Our favorite setup this year was the Gene Ingram/Josh Clarke combo! Worked pretty slick......

I knew the Gene Ingram would be fantastic and it definitely was but the real surprise has been these Josh Clarke axes! This Rifleman's Belt Axe showed up as sharp as a knife and splits a deer pelvis like butter! It was so sharp, I even used it to open up the sternum on our last deer tonight and it was absolutely effortless.

Swedish Mora Knife and a Gerber Saw.

I use a hatchet when E is not available. E = reciprocating saw ! lol

I use Gut Hooks every time. I have one that zips the hide. Another one zips the abdominal membrane in the true
Gut Hook sense.

Jerry

I don't recall ever seeing a tool used for zipping the hide other than my knife.....can you post a pic/link?

That!

I once had a spell where all I used was a hatchet to gut. Keep it razor sharp and could do it faster than most can with a knife. A knife is lighter though so the hatchet stays home unless I'm elk hunting.
I prefer a stiff big blade when gutting but can do it with a pocket knife pretty easily too when called upon. Those gut zipper knives work well when gutting Buffalo or elk while they are hanging nose down. I thought it was a rediculous was of doing it until I did it. It's super clean and relatively easy.

Buck knife 110

I carry a couple of fixed blades on me and a hatchet for splitting the pelvis if the knife isn't quite enough on older deer.

Older Pachmayr, Buck 119 or a USA made Cold Steel.

I use a small knife to skin, gut, and remove the meat from the carcass. If you know where to make the cuts in the joints you don't need anymore than a Knife. A 3 or 4 inch narrow pattern blade like a trapper is what I like best. I don't have a big enough freezer to freeze a bunch of bones.I use a hatchet or saw to cut off antlers.
With the chronic wasting regulations we have it won't be long till we will have to debone ours before hauling the meat home. I am almost there the way I clean deer.

I use these as a gut hook and hide zipper.


https://www.gerbergear.com/en-us/shop/knives/all-knives/strap-cutter-black-22-01944



P

Super sharp razor-knife for skinning
Sturdy knife for sternum, etc
Loppers for forelegs, etc
Saw for dropping the rear legs off the spine
Cut-down plastic drum for the refuse
Overhead electric hoist
Gambrel
Marine cooler full of cool water to cool quarters
Water hose
Tasty beverage


That's what I've used for years.

I use nothing but a havalon piranta to take a deer (or anything else, including moose) from being whole to completely skinned, quartered and broken down.. At times I will also carry a Wyoming Saw or a Gränsfors Bruk outdoor axe, for taking off skull plates.

I may as well sell my other knives, but old habits die hard so I still carry a sturdy fixed blade in my pack. I haven't used it in years though.

I need to try one of those Havalons.

If you suck ass at sharpening like I do, they're golden.
You just have to not torque the blade around joints, as you'll spend more time changing blades than cutting through the deer. You're also not going to be splitting any pelvis' with one, so if that's part of your MO be aware.

I'm a believer.

Never needed anything but one good skinning knife to dress and quarter a deer.

If I couldn't sharpen by hand, that's what I'd do
and not look back. I can't see paying a bunch
for something to sharpen with that needs
to be plugged in the wall socket, especially since
I've never seen a wall socket in the woods.
You CAN carry a pack of spare blades in a pocket,
and your pockets go everywhere you do.
I'd be using one and be tickled to have it

Yes, I will. Today I'm having trouble getting 'light' right for a good pic.

I have an 'old' Winchester brand skinner with gut hook. It's g h is on the larger size and works great on zipping the hide.
I have a Remington lock folder with a small gut hood. It's great for opening the body cavity.

I'll post a pic when I can get a decent pic. No problem.

Jerry

zipper linky poo......

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/14351434/all/compact-little-zipper

2-3 1/2" knife and a cold beer.
Phil

Now we are talkin!

Outdoor Edge replaceable blade knife with the orange grippy handle so I won't set it down and lose it. Love it. Have plenty of good knives too, but I just don't like sharpening knives anymore.

I've been getting by with a Case XX Trapper and a folding saw from Gerber for more than 20 years. See no reason to change something that has been working well. But that is just me.

Get the Gerber version, Vital I think it's called. Pretty much the same thing, but changing blades is way easier/safer on the Gerber. I have both and very much dig a small, sharp, flexibile blade for taking critters apart. I use a #60A blade in one for most of the work, but use a #70 blade in the other. The #70 has a rounded tip making it very good for skinning.

I always carry a sharp knife and a Sagan Saw. This year I used a Pendleton Lite Hunter from Cold Steel, a Harvey King small game, and an Opinel #9

If we haul them back to camp before field dressing them, I'd skip the Sagan Saw and use a pair of limb loppers to cut the pelvic bone.

Tomahawk and a filet knife or other sharp skinning knife.

The little Barky on the bottom.

I like that one too. Can skin a couple deer before blade needs changing out, and blades are fairly cheap. I keep an old Buck Vanguard for the heavy-duty cuts.

