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

[ylekot]

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.

i discovered in my search for what I thought would be the right tool for the job at a reasonable price that a lot of what's out there is tactical Rambo type stuff that does not look very useful to me.

 

[FarmerTan]

i discovered in my search for what I thought would be the right tool for the job at a reasonable price that a lot of what's out there is tactical Rambo type stuff that does not look very useful to me.

This is VERY true.

My dad was a meat cutter/butcher as a younger man. He was a freak with a blade. He could put an edge on a butter knife and do a better job than anyone I ever saw.

The best knife is the one you are carrying my Da used to say. When I was a kid I was always losing his tools. He finally cured me of it.

If I wanted to use his knife (lol, I carried a knife in second grade, when I hadn't lost it. And I always had to buy a replacement out of my own money!) the old fart would make me give him one of my shoes!

He was hard man, but I miss him so much. A man of his word he was.

 

[rideon66]

So forgot I had this thing for like 30 years

 

[ylekot]

So forgot I had this thing for like 30 years
View attachment 1520085

I have never seen anything like that!

 

[rideon66]

The other side where those two divots are it has screws. You would buy new blades for it just like a utility knife. It was made for gutting and skinning. Had to Google it to remember what it was called. It is a YK Wyoming knife. There is one actually for sale on the bay.

 

[Legion]

If I wanted to use his knife (lol, I carried a knife in second grade, when I hadn't lost it. And I always had to buy a replacement out of my own money!) the old fart would make me give him one of my shoes!

Ha! That is the best.

 

[Bhugo]

I use a Coleman Western lock back that I bought in Scottsdale AZ in 1985. I was 15 and on vacation with my cousin and his parents over spring break. It was a very fun vacation as my family never had the money for such vacations. The knife shop had an original Rambo knife from one of the movies under glass and I thought it was about the coolest thing ever. Such fun memories.

It was the first year, I believe, that Coleman owned Western. Western had been making the exact same knife previously. It’s cheaper stainless steel by today’s standards, but Western was very good at heat treatments. Vintage stainless is quite varied in quality, but it can be good if the heat treatmen is done by a reputable company.

It is very hard to sharpen and it holds a very fine edge for a couple deer. A couple runs down a steel will get you through another deer a couple times over before it needs a touch up on the diamond. I have gutted well over 100 deer with it over the years and even though I have many knives that are much higher quality, this knife is so full of memories that I will use it till I die for hunting.

Mine is in my kit up at deer camp now so this is a picture of one I found. Same model as mine.

 

[ylekot]

Maybe I should just clean these up. Left is marked Solingen, right is a Case. They are older than my 51 years and then some. They are cruddy but should clean up.

 

[Bhugo]

Maybe I should just clean these up. Left is marked Solingen, right is a Case. They are older than my 51 years and then some. They are cruddy but should clean up.

I’d say both of those will clean up nicely.

I have an old knife like the one on the left marked Solingen as well. The handle is different but the blade looks similar. It is very soft steel. Maybe someone heated it up too hot once or maybe the manufacturer forgot to heat treat it? I gave up on it. My dad remembers it from when he was a kid in the early 50’s and says it looked old then.

 

[Yuritau]

I have three knives that I take and use every time (plus a backup pocket knife that stays in my bag no matter what).

Hunting knives

• Yuritau
• Sep 10, 2022

1. Outdoor Edge ZipPro gut hook. I love this thing. It works basically the same way that the knife and finger technique @Whisky showed in this thread, but with the blade profile designed explicitly for this one task. The blade is scary sharp right out of the box, and since it only cuts the hide from underside, it's not actually cutting through any hair, so it stays sharp for a very long time. It really is like opening the hide with a zipper. Plus it's so lightweight that I put it in my pocket and forget it's there until I have an animal down.

2. Havalon Hydra. A lighter and more compact tool that does as much I have not been able to find. Both of Havalon's swappable blade sizes on one handle. There's knife blade options for the big end but I pretty much only ever use the bone saw, which cuts extremely quickly through both bone and wood. The scalpel blades are super sharp and great for finer cutting needs.

3. Grizzly Blades GB957. I was SUPER skeptical of this when I was buying it, as it was billed as handmade damascus with a camel bone handle for only $85 CAD. But I went for it and have been happy with it ever since. The fit and finish of the blade and scales isn't quite perfect, but it's perfectly serviceable for the price range. It holds an edge well, despite me not being very kind to it. I use it for skinning, rough meat cutting, general camp use, and even chopping through smaller bones.

