Fill in your tag, the date and how the animal was handled once. Your butcher gets it before you pull into the lot, and you get a straight answer on steaks, burger, jerky and what to keep for the wall.
Heat spoils wild meat, not time on its own. Do these five things and almost nothing goes wrong.
1 Cool it before anything else
Heat is what ruins wild meat, not time on its own. Get the body cavity open and airflow through it, or ice it down.
2 Leave the hide on if it's cold
In freezing weather the hide protects the meat. Once it's above 50°F, skin it and ice the quarters.
3 Keep it clean and dry
Wipe hair and dirt off, keep water out of the cavity, and don't let it sit in a warm truck bed.
4 Bring your tag and paperwork
Most shops can't legally take an animal without the tag number attached. Snap a photo of it as backup.
5 Tell the truth about the shot
Gut shots, long tracks and warm carcasses change how a butcher trims. Saying so protects your meat, it doesn't lose you service.
What each animal really gives you Packaged weight is always less than hanging weight. Here's the honest version, animal by animal.
🦌 Deer (venison)A 140 lb field-dressed whitetail usually gives 55–70 lb of packaged meat. Half of it is grind unless you ask otherwise. 5–10 days at 34–38°F tenderises without any gamey taste. Warm weather cuts that to zero. Backstraps whole, tenderloins left alone, hindquarter steaks and roasts, everything else ground or jerky. Shops book out fast in the first two weeks of rifle season. Most set a hard end-of-season cutoff. See every cut 🫎 ElkA cow elk quartered at 300 lb usually gives 150–180 lb packaged. It fills a chest freezer on its own. 7–14 days if you have the cooler space. Elk rewards hanging more than deer does. Steaks off both hinds, roasts from the shoulders, burger with 15% pork fat, summer sausage from the trim. Bring it boned or quartered and cold — nobody wants a whole warm elk on the floor. See every cut 🐗 Wild hogA 150 lb boar gives 55–70 lb packaged, less if it's rank. Small sows eat better than big boars. Skin and chill straight away. Hanging does wild pork no favours. Shoulders for pulled pork, hams cooked not cured, the rest into fresh sausage or grind. Year-round in most states, which means hot weather — get it cold within a couple of hours. Cooked to 160°F, always. Shops will not dry-cure or make ready-to-eat products from wild pork without a certified freeze or cook step. See every cut 🐻 BearYields swing hard with fat. Spring bears run lean, fall bears can be a third fat by weight. Hang short, 2–4 days. The fat picks up off-flavours fast. Roasts and grind. Rendered fat is worth keeping if you bake. Sausage must be fully cooked. Ask before you shoot: not every shop will take bear at all. Cook everything to 160°F. No rare steaks, no dry-cured salami, no raw taste tests — trichinella is real. See every cut 🐇 RabbitAbout 50–55% of live weight comes back as meat, and it's nearly all in the loin and hind legs. None needed. Chill, skin, and get it wrapped. Whole or halved for braising, or boned out for sausage if you have a pile of them. Bring several at once — most shops charge a per-animal minimum. See every cut Cape, hide, antlers, skull. Once the hide comes off, a shoulder mount is gone — so it goes on the sheet before you drop off, not at the counter. Every shop on CutSheet lists its own cape and euro-mount prices, and the hunter's copy of the order shows exactly what's being set aside for you.
Shops taking wild game Their rules, up front, before you load the truck.