Hunting knife, what do u use??

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snowtoday

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Hi,fellas. What kind of knife do u use when hunting? In badly need of a nice knife. My wife suggest me to go with (spam link deleted by staff). She said the quality is very nice. But I'm not sure it is suitable for hunting. What ya think? Is it nice stuff to go with? Any other tips?
 
For field dressing deer

Folding knives are difficult to clean the blood out of......

My hunting knife is a 4 1/2"" clip pointed blade I found in a drawer at my grandparents back in 1980-somethin' ...... It says "Utica Sportsman" on the blade. Nothing fancy, but it holds a better edge than the Buck my grandparents gave me for Christmas the year before. .....still using it 30 years later. Sturdy enough to drive through a deer pelvis......

a quick search sez it was made on the 50's (just like my 721!).... and in good conditon would be worth 14 bucks!.
 
I use an old K Bar my platoon gave me the day I got out of the Marines in '86. There is a bone saw and gutting/skinning knife in my pack, but for digging my nails, pounding nails, hacking branches and all other things hunting, K Bar gets the call.
 
Part of that 30 years I was in the military, stationed overseas for several years..... but I have probably field dressed 20 deer with that knife.

The back edge of it is pretty banged up from driving it through the pelvises with the back of a hatchet, and it has been sharpened quite a bit...... one of the brass rivets holding the handles on fell out, and I replaced it with a brass wood screw (with a little PL 200 for good measure) and ground off the protruding ends...... it is in pretty rough shape, but it sure does work.
 
I use the Kabar large TDI with drop point half serrated blade. It's billed as a tactical type knife which seems a little funky for hunting, but it works.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/DBA817-1.html

I got it as a gift, and it turned out to be great for deer gutting. My pack has MOLLE webbing so the knife sheath attaches to the outside of my bag, no digging around for my knife. All other uses I use a Benchmade 940, but as was already mentioned, it's tough to get blood out of a folder.

The Kabar has a very thick sturdy blade, an with the serrations I can cut right through a deer's sternum with less effort than other knives. I like the shape of the handle, holding it upside down(point down and away from you) it's easy to cut forward and up, keeping the point away from smelly internal organs. Stainless means when I'm done I just wash it in the sink. Used it on 3 so far this year, and am very happy with it.

ETA: I use a Butt-Out, so haven't had to cut through pelvis. The shape of the TDI might make that task a bit akward but I couldn't say for sure.
 
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An old carbon steel Old Timer with a gut hook. I only use the gut hook for skinning.

IMG_0040.jpg
 
Get a Buck fixed blade with a blade at least 3 inches long, but no longer than 4 inches. You don't need a huge long blade unless you're butchering a buffalo or an elk.

Schrade makes some good ones too, if you can find them. I think they went out of business. The Schrade Old Timer Sharpfinger is about as perfect a deer knife as you can find.

Here you go.
 
I use a Buck. Can't remember the name but it's a fixed blade roughly 4" long with a gut hook. I stay away from folding blades because they can be a real pain to clean after you've used them.
 
I also use a Schrade Sharp Finger like Haggen's except that mine don't have guthooks. If you want one, don't buy the new crap made in China. The old ones are readily available on Ebay (although I did buy the new scabbard for one of my old knives).

Many new hunters mistakenly think they need a big knife for hunting. Nothing could be further from the truth. Any blade bigger than about 3" is just not needed until you actually start butchering the meat.
 
Marbles Expert II

+1 for Marbles

This one is the field knife and I have several others that are collector editions and worth some bucks. A great Michigan company started in the late 1800's but, unfortunately they have moved their manufacturing to Japan in 2005. That is such a bummer because I have been to the plant in Gladstone MI.
 

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I've used a Gerber Gator folding knife for many years.

Lately I've read about using box cutters as skinning knives and that sounds interesting.

Knowing how to keep your knife sharp is as important as what knife you choose.
 
Buzzcook, I use box cutters when skinning. I don't actually skin with the boxcutter. I use a hooked roofing blade to unzip the skin, then use a rounded blade knife to separate the skin from the meat. This is particulary useful on hogs because the tough skin on a hog will dull a knife. By using the disposable roofing blade, I can just turn it around for the next hog, then toss that blade away after doing two pigs.
 
The Baby Boa is the proper shape, but I prefer a fixed blade because folders are such a pain to clean.

You want a drop point knife like the Baby Boa. As much as I like clip points for general use, the point tends to drag when opening an animal.

I use one of these:

Berettaknive.jpg


Note how the point is configured.
 
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