Knives For Hunting

[black bear 84]

KNIVES FOR HUNTING

Many of us hunters of long have a love affair with the tool of a successful hunt; the knife.
In our minds, we have this idea of the perfect knife that will fit our hand like a glove; that will perform surgery like a scalpel; that will not need to be sharpened ever, and will remove a cape as well as field dress and skin anything from a deer to a moose.

In our search for the perfect blade, we accumulate many of them that are probably as good as the best knife ever made, but in our search for Nirvana we keep adding new blades and hoping to do enough hunting to test all of them on game.

On the other hand, some hunters are not interested at all in the tool. My friend Frank that has probably field dressed at least fifty deer with the same Buck hunter knife in the last 20 years removes it from the pack once every year in hunting season to field dress a deer or two, and the blade goes back into the same pack to wait for next year’s job.
Perhaps his father being a butcher has something to do with it. He was taught how to field dress a deer early in life, and to him it is just a necessary job that has to be performed. To others like me it is a culmination of all our efforts and should be done as elegantly and as clean and bloodless as possible and with the most effective of tools.

I have found in my long search for the perfect blade that many of today’s knives in the market qualify as superb blades for the job. A good knife blade of 3 ½ to 4 inches will be plenty for most chores. Preferences in my case are for the drop-point blades, but I have had good service from clip points, gut hooks or other shapes.

Some of us like a fancy wood or antler handle or perhaps some engraving on the blade. Those I label dress knives and are a great way to stir a conversation between fellow hunters. I am one with that type of taste and will always appear at camp with a fancy blade. The truth is that I perform all of my field dressings with a plain one that I keep hidden in my pack.

Here is one of my fancy blades, the Browning model 122, one of one thousand, for my belt, and the one that does the actual dressing of game, the Buck 192 Vanguard.





Best wishes
Black Bear

[fisherman66]

All I ask for is GOOD carbon steel (but I've thought about trying ceramic) and a sharp blade no longer than 2 1/2 inches in a folder package. I've never used a gut hook, nor would I buy a blade with one. I have a couple semi-fancy knifes, but I don't use them. An old Gerber or Puma is usually in my pocket during a hunt.

[Doyle]

That one on top is too purdy to get bloody.

[The Tourist]

My home of Wisconsin is a big deer hunting state. As such, I see just about everything used in hunting, fishing and camping.

As for fixed blades, I see lots of Buck 102s and 105s. I think the 102 is probably the best fixed blade for deer ever made in its price range. It's sharp, low maintenance, strong, traditional and the perfect length.

To that end, the Buck 110 is a great folder. Usually during the hunting season this knife is even discounted in price and always a great buy.

I just started seeing another very good folder.

Gerber has a drop-point Gator made from 154-CM. I've sharpened two of them, and they are sharp and nicely priced considering the materials.

[Thumper]

Good conversation after this thread gets moved.

I've sunk a lot of money into knife collecting and always worry about having precisely the right steel on hand for the job.

My dad, on the other hand, has used the same Old Timer to skin deer for the last 40 years. He's killed and skinned more deer than anyone else I know.

[Charles S]

Nice knives.

I agree most of us search long and hard to find our perfect knife. For me the perfect knife is not large, but it has great ergonomics. The perfect knife can skin squirrels, deer, elk, clean catfish, and prepare dinner. The perfect knife takes an incredible edge and holds it well. I have found a few production knives that come close, but none that is exactly what I need. That is why the Dozier slim outdoorsman is my perfect knife.



As far as productions knives go I have used the Cold Steel Master Hunter in AUS8A for years and love its performance. The knife is honestly a little big and bulky. I have skinned and boned a lot of animals with the Cold Steel Master Hunter.

I recently purchased the Cold Steel Pendleton Hunter in VG1. I will report back after a season of use.

[contender6030]

Here's your huntin knife



and one other, I've got a Randall problem, what can I say.

[Martyn4802]

I make all of my hunting, fishing, and kitchen knives.

Martyn

[RedneckFur]

I've got all sorts of specialised hunting knives, but i've not found anything that beats the old yellow handled case trapper knife. That long thin clip blade is about the best skinner i've ever used.

[armedandsafe]

Finding a knife which is truely left-handed is rare. This one is the one I carry most often in the field.



Pops

[black bear 84]

Here is another of my blades, a Browming model 65 (one of one thousand)



Here is a detail of the file work in the handle



Best
Black Bear

[black bear 84]

Years ago I was invited to join a German hunting club in the Catskills, which had access to huge woods and was managed for quality deer. The members hunted from hotchsits and performed the "last meal" ceremony in the deer they got, all very proper and traditional Teutonic customs.

To "fit" in I dusted off my Mannlicher style Mauser 30-06 rifle and bought a White Hunter II Puma knife.

Here is it.



Best


Black Bear

[black bear 84]

Another of my blades, a Colt 1851 (one of 1200)



Cheers
Black Bear

[Martyn4802]

Black Bear,

Good looking blades!!!
There's something very special about having stag handles on a hunting knife. I like stag. It has that look of adventure to it.

Martyn

[dbgun]

IT's easy to keep sharp. I bought it at Academy Sports 20
years ago and have never used anything else. I have received and bought other Knives, but I always use the OLD TIMER.