I have an 'old' Winchester brand skinner with gut hook. It's g h is on the larger size and works great on zipping the hide.
I have a Remington lock folder with a small gut hood. It's great for opening the body cavity.





The Win is a great skinner and the larger gut hook works 'better' on the hide.
The Rem gut hook is smaller and is better on the thinner abdomen layers w/o 'hooking' the entrails.

Both g hs can be sharpened with a ceramic stick.

Did two does this past Saturday with the new stonehocker spike

Also did two with a cheap kershaw just because buddy thought his cheap kershaw was as good as the spike. It ‘twasnt but still worked out okay

Never split pelvis personally. Skin and Quarter out with just a knife. Don’t need axe or saw. Some do use them and I respect that. More than one way to skin that cat for sure


Although maybe I should tell the Wife I been doing it wrong and buy a sweet hatchet!!!

Gutted and skinned 4 bucks last week with that knife.

Just for kicks, I touched the blade up on the Spyderco Sharpmaker after each deer and it only took about 30 seconds to get the blade shaving sharp again. The same blade, has been used to gut and skin 6 deer now. I know those replaceable blade knives have no "soul", but they sure are convenient. And I actually enjoy sharpening a knife.

I don’t gut them any more. Just skin them, take the back straps, debone the hindquarters and the shoulders.

Being a hobbiest woodworker, I’m a whiz at sharpening, so I do some rough work with my pocket Griptilian and then the detail work with a thin blade Browning folder.

Somewhere years ago I read where somebody no longer gutted the deer. So I couldn’t help but wonder why I was getting them, other than the fact that I had been gutting them for 40 years without ever asking myself why. So I quit doing it.

24 blades about 40 bucks. A lifetime supply.

Been 10 years or more since I opened up a deer.
Because of all the parasites and new diseases
going around, I won't eat deer innards anymore,
plus I don't like getting all that splintery smashed
bone in my hands. Way worse than cactus spines

lemme guess. Mask-tard, too?

knife, sagen saw, my version of a deer zipper. Buck cross lock as backup for all of the above.

Trying a butt out tool that was given to my by a fellow hunter in the crew. First attempt broke off some of the gut in the channel so jury is out still.

+3

I’ve done a couple of moose and a few deer with the same blade, running it over a honing steel from time to time. The nice thing about these OE blades is that they’re sturdy enough to break apart a deer sternum, and they can be sharpened a bit so you can prolong blade replacement. Blade changes are easy and safe, too. When the edge gets too dull to bring back with some honing, I swap it out. Used this way, blades are very cheap and a bulk pack will get a guy a lot of cutting.

We've always dropped our deer at the processor so we could get jerky, sticks, etc. but I'm thinking about cutting them up and doing this ourselves next year. So for you guys that process your own, do you remove all the meat in the field and bring it home in coolers or do you bring the deer home and clean it up there? If you have a nice setup for processing, I'd appreciate details and pics!

Schrade golden spike knife and a sagen saw

I prefer to gut them in the field and get them out and home whole if possible, but simply so that I don't have to deal with so much dried, crusty meat. Other people don't seem to have an issue with that though. I assume you hunt Nebraska, and if so then getting them out whole should be routine (I'd guess), vs breaking them down in the field and packing the pieces out. My critters are usually brought out in pieces though, and if it hot out then they'll go in a cooler with ice.

Regardless, any browned, oxidized meat can be ground and you'll never know the difference. I'd suggest grinding twice though. You can take all the trim and scraps to the processor for grinding, even if you cut all the steaks and roasts yourself.

Ditto what The Tinman said. He really knows his meat...

Fillet knives work well for trimming. I grind at home and also have a big stuffer that's used to fill plastic bags with ground meat as well as stuffing sausage casings. Large plastic tubs work well for putting your meat in.

Lifetime supply?

I also use the OE as my only field butchering tool, doing the gutless method.

I'll resharpen.

Knife for all of it except I use brush nippers to knock the back lower legs off soo I can hang them higher. Not often but when I save ribs I use a hatchet to knock them off the spine.

Either a Mora knife or a buck 110 folding knife. I usually wait until I get the deer hung before splitting the pelvis.

Part of my night before opener preparation is putting a shaving sharp edge on the knife I will be carrying the next morning. I use 2 Arkansas stones and a barbers strope

It's about time I get recognized for my suburb meat handling skillz.

What about you? A pro on the receiving end of stuffing sausages?

Jealous, I be. That's a skill that will treat you well for life.

Skinning knife a freinds daughter made, a small boker knife, and a dewalt 20v sawzall.

LOL!!!

Tinman- The Sausage Maker is running 20% off and free shipping. Gitcha some sausage stuffing skills to go along with those suburb meat handling skills!

This, same buck knife I’ve had for 50 years.

It's that time of year again so what's everybody using this year??

Marbles Ideal and aSchrade 34ot

Fillet knife and a hacksaw

Whatever knife I’m using at the time and one of these

Sagen saw.

