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

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

Clip point, sharp.

I like Forschner boning knives.

They have a paring knife size product with the microban
plastic handle and very thin, flexible blade. Blade measures 2 & 3/4 inches.
Great for removing meat in tight places.

Jeez, 5 pages on a boning knife, I can bone out a deer with a pocket knife or a Machete, even an axe!!

Got the deer cut up; the knife I liked best was the white handled one, which was NOT what I was expecting, looking at that swept-back scmictar of a blade. Is that how you spell scmictar? I liked the $5 knife on the right a LOT- other than the fact that I couldn't get it to take an edge!

My grinder was like driving a Yugo over a mountain pass. It got it done, but it wasn't fun. I'll be upgrading at some point.

+1

Thousands of meat cutters would agree with that.

What's missing from this thread is the fact that meatcutters use more than one knife.

For deer sized game a good straight boning (6") knife and a short steak (8-10") knife are needed, but for larger animals I use a long (13") steak knife as well.

The boning knife gets use for breaking down the animal off the bone and for trimming, the med steak knife for cutting roasts, sm steaks and stew, while the lg steak see use for cutting the largest muscle into steaks.

Yeah, you can................

But I would rather have a small, flex blade knife.

YMMV

No, it's not.

Jeff,

Below is what I use...



These are fairly new this season after I got rid of some older wooden handle knives...I'm not sure I like the plastic cutting board or not as yet as it seems to take the edge off a knife a lot faster than my old wooden one.

The large 10" butchers steak knife is a completely knew addition and in the little time I've used it, it works very well...

The other thing you need of course is somewhere to work. I would love a dedicated "larder" or cutting room, but just don't have the space for that. Presently I hang the carcasses up in an small outbuilding/workshop and after skinning, quarter them while still hanging..I then take the individual quarters into my kitchen, and do the rest there.

Life is a little easier for me as I am primarily dealing with our small Roe deer; I think I'd find a large boar or Elk daunting to say the least!

A typical Roe carcass will be around 30lb so is much easier to deal with at home..A small tray in my Suzuki keep every thing clean for the trip home



Once home, I have an old fridge in my workshop which will take two Roe carcasses which means in the summer (we can stalk all year around here) it takes the rush out of doing the butchering.



Ideally, I am looking for fridge/chiller thats a bit bigger, possible something along the lines of a used coke/drinks chiller, as they will hold a couple of reasonable sized Fallow carcases (say around 100lb each )with ease but I haven't dropped on one the right size (and price!) as yet..

Regards,

Pete

I've found Dexter-Russell knives to be very good knives that hold an edge. They are used by many pro cooks and are well thought of by most. Hey, whatever gets the job done is good. KDJ

OK .... this thread has gone far enough! I got it all out for a group photo.

No nancy-boy stuff here!

BTW ... the tape measure in the above pic is calibrated for IMPERIAL inches, not US, so keep that in mind when sizing things up.