Jump to content

Your field dressing knife ?


turkeyfeathers
 Share

Recommended Posts

Any attachment to it ? Grandpa give it to you ? Had it long ? Hopefully you've given it a few field jobs. Mine is a Gerber I've had for 20 or so years with no real story behind it. Only use it for field dressing. I'll sharpen after every use. Keeps a great edge. Cmon , go dig yours out and post a pic Not responsible if you forget to put it back in pack however My pic has knife atop my daughters first trapped muskrat we had tanned. 42e6bf884db658ebcaf6543bd2872502.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got a SOG fixed blade for rougher cuts around bones and tougher tissues and a havalon for more precise dressing/skinning.

Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to use either of them (this be my first season) except to test them by shaving my arm hairs (which they did beautifully).

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a small collection of sporting-hunting knives but most are kind of nice to be gutting Deer. Like old Chief Dan said about his piece of rock candy in the Outlaw Josey Wales movie "it's for looking at and not for eating" , same with those fancy knives. The ones I have used the most in the field  are a classic Buck folding 110 single blade and my favorite for many years an old Western double blade large folding pocket knife. I especially like the pointy narrow almost fillet like blades on this knife for field dressing both large and small game. I in fact just got done cleaning the old Western up when this thread was started so I snapped a quick photo of the old workhorse. 

Al

 

002_zpsvohg7qes.jpg

Edited by airedale
  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Geeze, I almost hate to post this, because I am a great admirer of quality/ classic knives and own a couple dozen of them...

I have a Buck 110 that was a gift from my (ex) wife on our first Xmas together that I used to butcher two adult Alaska bull moose in one day back in 1989...

However, last year my Canuck buddy Gator gave me a Havelon...

Holy CRAP, Batman, what a tool to dress a deer !!...I used it on three whitetails this year and I swear it  made the job faster and TWICE as easy as any knife I have ever used...

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bit of a knife guy, own customs and  a ton of factory blades, even had an article on knives published in ,Tactical Gear magazine , appeared in Blade magazine a couple times.

Ive used a ton of knives through  the years to gut deer. My Schrade LB7 ( Buck 110 clone) has been retired , as it dressed my first buck, rode on my side as I canoed the Yukon River , hiked the canyons of Arizona and many many other adventures ! To much history to risk loss at this point . 

I had to have a Puma Whitehunter as its a classic , used it a few times .

Mostly I use a Old Timer Stockman,  ( carbon steel ) although this year I used a Case Trapper 3 times in fact !

Sorry no pics. Just got off nights and hunted today , I not getting out of this recliner .....

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pygmy, a few years ago I could not find it and I was heart broken .

Turns out it was in a chair here at home ! I must have come in from  hunting , reclined in the chair and it slid out of my pocket and into the chair .

After that it became a safe queen , although I feel it may be time to bring her out again  . 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My father in law gave me an old, made-in-USA Buck 110 a few years ago.  It does not hold an edge real well, and I would prefer a smaller, two-bladed pocket-knife for deer.  I have manged to kill a lot of deer while packing that old Buck.  It makes him feel good when he sees me using his "gift" to gut them.  He has seen that three times in the last three years up at his new Adirondack retirement home, and it puts a big smile on his face every time.   I figure using that knife up there is the least I can do in exchange for the room and board.   I use it at home these days also, and it gets the job done ok, but needs a frequent sharpening.  After using it to gut two bucks two years ago, without sharpening after, I really struggled with it to slice the throat and finish off a button-buck that a hit-and run driver knocked the wind out of and left suffering at the end of our driveway.

I am going to pack another "classic" knife next weekend, during late ML season, while hunting bear (no more deer tags) at my buddies place in the Southern Tier.   My wife bought me a old made-in-USA Schrade 153UH at an antique shop last year.  I will be a lot more comfortable hunting bear with that, than I would with the Buck.   The longer, fixed blade seems to be made of much harder steel.  A quick second shot is not going to happen with my crossbow or ML, but I think I could finish a wounded bear quick with that knife if I had to.  

I have lost a few knives over the years, and I don't have a particularly strong attachment to any of them.  My favorite one, that I lost about 15 years ago, was a Schrade "sharpfinger".   I remember playing cards at night in the cabin years ago, on a Quebec moose hunt, and using that knife to pick up dimes off the table.  It really held an edge, and stayed incredibly sharp for a long time after taking a lot of abuse.              

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This custom knife and sheath below is the most notable one in my collection, a knifemaker in Virginia named Jack Hawk made it. Jack's father is one of the knife guild inductees named Joe Hawk and was quite the guy in addition to being a top knife maker, I was told he was in movies and known by the screen name Joe Dakota and was in a John Wayne movie, "McClintock" I think.

Anyhow it was a gift from a fellow Airedale breeder that I helped out along the way. Jack Hawk made the cover of the 14th annual "Knives" in 1994, the knife version of "Gun Digest".

Not anything real fancy but it is nice and of very good quality, one of the kind you just look at.

Al

006_zpsbaq7skz8.jpg

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMG_5487_zpsyxaoghoj.jpg

On top is my very favorite knife right now, it was made by Geno Denning for me and shortly after making it he quit building knives.  It isn't the best for field dressing but is a tremendous do-anything knife that I take with me when it just feels right. :)

Next knife down is a Buck 110 from the early 80's.  Carried that many miles all over the USA and gutted antelope, mule deer, etc.  Lots of deer here in NYS also.

Turd from the top (NOT a turd knife at all) is a Kershaw Gentleman's Knife.  Easily the BEST strictly gutting knife I have, it stays in a sheath that is welded (grin) to the belt on my King Of The Mountain pants.  It's always there, ready to roll.

Last but far from least is a Dozier Personal that was the first "semi" custom I bought.  I got it from A G Russell probably 10+ years ago.  It is great for gutting, fair for skinning and not too shabby for boning out a deer.

Oh yea in case you're wondering, the top and bottom knives are fixed, the other two are folders.

I sharpen all the time and especially after use.  A few licks on the Spyderco Sharpmaker keeps things in tip top shape. 

Lots of other knives get used also but those are/were the MOST used.  A bunch of great Gene Ingrams see use too.  A Phil Wilson Smokes Creek or B&T were a desire that probably isn't in the cards anymore...........I'll survive without one I'm sure.

:)

Love me some knives, keep the pics coming!!

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Pygmy said:

I hear, you, Larry.....I have retired my old Buck 110 for fear of losing it...TWICE over the years I have gone back to a kill site to paw through the leaves to recover it...

I know within FEET of where a Kershaw DWO I owned was lost.  I lost it after gutting an archery killed buck back in the mid 80's.  I looked and looked, unfortunately I didn't know anyone with a metal detector and it wasn't worth the scratch to buy one as the knife wasn't high end. Bummer though......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...