There’s nothing quite like the feeling of opening your freezer and seeing it stuffed to the brim with neatly wrapped packages of venison. That’s the joy of hunting season for us — not just the thrill of the hunt, but knowing we’re feeding our family with food we harvested ourselves.
This year was a good one. Between Chris and I, we managed to bring home enough deer to keep our freezer happy and our grocery budget smiling. If you’ve ever seen the price of beef, pork, or even chicken these days, you’ll understand why I did a little happy dance while organizing those venison steaks, roasts, and ground meat.
How Much Meat Did We Get?
On average, a single deer can yield anywhere from 40 to 70 pounds of meat, depending on its size. Our deer was around 200 pounds and after we cut and trimmed it we definitely had around 80 pounds of meat. Let’s just say we ended up with enough to make taco nights, stir-fry dinners, slow cooker roasts, and even some fancy venison jerky happen for months to come. Instead of worrying about skyrocketing grocery bills, we’ve got a freezer full of delicious, lean protein that didn’t cost us $10 a pound.
How Much Money Are We Saving?
Here’s the fun part: let’s crunch a few numbers.
- Beef at the store: around $8–$12 a pound.
- Venison from our hunt: practically free (minus tags, gear, and the occasional “oops, I fell in the mud” laundry load).
If we value our venison at the same price as store-bought beef, we easily saved hundreds of dollars this season. That’s money we can now put toward other family expenses — or maybe just more coffee to fuel the early mornings in the woods.
Why We Love Hunting
It’s more than just the savings (though I won’t lie, that part feels amazing). Hunting connects us to nature, gets us outside as a family, and fills our freezer with healthy, hormone-free, lean meat. Plus, Chris is still glowing with pride after harvesting his very first buck — a memory I don’t think either of us will ever forget.
If you’re curious about the ins and outs of our hunting adventures and how it ties into our frugal lifestyle, check out more of my posts on hunting and outdoor living.
Cutting your own meat is a huge job so if you are not like me I highly suggest seeing your local butcher. I followed this basic guide to cut my deer and it sure helps to have sharp knives.
Wrapping It Up (Literally)
At the end of the day, harvesting our deer this year wasn’t just about filling the freezer — it was about filling our lives with memories, laughter, and a little extra wiggle room in the budget. And hey, nothing says “success” like a freezer so full of venison you have to play a game of meat Tetris just to get the lid closed.
Until next season, our hearts (and bellies) are full.
No comments:
Post a Comment