Boning out a buck- How much weight is saved?

[idelkslayer]

I weighed the bones of a very large buck I killed in Idaho a few years ago.  For reference, his hind quarters weighed 45 lbs with the bone in and cut off at the knee.  I weighed the bone after I was done butchering at home and it weighed just under 3 lbs.  Multiplied by four for each quarter and that's only 12 lbs of bone you are saving yourself from carrying. 

[WAnoob]

Check regs to see if it's legal in your area. I know up in AK you are required to leave the meat on the bone. They say it causes want and waste along with slowing the cooling process down due to large quantities of meat tossed in one bag.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.meatcare

This is not a law in all GMU's in Alaska...they recommend it to preserve more meat but it is not required legally all over.  When we hunted black tail on Kodiak Island we boned out every one, but if we went up north to the Koyukuk area to hunt moose, that area requires the entire moose be carried out on the bone except for the hide.  They check you at a river check station on your way out.  When boning out an animal we always ensured we wasted no meat.

The "law" you referenced states that every piece of edible meat must be salvaged.  Which is what we did every time.

I agree it was some what easier to leave the moose on the bone, but we had chainsaws helping us .  Boning out the deer is a huge help when you are 7 miles from the tent.
 
Randy

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

More like 20lbs max ..go pick up a 40lb dumbell and tell me 4 deer leg bones weigh 40lbs!! NO WAY

25 30 40 I'm no human scale.  I know the pile of bones I leave on a mule buck weighs a lot and is ocward  to carry.  Taking the meat off the bone allows the meat to cool WAY faster.  Making the meat a lot better on the table.  It also allows you to place the meat on the pack in the best way possible for long hauls or even short packs.  De boning can get the meat bloody and moisten it up.  Let it hang and air dry on the kill spot in the shade, after de boning.  I'll never take the bones.  Way to much weight that I can't eat.  And for proper meat care removing the meat from the bone as soon as possible will produce better quality meat.  The meat could still be warm 24 hrs after killed if not removed from the bone.

I'll second every bit of that line of thinking Nick. I've boned out a lot of em and packed em a lot farther than I wanted to but was darn glad every time that I'd left all that 'green' bone in the woods. Since I'm boning, a little fat is trimmed that isn't when you take an animal out whole. Hide weighs more than you think when it's green. Legs the same.
I've brought meat to the butcher a couple of times that I didn't have time to cut it myself or the weather was too hot to let it hang like I like to. I always have them weight the meat. Twice I was over 150 in lean meat and once over 175. Big deer no doubt. I'd guess leaving the hide, legs, guts, trimmed fat and bones in the woods on a nice muley buck would go over 75lbs not counting guts. That's a lot in my book to pack out just to throw away!
Heck, the head/horns/cape has got to be 25lbs on a nice muley, whitetail or even blacktail for that matter.

We are talking about more than just leg bones.

[Stickerbush]

Tons of great info here tag

[eliandsky]

I'd say 5lbs tops. But mentally worth about 20 on a long pack out