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

Gents,

I'm going to start processing my own game this year. I have a decent collection of knives that have done me well so far for gutting and skinning... and I have regular kitchen knives that will do OK for cutting muscles into steaks and chunks... but I don't have a classic boning knife.

What I am THINKING would be about ideal would be a simple fixed blade, not too big, with sort of a softened (rounded) tanto tip, to help dig in and cut things loose where the muscles attach to the bones. Am I thinking right here?

Thanks, I'm a babe in the woods when it comes to knowing much of the "common wisdom" with knives...

-jeff

Long, thin, and flexible blade--almost like a fillet knife--is the one I grab. It is certainly not a prybar.

That's interesting. I don't have a knife like that- other than a filet knife of course, which I am thinking would be TOO long and flexible.

I use a simple fixed blade no more than 3 inches long, with a drop point, to do everything on deer and antelope.

My Buck Vanguard will most likely get the call (it is a drop point) unless I buy something to try. I'm thinking a little MORE of a drop point would be even better- hence my "rounded tanto" idea... but hell... I dunno! <grin>

For boning out deer, elk and antelope we use both regular boning knives and filet knives. Typically, a boning knife will be thin and as flexible as a filet knife, except that most have less curve in the back of the blade.

Gerber used to market boning knives (we were a dealer) and I have no doubt that they still do. Kershaw and similar companies do the same.

Actually, we have several filet knifes that we also use and the filet profile works just as well. Two of my favorite knives for boning are filet knifes that are especially flexible; one is a Gerber and one is a Kershaw that I picked up at the annual Kershaw sale a couple of years ago.

Most of these are 440C steel which sucks in the extreme. I always have my commercial-grade Gerber knife grinder on the end of the bench when we are boning.

Steve

What Steve said. I also have 2 older models of a Buck Fishermans knife that work well. Kind of a cross between a filet knife and a hunting knife. I may look into processin gmy own this year also since the local processors are getting a bit expensive for me.

A boning knife!

I have been carrying a Henkels 6-inch straight back boning knife in a sheath on my fishing and hunting trips since 1967. Wore out a carbon steel one, and now on the second handle on a stainless one.

Our Sam's Club usualy has professional meat cutter boning knives in two packs for $18 or so. They are like what folks are describing as filet knives. Thin 6" up-swept blade with a poly handle of some sort that is designed for hygene and the dishwasher.

They are easy to keep sharp with a steel and take a murderous edge, our hands down choice for boning.

For cutting steaks and trimming roasts we have a couple 12" "simatar steakers". They are like the name implies they are up-swept like a simatar sword, kind of deep in the belly and 12" long. Very effective for cutting nice even steaks from the hind quarter cuts on large deer and elk. On smallish deer and antelope the 6" boning knives is all it takes from skinning to freezer wrap.

Our boning and steaking knives are both made by Victorox and pretty damm reasonable in price compared to some of the nearly worthless custom "hunting" knives on the market.

Den

Mr. Jeff O;
Congratulations on killing your deer and yet again on processing your own.

I really find it a very rewarding activity, and as I do a fair bit of cooking, I can begin to plan meals right there as far as portion size, cuts, etc. We�ve been processing our own meat for something like 20 years give or take. As we live in the sticks, a few friends cut theirs here too, so we end up doing roughly between 4 and 8 deer size animals a year.

Over the years we�ve ended up with equipment that would 2nd much of what Mr. RazorCityDen said.

For boning we have a mix of fillet knives and both straight and upswept boning knives. It�s a bit of personal taste I guess, as I like the upswept blades but none of the rest of the crew do. We got them from various outlets and butcher supply stores over the years.

I�ve found that I need a scimitar steak knife to make a non-tapered round steak on a bigger animal, but those better skilled than I can likely do fine work with a straighter blade than I need.

I really like having a good steel to sweeten the edge often, but as always others will do fine without one.

A couple 12� X 16� or so, cutting boards are handy to have.

We made our own tape and freezer paper dispensers, which sped up packaging quite a bit.

We generally freeze our grinding meat and then have a �grinding day� at the end of season when everyone comes out. We�ve found that if the meat is semi-frozen it grinds better and that is doubly the case with fall bear.

Hopefully that didn�t confuse the process for you. Good luck with your meat cutting and with the rest of the season.

Regards,
Dwayne

I can like a drop point for everything. That don't mean its the best though.

Here is our kit of boning knives that travels with us when we hunt. Whenever possible, we bone our animals in the bush, in camp or at the farmhouse and bring home only boned meat.

These knives have seen a great deal of use, as evidenced by how far down the edges have been sharpened. When sharpening, I take only the lightest cut possible, so these knives have seen a few hundred trips through the grinder each.

Goodness only knows how many big game animals Karen and I have boned and butchered ... a bunch.

If you see a bit of hair, some fat and a little nastiness on these blades, please forgive. These knives are for using.

Steve

Thanks Steve and everyone. It's good that I asked. That's not what I was imagining I needed... and I don't have anything like that, so I'll put my procurement department onto the task <g>.

For functional use I really like R.H. Forschner knives, they're made by Victorinox - the Swiss army knife company. They have lots of options in boning knives including: blade length; curved or straight blades; and flexible, semi-stiff or stiff

cheers,
joe

Another vote for a quality 6" flexible boning knife or two, I like the straight type and use them for almost everything including skinning. Coincidentally it's what most meat cutters prefer. I use Forschners, cheaper types get need-a-grind dull too fast. And a good steel used often. A steaking-type knife will help cut chops more evenly, but deer aren't so big you need anything special.

Guess I'm late to the party here - are you talking boning in the field or back in home/cam? I like fillet knives for cleaning up meat while butchering but use a "nearly worthless custom" for all the boning in the field. I try to minimize my hunting pack weight and most always bone my game in the field with a 3 inch drop point. I personally don't see where a flexible blade would work better, but a longer blade makes for quicker work. I'm able to completely bone an elk with a single knife and no stopping to sharpen when using D2 steel.

I'm certain Dogzapper has processes far more game than me, I only do a couple of animals a year. I like the idea of having a handfull of knives to work with but I'm not one to carry them afield. Once home, just about all my knives are tossed into the fray.

Boise, in this case the deer is already hangin' in my shed. I have some decent knives that I'm sure would WORK, mostly fairly heavy-blade drop points, but I'm just sussing out if something else will work mo' betta...

I have processed my own for about 15 years. I use a buck 110 folder and/or buck fixed drop point for field dressing and rapala fillet knives for processing. Haven't found a knife that beats a good sharp fillet knife for boning out game yet. Main thing is to have a nice safe sharpener to use regularly.

What I like best about the fillet knife is the flexibility of the blade to follow contours and its lightweight.

If meat is not firm and you want to cut nice steaks, placing the cut in a freezer for a bit and then cutting it works well. For cutting steaks, etc... I use a good quality kitchen knife.

A wash basin with warm soapy water to clean hands and blades regularly while processing makes it much more enjoyable.

I put a piece of plywood over saw horses then tape waxed butchers paper over it so I have a nice clean surface to work on. I replace the paper as needed. I do same cuts (ie. hindquarters) back to back because its faster for me. Having work surface high enough is important otherwise its very uncomfortable (my back gets sore if its too low).

Have fun.

Has anyone noticed how darned thirsty you get when boning out game?

Man, my back aches more than normal and I'm thirsty.

Steve