Cost per Pound of Venison
What your homegrown venison actually costs, all-in.
How this works
This adds up every real cost associated with getting meat into the freezer — license and tags, fuel and travel, professional processing fees, and any amortized share of gear or lease cost for the season — then divides by the actual boneless meat you ended up with.
Why this number often surprises people
Many hunters are surprised how close this number lands to retail meat prices once every real cost is counted honestly, especially for a lean season with a smaller harvest. That's not an argument against hunting — the value includes time outdoors, self-sufficiency, and meat quality that a dollar figure doesn't fully capture — but it's a useful, honest number to have.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my homegrown venison sometimes cost as much as store meat?
Once license, tags, gas, and processing fees are all counted honestly, the per-pound cost often lands surprisingly close to retail meat prices, especially on a lean season — the value of hunting includes more than the dollar-per-pound figure.
Should I include the cost of my rifle or bow in this?
Only if you want to amortize gear cost across the season — the "amortized gear/lease cost" field is there for exactly that, letting you spread a share of equipment or lease cost into the per-hunt total if you choose to.
Does this use field-dressed weight or boneless meat weight?
Boneless meat yield — the actual usable meat you end up with after processing, since that's the weight the cost is really being divided across.
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