no guts
I'm another guy that is not routinely gutting deer after a kill. Unless I have made a shot somehow that cut the stomach or intestines, then I spill the deer in the field.
I'm finding I can get the entrails out easier and quicker w/ the deer hanging. The carcass is at eye level, there's lots of light, and gravity is your friend.
I've had absolutely no issues w/ flavor and spoilage.
The whole object for me is to get to the two inner loins, which some guys can get to without removing entrails, but I cannot.
Now, back to knives. I was given a Buck Mini-Mentor 20 years or so ago.
Stainless blade about 3-1/4 long. Not a clip profile, but not a drop point either. Sort of a broad saber point. Soft rubber grip, w/ a lanyard hole.
Factory sheath was a joke, but I found a pouch sheath that works great.
The rubber grip is dandy when your hands and knife are covered in blood. The lanyard hole has a small loop of para cord, which, when passed around my wrist, allows the knife to dangle when I have to work w/ both hands. The blade is right there again when I need it, w/ a roll of the wrist.
The fixed blade cleans up easy, few cracks and crevices, and the stainless feature is a plus. Modern stones let me put an edge on stainless like never before. The broad sabre point works good for skinning, but is has enough tip for really fine work when I need it. There is enough length to take off the front shoulders and the backstraps w/ the long slashing cuts necessary. That Buck stainless is tough stuff, and I have worked up 2-3 deer in a season and not sharpened, just to see.
I carry a few others now and then, fixed blade and folders, but that only affirms that the Mini-Mentor is superior to them for what I need in a deer knife.
Of course,........ its no longer made.