Herein lies the tale of the shrinking elk carcass, an eternal mystery that bedevils frustrated hunters and commercial meat processors who must explain how a 500-pound animal shriveled into a few steaks.
So, to paraphrase a popular TV commercial from years back, where’s the meat?
“That’s one of the two most frequently asked questions,” said Steve Bobitsky, who operates Rocky Mountain Meats in Westminster.
To help solve the puzzle, we joined Bobitsky last week at his plant at 1961 W. 64th Ave. to track the processing of a four-point bull elk. The carcass had been field dressed, which translates to a loss of approximately 90 pounds for the paunch, plus a comparable weight depletion for head, hide and legs. At this point, the hanging weight was 289 pounds.
“I picked this one because it’s in good condition, a best-case example,” Bobitsky said. “It’s not shot up and hasn’t been dragged through the dirt.”
Bobitsky first used an acetylene torch to singe off loose hairs, thus saving on trim.
“If we have to cut away dirt and hair that’s been ground into the carcass, that makes for less return,” said Bobitsky, who then began the extended procedure of removing meat from bone.
He carved meat from the ribs, which provides a segue to that second burning question, which is why such a high percentage of the edible meat ends up as burger.
“When you look at the ribs, neck and lower leg, that’s basically all you can do with it,” Bobitsky said.
Trimming away the dry exterior layer, he removed the prime cuts from bone, following the hunter’s instruction as to the desired balance between roasts and better steaks. Bobitsky hacked away until the carcass had been separated into three basic piles: edible meat, scrap and bone.
The tale of the scale was right there for anyone to see: 78 pounds of prime meat, another 92 pounds of trimmed meat to be converted to burger, sausage or specialty items. For those counting along, that’s 170 pounds of take-home meat from the 289-pound dressed animal. Believe it.
“That’s a good yield. There’s definitely some nice eating there,” Bobitsky said.
This example stands in stark contrast to a recent scenario, in which a hunter brought in an elk that had been shot five days earlier and hadn’t been skinned.
“This guy had come to us several times in the past,” Bobitsky said. “My partner didn’t even want to accept the animal, but the hunter insisted. The man stayed to watch the process. We didn’t get a lot of meat off it.”
Bobitsky’s motive in going through this explanation is simple enough.
“The more we can help people understand what happens, the less they’ll feel cheated, ripped off,” he said. “Those aren’t easy words to hear when you’ve been working long hours for 14 straight days in the middle of hunting season.”
For hunters looking for something to do with all that burger and trim, he offers a number of specialty treatments: 20 varieties of sausage, five kinds of jerky, three flavors of snack sticks and a brick chili.
The exercise also provided answers to the questions of a writer who has always wondered about the weight he’s struggled under while toting a carcass out of the field. In case you’re also wondering, a fully dressed hindquarter tips the scale at 50 pounds, a shoulder at 32. If you can carry 82 pounds on a pack frame, then you can lay claim to packing out half an elk.
There’s the meat.
Listen to Charlie Meyers at 9 a.m. each Saturday on The Fan Outdoors, radio KKFN 950 AM. He can be reached at 303-820-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
