have done it myself since. WH2
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