Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Best knife blade profile for boning out game

I use a 6" Dexter boning knife. They're not expensive and have about the right "flex". You don't want a knife that flexes too much as it makes it harder to remove the muscle groups from the bone with a springy blade.

Here's a few favourite knives I use regularly. Nothing fancy here.

Steve, nice set of knives. For the dreaded backaches we came up with a solution years ago, works great for cutting meat or filleting fish. Take an iorning board, cut a piece of plywood or better quality board if you want to the same shape and glue it on. Adjustable to the height you want and keeps your back straight. Easily stored, cleaned, and transportable to a hunting or fishing camp.

Kent

Jeff -

I've used a lot of different things from less than 2" of blade to more than a foot at one time or another. I've used big heavy blades and little whippy ones.

What I like is a knife with about 4" of blade with some curve near the point but it doesn't have to be exaggerated, a simple drop point will do. I want a stiff blade, not a flexible blade. And a hefty handle with good substance I can wrap my whole hand around and get some power with the major hand/wrist/forearm muscles, not a little handle that requires overworking the finger control / finesse muscles.

Some of the smaller fixed bladed Buck knives would be good but the handles are a little small and are slick. One of my other criteria is a knobby finish that is not slick if I have blood or fat on my hands.

My favorite is probably the Buck Vanguard right now. I use a Gerber Magnum LST as well. Funny thing, those are my carrying hunting knives, too.

Tom

I like my Vanguard too (I didn't know you had one!). Mine is the rubber-handled version.

What I was thinking would be about ideal, before starting this thread, would be one step down from the Vanguard with a little more of a dropped point. But [bleep], I'm just staring at the carcass and imagining here <g>.

I think i'll pick up a cheaper boning knife as described, and hit 'er with what I've got and the new knife, and see how it goes...

Forschner boning knives 5 or 6 inch semi flexible, I prefer the straight blade over the curved ones. Have boned somewhere around 100 animals with them. Nothing better at any price IMO and these can be had very reasonable with a quick online search. I also prefer the rosewood handles.
If you doubt Forschner stop by the local butcher shop and ask the guys that make a living working with knives.

Victorinox paring knives do wonders for most things. Don't know anyone here that don't have at least a dozen floating around.

You want a R.H. Forschner Model #407 F-5. (It's the one with the black handle.) It's a five inch flex blade. There's none better for boning meat.

I kind of like this one; it has the kind of rounded tanto tip I was imagining would be good:



... just gotta find it, or something similar, locally...

I seem to use a lil rapala fillet knife the most

Hey Super Cub, I have one exactly like the one second from the bottom. My Dad got it for me when I wuz 15....44 years ago. Great hunting knife.

Ah...yes...Elderberry brandy, a good cigar, and the faint, but yet, poignant trace of alder in the smoker on an October afternoon/evening...somethings afoot gentlemen is it not?

I've boned out a couple of deer with a little Victornox paring knife and that works fine, I carry a couple in my pack for boneing out in the field and I have the little suckers stashed in each rig, each pack, and all over. At home on deer and elk I use a filet knife with a 4" blade.

SteelHead.
Do these look like the victorinox knives your using?
[img][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v376/elkhunter/IMG_0194.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v376/elkhunter/IMG_0195.jpg[/img][/img]
I'm getting these from a knife shop here in Oly. I used to buy them from a Marine supply shop in Westport, the only difference is the handles were red. I cant find any of the serrated blades around here, those were great for cutting rope.

That be a Russell #1 Belt Knife made right here in NS. I have two of them and are by far my favourite field knife. While they are a great field knife, I much prefer something like that Dexter for use as a boning knife.

I was a commercial meat cutter for over 20yrs. We used a boning knife from Chicago Cutlery that had a nylon handle with brass screws that held in a replaceable blade. I googled for pics last night, but with no luck. A boning knife needs to be fairly stiff as a flexible blade will bend when pressure is applied to the tip and sometimes slip off a bone during use. I would NEVER recommend a fillet knife for use as a boning knife.

Sturgeon,

You got my attention with the Elderberry brandy! My wife makes elderberry wine; I just picked her a bunch of berries a week or so ago for the next batch... what is this elderberry brandy of which you speak??

I've taken to a procedure I call "field stripping." I skin the hind legs from the ankle to the spine, then remove the leg by following the pelvis as close as possible and separating the main ligament in the hip joint. I leave the foot on the leg as a handy carrying handle and place for the tag, but remove it when cutting the meat. The front leg is done similarly, except there is no "hip" joint. The backstraps are filleted off the spine. Antlers are removed by cutting off the skull cap with a saw. The meat is placed inside common tall kitchen garbage bags for transporting home. When I get home, I throw the bags of meat in the garage fridge, wash my hands, and go to bed. I don't gut or wash or drag or hang anything any more. It's much, much easier this way.

For this procedure, just about any quality drop point blade of 4 to 6 inches in length is ideal. When I used to gut deer, I preferred a shorter blade, such as my Gerber LST (not magnum). Of course, the sharper, the better.

-

Gentlemen,

I went on a knife-buying expedition and here's what I got. The one on the right was $5 at Wal-Mart and feels great in the hand; we'll see how it works though. The other two set me back about $15 each and I got them from a knife shop.

These, with my Vanguard and other knives, should at least let me find out what works for ME.

Thanks to all!!

Jaime,
Seattle Marine is your friend for knives. They have them all. Sportco carriers the one your looking for also.

http://www.coldsteel.com/kitclas.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cold-Steel-Kitc...01QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

I have two cold steel boning knives and they are great, really like the soft rubber type handle, they sharpen easily, are slightly flexible and hold a good edge. Also great is the DMT diamond steel (600grit).

http://www.dmtsharp.com/products/culinary.htm