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For field dressing I use a Swiss Army (Victorinox) folding hunter. Has a great main blade, a gut hook, and a small saw. Sharp as a razor and takes and holds an edge very easily. For cutting up bambi I use my grandfather's butcher knives. Works for me.

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I clean 15-20 big game animals a year. That said, my requirements in a knife are: light weight, good steel that holds an edge, textured grip, a blade that's not too blunt, must fold for compact carry, and a descent price. The reason I say a descent price is that I can't tell you how many knives I've lost in the field or around camp(Always have a spare in the pack).

The answer to all of those requirements is BUCK. Bucks hold an edge, they come out of the box razor sharp, and they don't break the bank when you loose one.

I've used Boker, Kershaw, Gerber, S&W, Old Timer, Schrade, and a few others and none have held edges like the Bucks.

And no, you only need a knife to clean a deer. I can clean a deer in mere minutes with only a knife. All you have to do is hang them by the neck, ring each leg & the neck, slide a sharp knife up each leg to the center of the belly, slide knife under the hide from the rear quarters up to the neck ring along the center of the belly, pull off the hide, cut off the shoulders, cut out the back straps, cut off the neck meat, remove each ham(going to the socket with only a knife), and then gut(if you didn't field dress) and remove the sweet meat.

Good Luck

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The knife in this pic is purely a utility knife for skinning/deboning ... not the best, but not the worst by a very long shot ...

[Linked Image]

It's a Gerber fixed blade with gut hook. I can't say I like or dislike the gut hook, but it's really not a necessity ... Actually, I think I'd love this knife as well as anything else if it were simply a drop point with the same blade profile ...



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Field dressing (gutting) I like to use a an old Buck folder that I have that has around a 3" drop point blade. It's plenty long enough for the task and I like the drop point for gutting. I like that it folds as well as I can drop it into a plastic bag and put in my cargo pocket or back pack when I'm done with it. For field dressing deer, 3" is as long of a blade that I would personally want.


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Originally Posted by corporal cleg
Personally, I use 4 different knives processing the deer before butchering.
One to open the dder, and remove entrails. A second knife to cut around anus and deal with that nonsense- a third knife to remove tenderloins in the field, and a fourth for skinning. I do not like the one knife does all method, because I do not want to contaminate the venison with crap. Dont want to use the knife I cut around the anus with to take out the tenderloins, or skin the animal.
And I have a different set of knives all together when I take the deer to the butcher block.
Interesting take. Never occurred to me, but it makes sense.

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Ok, but what about the neck? Do you take it with the spine or do you remove the meat and leave the spine. I ask because when I stew neck meat, it's with the bones, but I'm getting the impression that deer bones don't impart a good flavor to stews. Is that the case?

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Yeah, you don't want the bones....

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I've been liking this set-up for a couple decades now. No whitetails with it but lots of other, bigger critters.

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Originally Posted by castandblast
I've been liking this set-up for a couple decades now. No whitetails with it but lots of other, bigger critters.

[Linked Image]
Very nice. Gerbers are great knives. I have one (a two and three quarter inch drop point lock blade) that I bought in the early 1980s. Been carrying that knife every day since then, literally. Light as a feather, and super strong. It's got a zytel handle. Blade is surgical stainless steel. Holds a great edge, and I can put a new razor sharp edge on it with just a few strokes on a whetstone. Still works perfectly after all these years.

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This is a Case "XX Changer", that I carry in my hunting pack sometimes, in my BOB all the time. My wife bought this for me as a Christmas present our first year together, so I have had it about 15 years now.
All the blades hold a great edge, its easy to shapen, and its just plain tight as a tick.
[Linked Image]


Sam......

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I use three knives per deer usually. One 30 year old Western folder for gutting that also has a saw blade for the pelvis. The blade is large enough to open the sternum (ribcage)on our smaller whitetails.
At camp I use a larger knife w/gut hook for ripping the skin on the legs and a small knife for skinning out the deer/hog. Then for quartering I go back to the larger knife. Both those are Western knives with rubber, non-slip handles.
I wear gloves for gutting in the field so my hands are clean when the job is done. Then another pair for butchering. No contamination.

Takes longer to describe it than do it, unless there is a cape involved.

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Well I usually have a dozier but the son in law cleans and capes them all with an old double bladed Old Henry! Gotta luv it!

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I don't know about what is best in knives. I started with a buck 110 folding knife I have owned it since the 70's. It went back to Buck once as I was splitting camp wood with it and broke the lock, they replaced it at no charge. I like this knife because it keeps an edge, is easy to sharpen, and has a narrow blade which makes it easy to bone the meat off of the hams while the deer is hanging. I think 5 or so is the max I have done without sharpening it. My wife bought me a buck mini alpha hunter, I am trying that out these last three years as well, its OK so far for skinning.


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Nice set. I didn't know Case made those.

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I can see maybe carrying two knifes for doing the job of completely dressing out a deer ... but I can't see carrying around one blade for gutting, one for skinning, one for the anus area, one for the loins, a saw for the bones, etc...

Just get one, maybe two good knives ... learn the anatomy of the deer, and use some care when doing the work ... you'll find how/where the joints are, and how they are 'built' ... you can cut the ligaments/tendons to separate the bones at the joints, and have no worries of getting bone fragments/chips in the meat, and you really won't have to worry about "contamination" either if you know where to make your cuts ...

Not condemning those who wish to use 'specialized' or 'separate' blades for just about every aspect of processing a deer ... just saying that IMHO it's wholly unnecessary if you just use a little knowledge and care when processing ...


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Originally Posted by jimmypgeorgia
I don't know about what is best in knives. I started with a buck 110 folding knife I have owned it since the 70's. It went back to Buck once as I was splitting camp wood with it and broke the lock, they replaced it at no charge. I like this knife because it keeps an edge, is easy to sharpen, and has a narrow blade which makes it easy to bone the meat off of the hams while the deer is hanging. I think 5 or so is the max I have done without sharpening it. My wife bought me a buck mini alpha hunter, I am trying that out these last three years as well, its OK so far for skinning.
Buck makes a fix blade knife they claim is self-sharpening, i.e., never needs to be resharpened. Is that possible?

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Originally Posted by The_Real_Hawkeye
Buck makes a fix blade knife they claim is self-sharpening, i.e., never needs to be resharpened. Is that possible?


never heard of that, can't imagine how that could be possible unless it's some gimmicky sharpener in the sheath that gives a stroke across the blade as you place it in or draw it.

But I do like the Buck brand



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I have a few Buck 110's that the custom shop made for me a few years back and I totlay forgot I had them till this thead, I just pulled them out and dam, there nice! I have one in stag with an ATS-34 blade that might find its way into a whitetail here soon.

Heck, I might even order another........... smile


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very cool.


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passport,
Like everything else in the world, recently the price of the Buck Custom Shop knives just took a significant increase. IMHO one of the best buys around for a new Buck 110 is the Cabela's Guide Series with rosewood handles and S30V blade steel. I think Bass Pro has their own special run with ATS-34 and that would be a nice upgrade from the standard 110's 420HC steel. Not that 420HC can't get the job done, it certainly can. Especially so since Buck has Paul Bos do the heat treating of the steel. That brings out the best in performance of their blades and chosen steels.


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