Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Field dressing knives...post your pics!

Maybe I missed it but no Ruana's?

My 32nd year as a meatcutter.
My choice?
Victornox/Forschner 6" straight blade.



Under 20 bucks each.
I caped & boned out 4 caribou bulls on the Alaskan tundra with one twenty dollar knife and didn't wish for more.
A good steel keeps your edge straight, & will get you through hundreds of pound of meat.
Spend the big bucks if you got it to burn...or not.

My favorite knife is the one in the front of this picture.Custom made by a good friend of mine.Makes em in his garage..Commercial knife is ( how old ?? ) LOL its a oldy but a goody !!dont see to many of them anymore..but IMO..best knife by factory.

Great blades folks...appreciate everyone sharing!

I think I bought that knife when I was about 15, so 30 years ago and I have put a few stones to it over the years. It has never failed me yet! Great little knife, I also carry a Buck Goliath folder in my backpack or truck at all times as well as my leatherman.

Gene Ingram- Slim-S30V

Lot of nice knives in this thread but this post covers what a guy really needs.
I have always cut/ground my own critters plus some for friends and family, and a 6" straight blade Forschner is in my hand every year. thTR Along with a 10"er to cut steaks with.
I have carried a old Buck 110 that has 440C steel to gut with for about 30 years now. Occasionally a old Gerber folding hunter for deer as it's plenty of knife for that, but it has no where near the edge holding ability of those old Buck's.

I am no pro for sure, but figure I have boned, and butchered around 200 game animals using Forschner's well over 95% of the time.

Whats the handle on that one? I been looking at Ingrams for a while on-line. I'll likely be ordering one by the end of summer.

Rod,

That commercial looks like a Scharade "oldtimer".

Excellent & functional knife.

Paul.

California buckeye burl.

I lost this knife for about 2.5 months in the snow/rain this winter. Found it two weeks ago and the knife didn't have any rust. The grips were pretty swallon/over sized. I spoke with Gene about the situation and he told me to ship it back and he'd see what he could do. Less then a week, it's back in my hands looking brand new. Excellent CS!

I agree with Salmonella and 700LH Forschner/ Victornox are the way to go. I started using them over 20 years ago, after my friend taught me how butcher my first elk. He taught me to use good knives, keep them sharp, they will serve you well for many years... and they have! A+

It's really interesting to see that the real pros, the professional meat-cutters, use knives with relatively long (6 inches or longer) in the field as well as back home where they cut and package the meat. For years all the "experts' ridiculed anybody with a blade longer than 4 inches max. "Real experts" used the smallest blade they could find, just to prove they could. But, I guess they had a point because, in my inexpert hands, anything longer than 3.5 inches and without a drop point is likely to cut/puncture something I don't mean to.

Sal, Thanks for the tip and for $20 a guy can't go wrong. 32 years cuttin' meat is some serious knife time!

My old neighbor spent 22 years cutting meat, now he's the meat manager for all the Super 1 Foods in the NW.

He runs the same knives, and I intend to add some to the shop

Neighbor Pete was telling me that on the bigger knives, get the ones with the 'golf ball' dimples in them. What ya say Sal??

Sometimes you have to do with what you have. Here my guide and friend Angel is quartering a red stag with my spanish made "cuchillo de remate" ("finisher" knife)
http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image/30-195829L/7536/jpg/03/2010/img5/glowfoto
As you can see it's a big piece with a design that goes back to roman times (maybe before)and is very efficient to stab and create a big wound on a diyng beast.
http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image/30-200707L/9452/jpg/03/2010/img5/glowfoto
To cut down the meat in smaller pieces I use this "camp knife" that I built using a Boker kitchen knife blade and red stag handle with brass furnishings. The sheath is crude but serves its purpose.
http://www.glowfoto.com/static_image/30-200838L/4051/jpg/03/2010/img5/glowfoto

PD Sorry, the pictures don't appear, I'm not very good a this....

Let's try again!
This is the "finisher"

This is the home made camp Knife.

Angel quartering the stag

Do those boning knives have a bit of flex or are they fairly stiff? I was a meatcutter for over 22 yrs. I prefer a stiffer style myself.


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I wouldn't use anything but a short/drop point in the field, esp for dressing smaller deer. Even moose, you don't need to carry more. The last thing I want is to get a cut while both hands and a long blade are fishing around inside a deer trying to find a windpipe to cut off.

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Yep. If that blade sticks out much past the end of my finger I'm not too sure where it is or what it's up against. Don't want a bad cut anytime but especially not out in the woods. One guy I knew wore a pair of ordinary cotton gardening gloves while field dressing and skinning. He felt that even the cotton might give him just enough protection to stop a deep cut. At one time I saw gloves made with Kevlar or something which were sold as protection vs knife cuts.