Anybody know what the ratio of meat to live weight is on a whitetail?

Thanks

Based on my observation, a deer will lose approx. 25% of his weight after field-dressing, and you will yield 50-60% of the field-dressed weight in meat. I think that equals about 35-40% of live weight in meat. I base this on deer that I have shot in Alabama over the past 17 years. Don't know if bigger mid-west deer yield anymore or not.

Mark

Thank you.

pseman is right on, even for corn fed Indiana deer.  That's boneless, trimmed, packaged weight.

Most of the deer I have weighed have already been field dressed. That said, we usually expect 50% of that weight in meat. So I'd also agree that PSEman's explaination.

The 50% meat in the freezer is exactly the percentage I expect, also, on field dressed deer we process.  That means the 135# dressed doe my son shot the other morning would weigh 180# on the hoof.  She was a big girl.

Handy calculator here:
www.askthemeatman.com/estimate_deer_weight.htm