So I'll get somewhere between 30-50% meat return

Give or take

Seriously, though. I'm willing to admit that I could be wrong. You may be more thorough with your knife than I am. I tend to allow the chickens and the dog to help be clean the bones. The bison I deal with are raised on bluestem range without any supplemental feed. Around here forage quality is at or below maintenance level for about 260 days a year. If yours is corralled and fed, it may do better than mine.

I'll just say if you expect a bison to dress out like a beef cow, then you should also expect to be disappointed. Beef cattle have been bred to produce lots of muscle mass. Bison are simply adapted to not die. As someone else said, they run, so they've got a lot of space devoted to large lungs, and they generally don't carry a bunch of extra weight as meat. Because she is a mature cow in good condition, even if you feed her out, she won't be gaining muscle mass. She'll just accumulate fat, and bison meat doesn't marble like beef. They tend to accumulate subcutaneous and visceral fat.

All that to say, if price per pound makes a difference in your decision-making process, then use a conservative estimate.

Dang man, your letting your chickens and dogs clean off them bones? I'd cook them off and make scrapple. Buffalo scrapple, now there's something I'd like to try!

JHT is correct, a bison isn't going to yield what a beef steer will. They have much larger heads, less muscle and less fat.

Several years ago, 3 of us harvested 3 ranched bulls, 2 5yr olds and 1 7 yr old.........all the meat was INCREDIBLE.
Ours were:
*Extremely lean compared to beef........cook it low and slow!!
*Meat was incredible, very very good.
*I don't remember the yield, but after giving away boxes and boxes of meat to friends, buying and filling another freezer........we were still covered up in meat.

We're finishing up a Canadian Bull moose now and just picked up a half beef. That said, I don't need to "harvest" another buffalo, but would sure go in on sharing the cost of some meat someday, we found it THAT good!

Bristleback, what did you like more the moose or buffalo? I tell ya I have eaten both and I would take the moose over the buffalo. Not that there is anything wrong with the buffalo.

G, I agree, I like the moose over buff. To me the moose meat is a bit sweeter, if that makes sense??
That's hardly a knock of buffalo meat, the stuff we had was excellent.

We need to get together and I'll hook you up on some swamp donkey meat!!! Let me know if you get South and I'll get with you next time I'm North bound.

I will do so, would love to have some.