How long does elk meat last you and your family?

[Lark Bunting]

Assuming you get an average size cow or an average size bull, how long does the meat last you?

 

[Swede]

It really depends on several things. My wife and I give away most of the elk we get. Then when we get low on elk, we hold it for special occasions. Generally it lasts us all year as we are not big meat eaters.

 

[cnelk]

Lets say for \'easy math\' that after trimming and packaging you end up with 104 - 1lb packages.
That means you need to eat 2lbs a week for a year to eat it all up.

We like elk meat, but that ends up to be plenty of elk meat to chew on.
I usually have some left over, but we usually shoot 2 elk a year too.
I dont buy beef at all.
I give some away for Christmas gifts and people like that!

 

[elkmtngear]

When I had both kids at home, we would eat it up in about a Year.

Since my Daughter is out of the house...we\'ve got some to give away now!

 

[iccyman001]

I gave away ample amounts and ate elk at least 2-3 times a week with my wife.
Ours lasted about 9-10 months, but like I said, we gave away AMPLE amounts. Next year I will stretch it a little better.

My elk was a baby, so I would think an average cow would give me more than that.

 

[Deertick]

Wife recently made manwiches for an equine endurance ride. She used left over pronghorn and elk and deer. It was \"exotic\" to some. As Brad pointed out, they didn\'t realize we were just cleaning out the freezer!

We killed too much last year. Two elk and SIX pronghorn are far too much for the two of us. I mean, you should eat fish at least once a week for heart health.

I would suspect we could get by on one cow elk a year between two of us. But we give quite a bit away.

 

[timberland]

3/5 of an elk lasted my family of 4 (with one in college) exactly 7 months. So a we can eat a whole one in a year.

 

[elky McElkerson]

we shared a big bull last time. 3 guys. i took the least meat, and it lasted a few months when my wife discovered it was delicious.

i used it for everything.

 

[otcWill]

Tough to tell as my freezer has at least 4-6 different species in it at once :upthumb: I\'ll tell ya what doesn\'t last, organic farm pronghorn, hands down my favorite wild game. I also grill for my coworkers once a week and give a bunch to nonhunting friends. I think it\'s great hunting PR to give it to nonhunters. I usually try to have the freezer close to empty come September but this year a bear got in there and will make that difficult Might need a new freezer.

 

[iccyman001]

Tough to tell as my freezer has at least 4-6 different species in it at once :upthumb: I\'ll tell ya what doesn\'t last, organic farm pronghorn, hands down my favorite wild game. I also grill for my coworkers once a week and give a bunch to nonhunting friends. I think it\'s great hunting PR to give it to nonhunters. I usually try to have the freezer close to empty come September but this year a bear got in there and will make that difficult Might need a new freezer.

Your official drying period isn\'t over, is it?

 

[otcWill]

Hadn\'t thought about it. Hide/skull are still in MT and will be shipped when the tanning is done. I shot him on June 13. Not sure what the drying period is. 60 days I thought

 

[iccyman001]

Hadn\'t thought about it. Hide/skull are still in MT and will be shipped when the tanning is done. I shot him on June 13. Not sure what the drying period is. 60 days I thought

Yeah, it\'s 60 days, I just forget when your hunt was.
I don\'t think we have to worry about it hitting P&Y, but I would love to see what he scores. :upthumb:

 

[Jaquomo]

Depends on how much I give away and what else I kill. In a normal year there\'s elk, deer, trout, walleye, perch, crappies, and salmon in there, plus some chicken and pork for variety. ( I have a real soft spot for smoked baby back ribs and bbq\'ed chicken wings!) With just two of us in the house, we give lots of game and fish away. In years when I kill two elk I give one away, and sometimes a whole deer too. Older leftover burger goes through the jerky shooter and dehydrator to become meat-whistles.

Thank goodness for vacuum-sealers!!!!!

So my answer is that it lasts long enough, and a bit more.

 

[cohunter14]

It just depends how many elk are taken for us. We typically share meat with the rest of the guys in our camp, so it doesn\'t last long if there are only one or two elk down!