Your field dressing knife ?

[The_Real_TCIII]

I love my orange Slingblade with the gut hook. Ive got a spare for when I inevitably lose it

[Water Rat]

Top one is my Buck 105 Pathfinder and the bottom one is my Buck 422 Bucklite.

Doesn't look as if I'll be getting it bloody this year (again).

[Water Rat]

Here's my Dunn trapping knives I've used in the past.

[reeltime]

This knife was a gift from 2 of the guys at camp back in 1980 after they watched me gutting a deer with my small pocket knife I had gotten at the ripe olé age of 6. Of course neither of them did a good job of cutting through butter but ya use what ya brung.

After using my newly required "hunting" knife a few times I convinced dad to put an edge on it, he can put an edge on a blade that you can literally shave with. Since then it's been in my pack every trip and has gutted and skinned hundreds of deer with just a touch up every few years.



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[Nomad]

Here's a few I've used over the years, some just once or twice as I like show anything from a Swiss Army knife to a large FB can be used if need be .

The Stockman and Trapper see most use these days , the Trapper did three this year and needs a cleaning edge is still fine, but I'll do a couple passes on the Spyderco White stones .

[goosifer]

This might be TMI, but here it goes. For field dressing, I use four tools/knives. I would like to get it down to three, but not there yet.

Knife/step 1: I can't believe no one has mentioned the Gerber EZ Zip gut hook that uses a razor blade. This makes splitting the deer open without piercing the guts relatively easy and safe.

 

Looks like I can only embed one pic per post for some reason. so this will be a four parter. dont' hate me.

 

[goosifer]

Knife/Step 2: Once the deer is split open, I use the Gerber EZ Saw to split along the side of the breastplate/sternum (2a) and to split the pelvis bone (2b)

 

[travisrage]

Outdoor edge cape knife is pretty sweet


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[turkeyfeathers]

I love my orange Slingblade with the gut hook. Ive got a spare for when I inevitably lose it

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[goosifer]

Knife/Step 3: I use the Gerber EZ Skinner to cut the diaphragm away from the inside cavity wall and to cut the larynx. I like the way it is held and its shape. Very safe.

 

[goosifer]

Knife/Step 4: You need a sharp pointy knife to cut around the anus. I used to use the Butt-out, which replaced this, but once I got convinced to saw the sternum, I might as well just saw the pelvis, too. One thing I have bought recently for this is a disposable scalpel sold to veterinarians. Lot cheaper than a piranta knife.

 

Sad epilogue, I lost my three Gerber knives recently (that is a whole other story that involved a trip to the emergency room.) I couldn't find the kit that I had bought years ago, and buying them a la carte was pricey, so I bought similar knives that were cheaper. They have worked OK so far. Not sure what the forum policy is to linking to products for purchase, so I have avoided that, just using the pictures instead.

Edited December 9, 2016 by goosifer
added epilogue

[turkeyfeathers]

goosifer, are you a surgeon by trait ?  Do you lay all these out on a tray

[Buckmaster7600]

Goosifer do you carry all those with you? I would forget what one to use when or what pocket I put the other one in.


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[goosifer]

8 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

goosifer, are you a surgeon by trait ?  Do you lay all these out on a tray

It feels like it given how long it takes me to field dress a deer, but no I am not. I did have some culinary training in my youth, so maybe that's where I get it.

[pt0217]

I bought this Buck 118 personal when I was a kid. I went into the local sporting goods store as green as can be, asked the guy to look at a hunting knife. He handed me this knife. I had no clue what a good hunting knife was. Still don't. I ran my finger down the blade, cut myself and bled all over the counter. "I'll take it" I said to guy.
I have a difficult time gutting with it because the curved blade likes to catch the stomach. So it's probably not the right knife but it's sentimental to me so I'll keep using it.

[vizslas]

there has been a lot of very nice looking field tools on here  I am sure everyone can tell the real knives from the ones that sit in the house on some wooden shelf 365 days a year. you know the ones that never need to see a sharpening stone. it seems this tread got hijacked by a couple guys trying to show of their show knives...I hope you get the recognition you truly deserve.I sharpened lots of knives last night when this thread started,talk about coincidence. I tuned up two six inch J Martini fillet knives and a 4 inch one. An old steel kitchen steaking knife ,damn thing takes a great edge .i picked that up for .50 cents at a yard sale. You sure can find some good steel every now and then. a butcher knife and finally my field knife a twenty year old Gerber stud gator its a four inch folder Those bone handles sure make for a sexy knife.i had  a case when i was about eleven. like I said had.

