I ended up with around 250 pounds of meat; 140 of it burger. I’m giving some of the backstrap to family members at Christmas; but I’m keeping the rest. I thought about processing it myself but ended up taking to a butcher who charged me $1.10 a pound to cut it up, grind the burger and package and label everything. I have a second freezer that I use for this type of thing. The burger will last us most of a year; it’s just my wife, 7 year old son, and I. Normally, with a deer I would make a bunch of summer sausage and jerky, but elk is way too good for that.
My buddy I hunted with is from the Bozeman area, and it is indeed beautiful there!