Hunters, What knife do you use to field dress a whitetail deer?

[ylekot]

I have the opportunity to go deer hunting for the first time in my life and if the back allows me to go I am going to kill a deer with something other than my car!

I understand the process of gutting/field dressing a deer and was wondering what experienced folks use. Seems to me this should work very well.

Thoughts?

Guthook Skinner | Old Timer

Guthook Skinner

www.theoldtimer.com

 

[David]

That knife would work just fine. I don't regularly use a gut hook but have used them before and they work very well.

 

[Legion]

I've never used a gut hook, or dressed a deer. Done a bunch of roos and some pigs, goats, and other creatures, which I guess is similar.

My go to hunting knife when I did those things was this one. A custom from ML knives in Galway, New York. Worked pretty well for me.

 

[Whisky]

I’ve never used a gut hook knife. Some folks swear by them, others hate them. I use this old Marbels that was my great uncles. The sheath is one I had made, the original was literally falling apart. He bought it sometime in the late 40s or early 50s and since then it has field dressed and quartered a lot of deer. The drop point really makes it easy to get a finger under it when slicing hide. What ever you use make sure it’s sharp.

 

[ylekot]

I’ve never used a gut hook knife. Some folks swear by them, others hate them. I use this old Marbels that was my great uncles. The holster is one I had made, the original was literally falling apart. He bought it sometime in the late 40s or early 50s and since then it has field dressed and quartered a lot of deer. The drop point really makes it easy to get a finger under it when slicing hide. What ever you use make sure it’s sharp.

View attachment 1519584View attachment 1519585

Thanks for the technique!

 

[Fallbeard]

Just about anything sharp will get the job done. I prefer a shorter length blade for its nimbleness. You don’t want a sharp point on the end (drop point is good) so you don’t accidentally poke something you shouldn’t and have a stinky mess.

 

[Whisky]

Just about anything sharp will get the job done. I prefer a shorter length blade for its nimbleness. You don’t want a sharp point on the end (drop point is good) so you don’t accidentally poke something you shouldn’t and have a stinky mess.

All this is good advice. Until I inherited the Marbels knife I used folding a buck knife with a 3 inch blade.

 

[CANES]

My main woods knife is an Old Hickory carbon steel. It may be a little too long for field dressing for some, but I prefer to travel light and not carry too much. It covers all my needs on any type of camping or hunting trip.

 

[RayClem]

I have never cleaned a deer, but any good boning knife or butcher knife should do. What you do not want is a knife with super hard steel such as Japanese knives. Although they can take a wicked, sharp edge, if you happen to nick a bone, you might chip the knife. That is the trade-off with harder steels. They take and hold a sharper edge, but they are more brittle and can chip.

Vintage Old Timer knives were made by the Imperial Schrade Corp. They were typically made of carbon steel. The company went out of business, but Taylor Corp purchased the rights to the designs and trademarks. Modern ones are made in China using either carbon steel or 7Cr17MoV stainless.

Uncle Henry knives are stainless. Most are made in 7Cr17MOV, but a few new, expensive designs are D2 steel which is a semi-stainless knife/razor steel. There are a number of hunting knife designs that would be suitable for skinning a deer, including one called an Elk Skinner.


Ontario Knife Company, that makes fighting knives for the Marine Corp, still makes carbon steel knives in their Old Hickory brand. They do not come with sheaths, but would make quick work of a deer.

 

[ctr]

I have used lockbacks and fixed blades. Don't recommend the folders because stuff gets in the mechanism. A decent fixed blade with a 3 - 4 inch blade and a saw is my recommendation.

I used a Buck divers knife for many years. Would find something similar today. Don't care for the gut hooks. Easy enough to use 2 fingers with an upturned blade to slice the gut open.

I do not recommend using a knife to split the chest or pelvic bones. It works but I have chipped blades doing that.

My choice today would be either a Buck 113 Ranger Skinner or a Bucklite Max II Small. Both are fixed blades. Buck steel takes an edge and is easily resharpened. Good working knives, USA made, and not expensive. Add a good bone saw and the task will be easier.