[shawnhu]

there has been a lot of very nice looking field tools on here  I am sure everyone can tell the real knives from the ones that sit in the house on some wooden shelf 365 days a year. you know the ones that never need to see a sharpening stone. it seems this tread got hijacked by a couple guys trying to show of their show knives...I hope you get the recognition you truly deserve.I sharpened lots of knives last night when this thread started,talk about coincidence. I tuned up two six inch J Martini fillet knives and a 4 inch one. An old steel kitchen steaking knife ,damn thing takes a great edge .i picked that up for .50 cents at a yard sale. You sure can find some good steel every now and then. a butcher knife and finally my field knife a twenty year old Gerber stud gator its a four inch folder Those bone handles sure make for a sexy knife.i had  a case when i was about eleven. like I said had.

Not sure why you take offense to folks that care for their tools.


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[vizslas]

how is it that I take offense the post was show us your field dressing knife not show us your collection of knives

[shawnhu]

how is it that I take offense the post was show us your field dressing knife not show us your collection of knives

Most of the knives I've seen thus far looks like they were once upon a time, or still currently used in the field. Maybe I'm just ignorant.

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[vizslas]

i dont know maybe look up near the top of this page or the last. and anyway how many knives do you need to field dress over the years. i have one from when i i was a kid and a twenty year old Gerber. Christ you can only use one knife at a time my gerber goes to the field and my carry lite now stays at home and does the de boning. i got one for cutting the legs off i got one for cutting off the ears and one for cutting out the tongue 

[shawnhu]

i dont know maybe look up near the top of this page or the last. and anyway how many knives do you need to field dress over the years. i have one from when i i was a kid and a twenty year old Gerber. Christ you can only use one knife at a time my gerber goes to the field and my carry lite now stays at home and does the de boning. i got one for cutting the legs off i got one for cutting off the ears and one for cutting out the tongue 

Same could be said about those who collect guns. How many do you need to kill a Whitetail?

I'm not going to judge someone who likes to explore knives, I just appreciate that we can still own them.

So you use more knives than I do in the field?

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[vizslas]

i use one. my Gerber folder. it just that its as sharp as a scalpel. i got a couple nicks on my hands to prove it. so i dont use it to butcher my deer  or for a skinner . i know i stuck my other straight blade Gerber in the photo i used to use it for the skinner before i got my cary lite  from my dad after he passed a couple years ago. guilty as charged..i also have the four inch fillet with the gator grip its a shitty fillet knife   don't buy it.

 

[shawnhu]

i use one. my Gerber folder. it just that its as sharp as a scalpel. i got a couple nicks on my hands to prove it. so i dont use it to butcher my deer  or for a skinner . i know i stuck my other straight blade Gerber in the photo i used to use it for the skinner before i got my cary lite  from my dad after he passed a couple years ago. guilty as charged..i also have the four inch fillet with the gator grip its a shitty fillet knife   don't buy it.
 

I gut, skin, quarter Whitetail generally with my Buck Combo by LL Bean shown in the picture. I could very well do it with just the skinner, but life is easier and safer with the hook.

But I do like to have my other knives.


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[wolc123]

37 minutes ago, vizslas said:

i dont know maybe look up near the top of this page or the last. and anyway how many knives do you need to field dress over the years. i have one from when i i was a kid and a twenty year old Gerber. Christ you can only use one knife at a time my gerber goes to the field and my carry lite now stays at home and does the de boning. i got one for cutting the legs off i got one for cutting off the ears and one for cutting out the tongue 

You can use one for everything:  I used my old Buck 110 for 5 so far this season, and I even cut the tongue out of the first one with it.   Remember that Field and Stream or Outdoor Life article this fall showing how to do it?   We always pickled beef tongues, along with the hearts, but that 1-1/2 year old doe tongue was pretty small.  I just left the other 4 in the heads, but now I will at least be able to say that I ate some deer tongue.  My wife will slice up the hearts for me but she makes me do the tongues.  What is up with these modern women?  Grandma never complained.  I like pickled beef tongue better than the heart (it is a little softer and better tasting).   

[vizslas]

i feed the tongues to the dogs along with the deer ears i boil the fur off and bake the ears for the dogs ..A lot of people dont know that their is a lot of good meat on the face. my field knife is too sharp for skinning i end up cutting through the hide  more often than not