 

[ylekot]

I have three knives that I take and use every time (plus a backup pocket knife that stays in my bag no matter what).

Hunting knives

• Yuritau
• Sep 10, 2022

1. Outdoor Edge ZipPro gut hook. I love this thing. It works basically the same way that the knife and finger technique @Whisky showed in this thread, but with the blade profile designed explicitly for this one task. The blade is scary sharp right out of the box, and since it only cuts the hide from underside, it's not actually cutting through any hair, so it stays sharp for a very long time. It really is like opening the hide with a zipper. Plus it's so lightweight that I put it in my pocket and forget it's there until I have an animal down.

2. Havalon Hydra. A lighter and more compact tool that does as much I have not been able to find. Both of Havalon's swappable blade sizes on one handle. There's knife blade options for the big end but I pretty much only ever use the bone saw, which cuts extremely quickly through both bone and wood. The scalpel blades are super sharp and great for finer cutting needs.

3. Grizzly Blades GB957. I was SUPER skeptical of this when I was buying it, as it was billed as handmade damascus with a camel bone handle for only $85 CAD. But I went for it and have been happy with it ever since. The fit and finish of the blade and scales isn't quite perfect, but it's perfectly serviceable for the price range. It holds an edge well, despite me not being very kind to it. I use it for skinning, rough meat cutting, general camp use, and even chopping through smaller bones.

Nice write up! Thank you.

 

[FarmerTan]

Ha! That is the best.

He was a tough old buzzard!

Lol, but so patient. I have no idea how many of his hand tools he ran over with the lawn mower when I was growing up! I tended to leave them where I was werkin' last!

 

[Legion]

In Europe, Finland, Sweden, etc. the Morakniv knives are super popular with hunters. I've never dressed an animal with one myself, but I use one for a hiking, camping knife, and they are really good. Inexpensive, but good steel, and the scandi grind is really easy to keep sharp in the field.

https://www.amazon.com/Morakniv-Companion-Outdoor-Stainless-4-1-Inch/dp/B079YYNHV9/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1MI2PO4EH5JTD&keywords=morakniv&qid=1662861374&sprefix=morakniv%2Caps%2C532&sr=8-5

 

[TheGrimWeeper]

Maybe I should just clean these up. Left is marked Solingen, right is a Case. They are older than my 51 years and then some. They are cruddy but should clean up.

Those are pretty amazing looking. Some folks favor longer blades like those. I tend to get clumsy and poke holes in the smelliest stuff so stick with shorter ones. My Dad and Grandpa usually used longer-bladed Buck knives that are shaped a lot like that Case knife on the right.

 

[Yuritau]

Maybe I should just clean these up. Left is marked Solingen, right is a Case. They are older than my 51 years and then some. They are cruddy but should clean up.

That Solingen knife looks almost identical to one my dad had for decades (he only lost it cause lightning hit the lake a couple hundred meters away while we were fishing once and in the jump he lost grip on it and sploosh). Clean it up and treat it kindly and it will serve your grand kids just fine.

 

[Crixus]

You do not need much blade for a field dress. A 2 1/2 to 3 inch blade is plenty. If you need to quarter it or otherwise break it up, then go to a blade with some heft to it.

 

[cantujm]

I like this old Buck 110. It was used to clean my first deer, my wife's first deer, and both my older son's first deer. I definitely don't have a shortage of hunting knives in this house but I like this one. It's like a sideshow of memories plays in my head every time I use it on another deer that one of us has taken.

 

[Whisky]

I like this old Buck 110. It was used to clean my first deer, my wife's first deer, and both my older son's first deer. I definitely don't have a shortage of hunting knives in this house but I like this one. It's like a sideshow of memories plays in my head every time I use it on another deer that one of us has taken.

View attachment 1526757

That was my first knife for skinning deer as well. Unfortunately I lost it somewhere along the way. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Buck 110 has skinned more N. American game than any other knife. It’s kind of like a Marlin lever action chambered in 30-30.

 

[OB1]

I started out using standard Buck 110, 112, and such folders...then moved on to custom folders and fixed blades from many makers (90s - 2000s) - spending $1000s in the process, and now... well, I've come full circle and I keep a bevy of very sharp Moras on hand for me, my son, and anyone else who cares to hunt/skin/meat process with me. Clean-up in a breeze and the price/performance is right.