He did it again....

Because really, one elk in a season isn't enough... right?

He shot this big boy on Sunday evening (once again leaving me worried, not calling until after midnight because he had to quarter it out and that takes a long time when you're by yourself.) We didn't have my dad's help like we did with the cow back in August so it took us two days to butcher it all.

It seemed like a lot more meat than last time, but I figured it was because it was just the two of us... until we weighed it. 185 pounds total. He was flippin' enormous.

The biggest difference is in burger meat - 30 pounds from the cow, 92 from this bull. And you have to add pork fat to the meat when you grind it, so we'll end up with about 120 pounds of ground. Seriously, who can eat 120 pounds of ground elk?

When he shot his cow we bought a chest freezer to store it in. There are some garden veggies in there too, but not many. We managed to fit a little more than half of the bull in there. My fridge is full of raw meat, the kitchen freezer is full and there's still another 10 or 15 pounds out on the front porch in a cooler.
]
Not to mention the fact that we actually have to grind all this hamburger meat before it can be used as hamburger. Right now it's just hunks of tough muscles, scraps, and rib meat. That'll be a days long job if I end up doing it alone. I'd employ the help of my husband on his next days off, but... ahem... he'll be hunting again.

I'm not complaining. I feel doubly blessed. I'm just overwhelmed. This is so much meat!