 

[CANES]

I have never cleaned a deer, but any good boning knife or butcher knife should do. What you do not want is a knife with super hard steel such as Japanese knives. Although they can take a wicked, sharp edge, if you happen to nick a bone, you might chip the knife. That is the trade-off with harder steels. They take and hold a sharper edge, but they are more brittle and can chip.

Vintage Old Timer knives were made by the Imperial Schrade Corp. They were typically made of carbon steel. The company went out of business, but Taylor Corp purchased the rights to the designs and trademarks. Modern ones are made in China using either carbon steel or 7Cr17MoV stainless.

Uncle Henry knives are stainless. Most are made in 7Cr17MOV, but a few new, expensive designs are D2 steel which is a semi-stainless knife/razor steel. There are a number of hunting knife designs that would be suitable for skinning a deer, including one called an Elk Skinner.


Ontario Knife Company, that makes fighting knives for the Marine Corp, still makes carbon steel knives in their Old Hickory brand. They do not come with sheaths, but would make quick work of a deer.

Best sheath that fits the Old Hickory is a K-bar one. You can find nice leather ones (without the military insignias) all over Amazon and E-bay for like 15 bucks.

 

[Legion]

My main woods knife is an Old Hickory carbon steel. It may be a little too long for field dressing for some, but I prefer to travel light and not carry too much. It covers all my needs on any type of camping or hunting trip.

I have cut down some Old Hickory into different shapes and styles.

This was a skinning knife I turned into a Nessmuk.

Or a butcher knife I cut into a kind of saex, bushcraft thing.

If you thin the steel behind the cutting bevel you can get them really sharp. I found a local seller who sells factory seconds cheap, and they just have cosmetic flaws, which makes them perfect for this sort of thing.

 

[rideon66]

I mean the guy that made my bow makes and uses these.

 

[Tillerman]

The OldTimer will work fine, even if you don't use the gut hook. That is not a big knife and is actually a good size. The carbon steel will be easy to sharpen. The hook is good in the gut area to run between the skin and thin area below the ribcage. It is really good for zipping down the legs.

 

[CANES]

I have cut down some Old Hickory into different shapes and styles.

This was a skinning knife I turned into a Nessmuk.

View attachment 1519962View attachment 1519963

Or a butcher knife I cut into a kind of saex, bushcraft thing.

If you thin the steel behind the cutting bevel you can get them really sharp. I found a local seller who sells factory seconds cheap, and they just have cosmetic flaws, which makes them perfect for this sort of thing.

View attachment 1519968

Great to see some love for the Old Hickory. Looks great!

 

[TheGrimWeeper]

I've been using the same Gerber Gator folding gut hook knife for about 25 years. Gerber steel, generally speaking, is silly soft but can be sharpened to sci-fi laser sharp. My Dad/hunting mentor gave it to me one Christmas so there's a sentimental factor behind it. Field dressing deer doesn't require a bad*%$ knife at all. But good geometry makes a difference. Gut hooks can be a very useful efficient/time saver. Personally I like them. That Old Timer looks like it would make easy work of a deer.

 

[Possum092]

I use a small folding pocket knife…it’s worked fine for over 20 years. Lately, I have taken to quartering in the field using a small bone saw.

 

[rideon66]

I forgot it has been so long will need to dig it out and take a picture, but I have used a gut hook type knife and it works well. Really well on fish even. It is an old odd almost like two brass knuckles and a gut hook on one side and a curved blade on the other. Both surgical steel and attached kind of like a utility knife. So they can be replaced not sharpened.

 

[FarmerTan]

My wife does mine!


I know, I'm a lucky guy. But I am rightfully scared to death of her!

 

[ylekot]

I forgot it has been so long will need to dig it out and take a picture, but I have used a gut hook type knife and it works well. Really well on fish even. It is an old odd almost like two brass knuckles and a gut hook on one side and a curved blade on the other. Both surgical steel and attached kind of like a utility knife. So they can be replaced not sharpened.

That sounds interesting for sure