Meat Yields of Wild Game Animals

[mitunnelrat]

I’m hoping some of the more experienced outdoorsmen here could help me out, and in the process get some information out that we can use when talking to people whose sole emergency plan is to run for the hills and live off the land. Its long been said that game populations would be wiped out during some emergency scenarios. I believe we can develop some hard numbers supporting this as I develop the data for my own purposes.

I’m not looking to rely on wild game and forage as my sole emergency sustenance, but it is my goal to produce/ provide for as much of my food as I can myself, without that meaning a trip to the grocery store. I told a friend today that ideally I’d like to get a year’s supply of meat/ fish stocked this way. He told me “good luck”. Honestly, whether or not I reach the one year mark is of little importance to me, but I since I enjoy hunting and fishing I should have a good time striving to reach it.

This, of course, begged the question of “how much do I need?” On the surface this seemed to have a simple answer. A serving of meat is, on average, 3 ounces. A days serving then is 9 ounces. Multiply that by 365, do a conversion, and it shows you need 205.31 pounds of meat or fish per person to get through a year.

I say that’s simple “on the surface” because I don’t believe viewing it so simply adequately accounts for our nutrition needs. Under my circumstance that’s easy enough to determine and balance out, but it could prove dangerous for the person who hasn’t thought through what it would mean to live off the land. Has anyone here not heard of rabbit starvation? I’m gonna go out on a limb and surmise an exclusive diet of this much cottontail (or other lean meats) would induce it if you haven‘t hit diet fatigue by that point as it is, but that’s hopping down the rabbit trail of another discussion, since I’m finding the nutritional values of the different game animals appear to be readily available and I plan on varying my diet. What I’m most wondering, and having a hard time finding, is how much meat a given animal yield. So far I’ve only found the info I need on adult gray squirrels, which provide 8 ounces of de-boned meat per animal. I’m curious what the colony may know of other animals such as the aforementioned rabbits, deer, turkey, various fishes, etc. Pretty much anything commonly eaten. I’m also curious to see what variances there may be from one region of the country to another.

By the way, at 8 ounces per, it would take 411 squirrels to provide a years worth of meat.

[ladyhk13]

MTR, I don't mean to be a smartass or anything but do you really think that a man will eat and actually maintain his strength/weight on a 3 oz serving of meat? I just went and looked at what our steak is cut from the butcher and it is almost 1 lb (some larger) which my dh has NO problem eating just for dinner with sides and he hasn't had to have been working a physically hard day in order to do so. For me, I would eat half that so living on far less is no problem. Now if you plan on using the meat and cutting it up to add into noodles or rice or something like that I guess a smaller portion could work but I think you have to decide on what cuts you are going to get and how you are going to use them. A standard cow can give you about 400 lbs of meat once dressed out and if you are in a place where you are able to raise a few of your own you can continue to breed a couple each year and slaughter as you need and not depend on wild meats. Just some thoughts.

[mitunnelrat]

I agree its not going to sustain anyone on its own, which is why I mentioned it being an overly simple way of viewing this.

I did well on such serving sizes, but only when I was eating 6 times a day, and I had a varied diet of fruit, vegetables, dairy, and grains with it. You absolutely have to be able to adjust the calories you're taking in to the calories you're burning. That's why I'm personally interested in how many servings you can break these animals down to.

Unfortunately, I think some people who intend to live off the land don't take this into account.

As far as raising livestock, I'd love to! Unfortunately it isn't an option for the moment. So for now, I'll keep enjoying myself out in the woods or on a shore, and reduce my grocery bill where I can.

[Sniper-T]

Most of the meat I (we) eat is from game animals. The odd time I'll buy something beef just for a change, and this year, since I didn't get a bear, I bought 1/2 a pig.

for us (the wife and I), and a couple dozen times of entertaining through the year, I like to get at least 3 deer. I cook enough at a time for dinner, and leftovers for lunch the next day. With 3 deer, I usually have just enough to get through the year to the next season.

Of course this is subsidized by 50-100# of goose meat. 25# of prairie chicken, and 150-200# of fish. I don't generally factor in small game, as they generally go from field to pot.

I tend to shy away from the great monster bucks, instead, prefering anything from a spiker to a 3x3 or a4x4 max. I'll forgo the extra meat, for quality meat. When possible, I also avoid taking Does, as they are the ones who keep bringing the bucks around. Boned out, an average sized deer will produce about 60-70 pounds of meat, assuming you do your part and don't shoot it up too bad, and are somewhat proficient with a blade. So if I can put 3 deer into my freezer, that gives me about 200# of meat.

[mitunnelrat]

Thanks T. I remembered/ realized the weight of a deer would vary after I posted, so I definitely appreciate you making the distinctions in your post. Unfortunately I'm reasonably sure I won't get anywhere near 3 deer this year, unless my luck improves tremendously. Hopefully I prove myself wrong though, there's still a couple days of gun season left, muzzleloading opens in a week, and there's a late doe season in there as well. I haven't gotten into archery yet, but that opens back up next month as well. I'm going to venture into some new territory to see if that helps any. I think there's been a lot of pressure in the areas I know and hunt now. If I strike out here its going to be small game and fish for me until next fall.

Roughly how many birds does it take to reach those amounts? We have grouse seasons here, which I see prairie chickens are related to, that are part of a small game license. Male pheasants are included under small game as well. I'd have to be really careful hunting either though. I'm not sure I've seen a live grouse, and I'd have to learn how to ID a male pheasant. Goose and duck is out, I don't have the federal waterfowl stamp they require, if the season is still open.

There's always crow. Has anyone here ever eaten it?

At least I have a wide variety of fish here that's open year round.

[izzyscout21]

holy triple post, MTR.
just fixed you

[mitunnelrat]

Thanks izzy. Things obviously went a little haywire on my end!

[mitunnelrat]

It just hit me too that feral swine is open year round here, its another one that varies in weight, but it would only take 2-3 like the deer to feed me for a year I think.

[Sniper-T]

A good sized grouse will net you about a pound of meat, smaller birds, obviously less. A big Canada can easily give 5-6 pounds of meat, while a lesser perhaps 3. We typically don't have pheasants, but we do have a lot of sand hill cranes, which taste like goose, but are smaller. 3-4 pounds max.

[mitunnelrat]

Thank you again.