Everybody will have different opinions, depending on where, how and what they hunt. I can only give my observations on what I have personally found that works well on small game animals. Stockmans main blade, trappers and mini trappers main blades, and both blades on the copperhead pattern work fine. The secondary blade on a copperhead (2-3/4" length) with just the slightest drop of the point work wonderfully. Swept up points/trailing points I have had terrible luck with. The high tips want to dig into the flesh and cut too deeply, getting past what you intended to cut and into the guts, making a mess. Broad drop points with wide blades and lots of belly worked poorly for me too. A slimmer drop point, with the blade not much wider than 3/4" (or less)has a sharp enough point to pierce and cut through easily but with the drop point, the tip doesn't catch and dig in as easily as the trailing point shapes. I've never tried the broadly rounded "skinner" style blades, as I had such poor luck with the broader drop points I would have expected the skinners to be even more unwieldy and awkward when trying to cut up little squirrels and rabbits. Blades longer than 4" are awkward on small game too, requiring too much choking up to get them controllable. 2-3/4" to 3" drop point, approximately 5/8" height and no more than 1/8" thick with a "Loveless" shaped handle of 3-3/4" to 4" is what my thoughts of "ideal" for small game would be. Like the A G Russell Bird and Trout or Gentlemans Hunter knives. Nothing wrong at all with a good slipjoint though, or even a small lockback like Buck makes. The important thing is that the knife feels comfortable and controllable in your hand; if it's clumsy and awkward feeling it just won't make for a happy situation.
