Cost of butcher bill for my elk!!!!!

[6x6in6]

Buddy just got his bull back from a local butcher.. He got 117 pounds of meat back for $450.. 50lb of that was pepper stick.. What bothers me is they said his hanging weight was 230 pounds..not sure where the extra 63 pounds went?!

And I thought the OP got hosed.  Your buddy is officially the winner.   

[Hawgdawg]

I would never show up at a butcher without first contacting them with and asking how much i would expect to pay for the service I was requesting.

I cut and wrap my own game meat but I send perfectly clean and good condition meat to the butcher for grinding since my grinder is so small and painfully slow.  The last couple of times I have sent 50-55 lbs. of grind meat and have been charged $50 to grind and wrap.  Seems pretty reasonable to me.

And I am guessing added some pork or beer fat to it. Great deal.

$260 for 128lbs and $260 for 353lbs. How is that reasonable for the op?

Anyone who can't see this or attacks the OP or challenges his hunting ability or tries to change the simple subject of this overcharging 

I been on the other most interesting thread about the butchers side of the great meat debate. LOL

Bottom line is if you or anybody who doesn't process their own harvest are going to hire it done you should at least know the weight of your game or stay there and have them weigh it front you.  Ask them all the questions regarding pricing, minimum's and boning versed saw and how about that front shoulder that is pretty nasty, does that go in the grinder. estimated bone to meat racial. Ask those questions then, and not when you come to pick it up with your buddy that had that happen to him once..... Most all shops have that available on paper for your review.

 And then have your wife ask them how bad your but is going to hurt including tax when you pick it up so there is no surprise to you about price, cuts, wrapping size............Summer sausage, Jerky and ole my lord pepperoni cost what!!!

[ipkus]

How do so many of you think the op got hosed???

He dropped off an animal at a butcher shop without so much as inquiring about what anything costs.

Do you do this with your car when it won't run and you take it to the shop?

Do you do this when you go to a new doctor you've been referred to?

Expensive?  Sure.  Too expensive?  Maybe.  But if it's too much effort to ask what things cost, don't be surprised when you end up screwed.

[Bean Counter]

  well said

[sled]

  Bart marzlof.  Enough said.

[mfswallace]

How do so many of you think the op got hosed???

He dropped off an animal at a butcher shop without so much as inquiring about what anything costs.

Do you do this with your car when it won't run and you take it to the shop?

Do you do this when you go to a new doctor you've been referred to?

Expensive?  Sure.  Too expensive?  Maybe.  But if it's too much effort to ask what things cost, don't be surprised when you end up screwed.

well said

Let me make sure I get your point of view- it's ok to screw someone if they don't have enough sense to ask any questions... 

I wonder if my pa would role over in his grave to know that nowadays  guys like you think it's ok to screw people who trust companies to be the professionals and do an honest job 

[Bean Counter]

No. I am more than upfront with people when money is changing hands. My attitude is more that if you didn't do some research and/or ask the dude upfront what the cost should be, you give up quite a bit of right to complain.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Think about it - if you cut up deer and elk for money, what do you think you would want per animal? If you are a small business, what would expenses be? What would you need to charge? Cutting one up is not a 5 minute job.
I know that if I did that kind of work, I would charge big bucks too. Especially in tax-to-the-max counties. I actually worked in a slaughterhouse in the mid 70s and got some good knowledge and experience on what takes place. With that experience, all my friends and buddies would bring their ungulates to me to process. I usually got my cut (literally speaking).
I've processed thousands of critters and though I love to do that, I would never complain about the prices you are referring to here.
I'm not beating you up or complaining about what you are saying. What I would suggest is that you learn to process them yourself. There seems to be fewer and fewer who process meat. If I was a commercial processor, I would charge as much or more than the prices mentioned on this forum.
A meat grinder is a nice thing to have and as long as you have access to the internet, you can learn how to cut one up.
Happy cuttings!

Axle pretty much summed it up. 

If you don't like what someone charges learn to do it yourself.

If you don't ask for the cost up front and don't like the bill when you pick it up, it's not the buisness that screwed you.  You screwed yourself by not doing your reasurch.

The majority of the people that complain about buisnesses and prices are those that have never owned or ran a buisness.  The way some talk they make it sound like anyone who owns a buisness just has money coming out of every orifice.  That they can afford to do it cheaper or better for cheaper.  The problem is the complainers have no idea what it costs to do buisness. 

