What knife/knives are best for dressing out a whitetail deer?

Re: What knife/knives are best for dressing out a whitetail deer? northern_dave #2341654 07/30/08
Joined: Mar 2006 Posts: 14,522 Likes: 1 Calgary, AB, Canada Jordan Smith Campfire Outfitter
Jordan Smith Campfire Outfitter Joined: Mar 2006 Posts: 14,522 Likes: 1 Calgary, AB, Canada	Originally Posted by northern_dave the black handle? I've had it for years now. They used to be around $40 I suppose today they might be a little more but I'd expect them to still fall below $50 or around 50 The upper, the folder with the rosewood grips is also a buck brand called the alpha hunter, when you lock it open you would hardly know it's a filder, very stout. I skin out just below the knee joints on front & hind legs & cut the leg at the knee socket. The sockets are kind of juicy & when I do it there is usually some prety good popping/cracking noises as I cut tendons aroind the joint front, sides & back & give them a good side load to snap the joint open which exposes the remaining connecting tendons so you can cut without running your knife against too much bone. It's kinda gross I suppose, not really the sort of thing little girls care for as I learned with my daughter who informed me of the grossness... But it works & I can do it pretty fast that way. Prety much the same deal with the hip socket. Haven't really mastered the head removal with out getting pretty close with the cutting then finishing with a few chops with the blade to wack through. That's one of the reasons I appreciate a blade with a heavy spine to it. Wow, maybe my daughter's right, maybe I am gross. Removing the head is definitely the hardest skill to master when it comes to disassembling a big game animal. I learned a trick when I was guiding Caribou hunters in the NWT. If you skin the cape all the way up between the antlers, you can feel with your finger where the last vertebra is, called the crown joint. There is an air pocket on either side of the center line of the joint. If you twist the head towards either side of the body, you can get your knife in the joint, and cut the cartilage. Turn the head the other way, repeat, and you can pop the head off without touching bone with your knife, and definitely without a saw or hatchet. Being a broke student, I don't have a fancy custom knife, so all I carry for complete animal processing from start to finish (with the exception of skinning out the face for the taxidermist) is this: It doesn't look like much, but it's safe, solid, holds an edge well, and sharpens up like a razor blade...Oh and it costs $14

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