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What knife or knives do you prefer when you're butchering a deer?

When skinning I like my Herter's Guide Association Approved Skinning Knife. You old timers will appreciate that.

If any of you are interested, these are the make of knives I use to cut up deer. Take a very good edge and easy to sharpen. My absolute favorites. I have a #31614 and a #31620. Worth the money.

http://www.dexter1818.com/Search_Form_results.asp?search=Boning Knife

I use an old set of F. Dick knives that I bought back when I had my wholesale Seafood business.
They work just as well on dead pigs and deer, as they did on large Tuna.

Outside skinning and quartering.

sheep skinner

carbon steel boning

inside boning and slicing. I have a variety of these Forchner/Victorniox knives. miles

stainless steel boning

Edit to add that my sheep skinner has a smooth handle without the grip cutout. miles

That top blue knife has a blade shape similar to Menefee's catfish knife.

Hawken;
For a number of years we had several friends who lived in town bring their game to our rural home to process.

While I can't tell you exactly how many animals we've done since starting to cut up our own in the late '80's, I'd think we must have surpassed the 150 mark. I should clarify too that's been a mixture of mostly mule and whitetail deer with a dozen or so black bears, a couple moose and at least one sheep thrown in too.

Anyway over that time we've amassed a mixed collection of knives, mostly from commercial meat cutting suppliers. By the looks of the photo below we've ended up with more Forschner/Victorinox blades than any other, but I see at least two Hook Eyes, one F Dyck, one Rapala, an Old Hickory and a couple others I can't recall right now.


For meat cutting we've found that something a bit softer that will sharpen quickly with a carbide pull through type sharpener and then be able to be touched up easily with a steel is best for us.

Hopefully that was some use to you sir and all the best to you in the upcoming Christmas Season.

Regards,
Dwayne

Agreed.

I have butchered more deer than I can remember. The knives I/we have always used most are:

Russell Green River
Dexter-Russell
Forshner
Victorinox

And the like. Old Hickory, etc.

They are basically commercial grade kitchen knives and take an edge easily......

I use Forshner/Victorinox knives for the actual butchering process.

When butchering I always grab my entire kitchen knife block plus the one F. Dick boning knife. The Chicago cutlery isn't the best but they do get the job done. This year's spike elk was taken away from home and we butchered it up using my friends' knives. It was interesting to experience the large array of blades. The old Rapala fillet knife was my favorite. For certain my Menefee fillet knife will be used on my next critter.

On the left is my outside preliminary skining and dressing knives and the rest are for the breaking down and finishing work. Some I made and some I have inherited and it should be clear which two those are as they have done aa lot of work over the years and are both very good knives and treasured for coming from a parent and a grandparent.
The black handled straight blade is the only one bought for purpose.

I debone mine as they are hanging. If it is skinned already and not frozen, I can have one cut and wrapped in 30 to 40 minutes if I have one guy helping.

I use these that were handed down.

And a couple of CS Green Rivers with cocobolo scales by yours truely.

Dang that is FAST!

VG, what is the white handled job second from left of picture?

Those RGR are awesome looking Charlie. I have been using that Ripper I did up for nearly everything it seems lately.

Cut up a deer with it, and used it on several steaks also. One just a few hours ago. It has become my favorite steak knife. I have a camp knife blank to do up also. Not sure if I will alter it much or not, like I did the Ripper....













I'm thinking I will put one finger groove in the camp knife, and probably blacken or acid etch the blade also, like the Ripper is now(top pic).....

It is my small game knife. I made it from a swedish steel with ivory linnen micarta and knickle silver to be the little brother to the african blackwood and knickle silver big game knife. Sort of my version of ebony and ivory.

Looks comfortable, and useful with the thin blade.