I bought a couple of these a couple of years ago,galvanized pan ,and love them for putting deer cuts into while processing and grinding meat. They also work well for mixing sausage. Fit into my fridge, and easy to put foil on while cooling. Fit under the grinder spout, and have handles. Works for me. I use Russel carbon boning knives for my butchering. miles

I don't bring much. This for the deer. Binoculars. Water. Cliff bar. 3-5 rounds of ammo.

A couple Mora knives, a little lightweight sharpener and either my Swedish folding saw or an old Knapp saw that I inherited, that belonged to my grandfather.

Deer are not much effort compared to elk.

Gerber with gut hook for guttin.
ATV winch/golf ball for skinnin
Victronix 6" boning and poultry knife for processing

Usually a mora and a victorinox classic pairing or 4” boning knife. I never use the saw or axe. I usually do a gutless method and can remove all 4 quarters and the head at the base of the skull with simple cuts. The boning knife for cleanup. Victorinox makes many great inexpensive boning knives for the large meats, birds and rabbits. The steel is not really hard and can be sharpened to razor sharp in the field easily. The lightweight makes them easy to add and a simple leather or duck tape sheath can be made.
S.

My Howe Mountain medium drop point fixed blade for most of my work. This year I am trying out the gerber replacement blade knife in my kill kit for a walk in hunt this year.
I tried out the Outdoor Edge replaceable a few years back but I had trouble keeping the fat cleaned out between the blade and the blade support in the cold when skinning. Field dressing it worked ok.
I have some Buck Alfa folders that work great as well as a few Cutco fixed blades.
For cutting up boned out meat I use Victorinox boning knives.

I keep a Buck Folding 110 with me when I hunt.

We do a lot of our gutting at the meat pole. There, I keep a Buck 113 Ranger Skinner knife.



. . . and an $8 Harbor Freight Pull Saw



The latter has been doing well for over a decade, so I'd say that was acceptable wear for HF crap.

Me too, except a 102, why do you need saws and hatchets???

Limb loppers and a custom version of an Opinel My First Knife. Before the custom I also needed a ceramic stick to keep the Opinel touched up.

Buck 110 folder

Same here for me. Classic.

Anybody ever use one of these?





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqZ1Y5VCTTU

Same same

I’ll start the popcorn!!!!

Havalon, Leatherman and the gutless method for everything from Elk to Coyotes. Dragging deer is not a thing in Muledeer country. Gut piles are good for baiting wolves, bears and coyotes.


mike r

Gerber has done dozens, Ingram has 3-4.



Mike

I've used a number of different gut hooks over the years but find them a pain to sharpen. Now I use this S-Cut QE and just replace the blade as needed.

https://everythingtactical.com/product/s-cut-qe/

Off topic, but one time at -20 with a dead and completely frozen elk on the ground a friend and I used vegetable oil to lube a butter cutter chainsaw. It worked, but was by no means my "favorite".

We (or he, should I say) had to do something to get the elk broken down and packed out.

Gloves, bottle of cleanup water, little diamond stone, some paracord, 5x5 cotton ground cover, a few TAG bags and my Old Timer Mustang with a Mora on backup.

tag

I've had the knife that came as a combo with the Bahco saw you have pictured for a few years now. I think the reviews said it was a Mora with a Bahco label, and it looks a lot like the Moras in your pics. I think the whole combo was $30 at the time. Cut up several deer with it. I picked up second Morakniv since. They've both been excellent and a great value. I've used the saw more for wood cutting, but used it on some bone too.

People who leave the heart and tenderloins give me heartburn. Probably don't know how to cook the shanks neither.

A knife.

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned over four pages, but I carry a small set of pulleys in my pack. A double and a triple pulley set to be specific that I bought at a sailing store because they are lighter and better quality than what the local farm store has. A few years back I shot a 12 point that I knew I couldn't pack out before night fall. Hanging that buck up high enough to drain and be out of the reach of the varmints was really easy with those pulleys. Then another year I was helping the guys process our deer and an engineering friend was using only a single pulley and straining to lift the deer. He must have missed that physics class where they explained mechanical advantage of using multiple pulleys. Look at any crane used for lifting heavy equipment and you never see a single line pull.

My local processor........

For simply field dressing:
Butt out
Sagen hunters field saw
Outdoor edge knife
Ziplock bags for tenders

Obviously we can all do it with just a knife, but adding these tools to the arsenal makes life easier.

Almost any sharp knife that holds an edge. This year I used a Winston for the skinning, small Old Timer folding for the gutting.

Buck 118

Buck 110

i carry an Outdoor edge swing blade, and small saw combo. along with a 4 inch filet knife and pocket sharpener. my kit also includes some latex gloves, a large contractor trash bag a set of Caribou game bags , and some Parachord. quite often we shoot deer where we can drag them, but soem of the places I hunt it is just easier to break the animal down in the field and carry it out on my back----I have no desire to drag a deer either up or down hill through deadfalls and boulders