Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Advice on an all around good knife..

DH Russell Canadian Belt Knife is a great way to go, IMO. Gerber LST is a great one to keep in your pocket as well.

You certainly can't go wrong with much of what KOA offers, either.

And obviously, Ingrams aren't too shabby, though you'll pay for them.

I purchased a KOA Light Hunter-Stag many years ago. I kept a running count on skinning jobs prior to its first resharpening. It racked up 21 mixed Whitetails, Axis , pigs & 1 Elk cow. After the Elk I sent it back to KOA & for $17 & two week turnaround it came back sharper & better looking than the day I bought it. The gut hook is just amazing. I didn't really need the gut hook as I carry a Wyoming Knife but I liked the heft of the knife and it fits my hand so good.

I love it !!

With that said, Case makes some very nice blades too. They are my go-to utility knife maker. I never go anywhere w/o my Case. I also carry a Bone/Brass Case XX XChanger on my hunting belt.

Find me a better steel than my old Pumas and I'll buy it.

I've sharpened most all brands and have never found one that will take and hold an edge better than the Puma steel from the 60s. The Buck steel from the 60s and 70s runs a close second.

buck 110, but lately I have been opening them up with a spyderco Manix folder with S30V steel, we worry about this stuff too much, just go buy a buck 110 and go hunting.

Schrade Old Timer - model Golden Spike - is my favorite fixed blade knife. Superb shape and excellent steel.

TR

I'll just add I'm another 110 fan. Very good knife. As other posters have said; they stay sharp and are very tough.

I just got a Gene Ingram Lite Hunter off the campfire classifieds. Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but it is likely I will use it the rest of my life. The workmanship just has to be seen to be appreciated. Comes scalpel sharp too. Doesn't seem to be too much for small game, yet plenty enough for Elk. I think the best words I can think of to describe it would be "supreme functional elegance."



I talked to Gene on the phone last week, and he has several knives in stock ready to go. Give him a call.

John

What exactly are you looking to do with it? Big game field dressing, skinning, upland game? That might help give better responses.

There are a lot of good knives out there for what ever hunting purpose you may have. My choices are geared toward moose and bears primarily. Most of our moose have to be completely boned out for Super Cub transport so there is some serious knife work takes place.

I've had three KOA knives of D2 steel.....I liked the designs but the steel in no way compared to my D2 Dozier knife. I found the KOA difficult to sharpen in comparison and didn't hold that edge near as well. Dozier has superior tempering I'm told.

For a folder, I carry a Blade Tech Magnum and I find it hard to beat for easy care and cleaning and the steel holds up well. The ergonomics are great.

The DH Russel/Grohman knife I use when boning out a moose seems to work well.....not the finest steel but it sharpens easily and I like the ergonomics.

I have a Buck 110 made with S30V steel!! It's a Cabelas branded knife made by Buck. Best knife I have!

Another that I like for the tougher jobs is a Cutco fixed with the DD edge.

I wish I could recommend this set, but I can't. My wife bought it for me last season (whitetail hunter and cub) and I've been disappointed. First, the main knife is a b**** to sharpen (really sharp at least) and the edge seems to dull disproportionally fast. You will need a diamond stone. Next, the cub knife doesn't seem to take an edge at all. I was looking for something I could sharpen like a razor and use to cape and detail work. Next, the handle of the cub is a hard material, while the scales of the large knife are sort of rubberized. The rubberized ones I do like, but the fit and finish of both are poor (not that big of a deal to me). The serrations on the back of the blade are very narrow, and very difficult to clean out. The gut hook of the large knife hangs up in the sheath badly. One the plus side, the sheath is well made. Also the gut hook is large and works OK for elk hide (none seem great). The main knife is light weight. I used it for one whitetail, 4 elk, and an antelope.

Prior to the Whitetail, she had bought me a different skinner-type with guthook from koa. I took one look at it and returned that one. It was heavy and very thick. It was almost hatchet-like, and would be difficult to get sharp with a very steep angle to the edge. It came about as sharp as a hatchet, too.

Sorry to post this. I really wanted to like the set but simply don't. I think I lost the set while taking my little boy whitetail hunting (carrying him in a backpack with crappy mesh pockets--or maybe I left it at that last antelope?), so that might be for the best--sort of put it out of my misery. I've heard alot of good things about koa, but this is my experience. There are so many great knives out there, I won't likely ever buy another.

I have another skinner (NRA knive by benchmade) with D2 steel that sharpens better, lasts as long, and the blade is polished such that it doesn't rust and cleans easier. I bought a coldsteel master hunter in Carbon V steel in the mean time, and it performs about like my Buck knives (gets super sharp easily, holds an edge a little better).

One of the best folders I ever had was a give away we got with a Stihl chainsaw.
I don't know what make it was or anything else about it except that it took an edge well and held it.
I lost it one day fishing.

I have about 15 or 20 hunting knives, Gerber, Buck, Puma, etc. Funny thing is I have 4 Mora knives and I use those all the time and they really do hold a pretty good edge. I think I paid $8 bucks each or some such silly price and could not be happier. If I do ruin one somehow then who cares..........YMMV

Bark River Highland Special

Expat

The Gerber Gator served pretty well on the elk hunt this year. I took that one up because it was light and if I lost it, it didn't mean schit to me.

Pair that with a 4" filet knife (Rapala works), and you can get a lot done.

Dozier



Modified Yukon Skinner - my pack knife.

Doziers, Winstons, Ingrams, Roaches, Mays.... they all simply rock. No doubt, no question, none.

I am real late to this thread but here are my experiences and thoughts. The first time I skinned a deer with my Buck 110 my Mom gave me 25 years ago, I just about cut my hand off because it was slippery with blood and the upturned point dug deep <<< inexperience too.

I switched to my carry knife, a small drop point Michael Walker Spyderco and finished the work. After that first deer, I picked up a Spyderco Native and used that a few years.

I bought a Schrade Old Timer 143T for 19.99 at Academy, a rubber handled gut hook skinner and that became my all time favorite hunting knife. It was easy to grip when bloody, the gut hook works great and the drop point is easier for me to skin with.

Someone liked it more than me and it disappeared while I was on the farm. A family member probably borrowed it and lost it or was too scared to return it.

I have had the sheath in the kitchen drawer for 5-7 years and it bugged me so I jumped on Ebay a few months ago and found one. I did not know Schrade went out of business. So I bought a replacement and when it arrived I was bummed, it was a chinaloca copy and I had no idea Schrade had them made anywhere but the USA! I gave it to my cousin as a birthday present and ordered another, Made in the USA and then a second, a 141 drop point skinner as backup.

There is no doubt that I would love to own some of the custom, micarta scaled, red liner, fancy pinned, back filed drop points that have surfaced on the classifieds but it will be hard to beat the utterly simple, not so pretty, 20.00 Schrade.