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Montana Hunters Produce 9.3 Million Pounds of Meat

Elk produced the most meat, weighing in at more than 4.6 million pounds

By Associated Press

HELENA – Montana officials say the state’s hunters produce 9.3 million pounds of antelope, deer and elk meat each year.

Thomas Baumeister, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks conservation and education bureau chief, tells The Independent Republic that he quantified the amount of game meat by taking the average weight of meat produced per animal and multiplying it by the average harvest numbers from 2012 to 2014.

It’s enough meat to serve the population of Montana 81.3 portions each if following the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recommendation of 1.8 ounces of red meat per day.

Elk produced the most meat, weighing in at more than 4.6 million pounds. Whitetail deer were responsible for almost 2.3 million pounds and mule deer for nearly 2.1 million pounds. Antelope provided about 350,000 pounds.