Hi Alan.
Take this for what it is worth but let me shed a little light on the deer processing business.
- They get Pork Butts or other fatty cuts of pork for lets say $0.77/lb or less, maybe much less.
- A deer will yield roughly 35% of its weight in meat (at least in Texas).
The deer in TX generally are not these massive bodied deer that we see as you go North to colder areas of the country. It's just nature. Animals in colder climates have to put on more body mass to survive where animals in hot climates tend to be smaller to deal with the heat.
- So a 100 pound doe in TX will give you roughly 35 pounds of meat.
- People bring in a 100 pound deer (35 pounds of meat) and then tell the processor they basically want 50-70 pounds of meat out of it hahahahaha. People who don't process an animal don't generally understand and simply want the meat so the processors make it happen.
- So with 35 pounds of meat and an order for lets say 70 pounds of sausage the processor will mix in more meat which is likely the less expensive pork. So 35 pounds of venison + 35 pounds of pork butt will give 70 pounds of meat
- The processor charges $3.75-$6 for a pound of sausage.
- 35 pounds of venison = $0 cost to the processor
- 35 pounds of $0.77/lb pork = $26.95 cost to the processor
- So 70 lbs of sausage at lets say $4/lb = $280 cost to the hunter
- Base processing fee = $65-$85 animal processing fee (lets say $75) so = +$75 to cost to the hunter
So as you can see the processor makes a healthy bit of money (after they deduct other expenses like materials, labor, electiricty, rent, etc.) when they go 50/50 venison and pork, it's just part of their business model.
Armed with that knowledge you can better pick and choose how you want your animals processed.
My brother and I made over 70 pounds of feral pork sausage last year. My brother and I didn't have the time to mess with deboning the meat from the pigs so he took the feral hog quarters to a processor last year and dropped it off with trimmed pork backfat we have and told them to grind the meat up with the back fat at a 80/20 meat/fat ratio. They gave it back to us and just charged the $75 processing fee for the pigs. We then did all the sausage seasoning and stuffing when we had the time.
Long story shot (all my posts are long and meandering lol) we knew how to make the best decision for our situation (a time crunch) with the lowest cost and the maximum benefit. We made it work for us rather than us working for it :)
Anyhow, probably way more info than you care for but it is good info to know so. I hope this helps :)