[fremont]

There's a disconnect when butchers like Owen's Meats are getting out of the business, and hunters are balking at the high price of processing.  Like gunsmithing, I guess....can't make a living at it.

I did my own animal (deer) this year.  Wasn't a cost thing primarily.  Just less hassle.

[Special T]

Ive had a butcher do my game and done it myself. Part of hunting is learning the skills that go along with it. Some really good points have been made in this thread So i will point them out.
1 Butcher have to make money too, Game is not really that profitable
2 there is WASTE that piles up if an animal is shot bad or not taken good care of in the feild. You either lose weight or time trying to salvage every little scrap of meat.
3You could cut your own meat... Now you shouldn't do it everytime, but you should do it at least once so that you realize what goes on when you take it to the butcher.
4 If you want the best bang for the buck using a butcher cut your own steaks and take a bag of meat to for grinding.
5 If you bring in a game animal then the butcher has to have copies of the tags and there is extra legal/paperwork they are required to do

I do # 4 because my girls dont care for deer steaks too much but LOVE  the brats and peperoni sticks. On blacktail i think its pretty easy to just cut out the choice steaks and grind the rest. If your really into stew meat then you can skip the grinding

I find it interesting that there are many jobs that people just arnt willing to pay much to do. People dont seem to  see the skill/time equipment or other inputs, just the cost.

[ipkus]

Let me make sure I get your point of view- it's ok to screw someone if they don't have enough sense to ask any questions... 

What world do you live in?
 

I wonder if my pa would role over in his grave to know that nowadays  guys like you think it's ok to screw people who trust companies to be the professionals and do an honest job 

Who said the butcher shop wasn't professional and didn't do an honest job?

This is the United States where, among many other things, freedom means a business owner is allowed to charge whatever they want for the goods they sell or the service they provide.  It also means that you are free to accept or deny doing business with that business owner based solely on whether you feel they are charging a fair price for the goods or services they provide.

It's called due diligence.  Or looking out for yourself.  Or trust but verify.  It's called a thousand things, but they all boil down to personal responsibility. 

The only person that screwed anybody is the OP; he screwed himself.  But, apparently there are a lot of people like you that think it is someone else's responsibility to look both ways before YOU cross the street.

Let me know how that works out for you.

[WildBear]

Yeah price is accurate.  I believe it 120 min. for deer processing.  I've paid BARTS many times for deer and elk. Have been very pleased with their work. I agree, would be a shocker if you weren't expecting the price. But sure is worth it for the convenience of having it done for you.   

[blindluck]

Just picked up my elk from the butcher and was surprised on what it cost! A friend and I took our elk which where in quarters and was charged 260 for min fee I was not told here was a min. fee for elk when dropped off so was a little surprised. I was told that this has been his price for 14 years wow realy! !! I have never paid that much for process of a elk. This was just a standard cut on the elk no extras done, So with that said i guess i will say who it was BARTS CUSTOM MEATS IN SNOHOMISH. Has any one else had the same encounter with them and does that seem way high to cut and wrap a elk with just four quarter that weighed 128 lbs? Like to hear some your views on this.

My spike elk weighed the same. I was charged $145.00 I was charged for the beef fat as well 145 total.

[Stein]

Buddy just got his bull back from a local butcher.. He got 117 pounds of meat back for $450.. 50lb of that was pepper stick.. What bothers me is they said his hanging weight was 230 pounds..not sure where the extra 63 pounds went?!

That's about what I pay for a 1/4 beef.....including the cost of the beef.

Some here think $100 - $150/hr is a reasonable fee for a butcher to charge, some think you go almost go broke charging those rates, some think it is a good deal, some think it was the guy's fault for not asking.  Everyone has their opinion on what is right and just.

If nothing else, it is a lesson if you weren't happy.

I am sure there are many fine butchers, I just haven't found one.  Unfortunately (or fortunately as it turned out), about 75% of my interactions with them were either dishonest, deceitful or plain poor quality work.  I got other guys fish back, bloody messes, missing liver, heart and tongues, cut to someone else's directions, cut directions completely ignored, not frozen (put in huge box where the stuff in the middle just sits there warm for hours or days), refusal to give me fat from my animal to make my own sausage, mysterious fees, not done on time and generally treated like I was doing them a favor.  Again, there are probably great processors out there that I just haven't had experience with.

[h20hunter]

If you blindly enter into a business agreement...in this case giving the animal over to be processed....and don't know the expected cost how can you feel you were taken advantage of? Sounds like the OP is lucky they didn't pay more.