Hunting knife needed

[old onion]

Any deer hunters out there? I need to replace an old Schrade hunting knife that I used to field dress White Tail deer. Actually,I am sort of glad that I have to replace it because I got tired of it slipping around in my hand when it got covered in blood and guts while field dressing my deer.I was looking at some of the Bark River knives but worry that the micarda scales might also become slippery while inside a deer,darn nice knife though and I think the V2 steel would be nice.I also considered the Benchmade in the fixed blade because it has the SV30 steel which is also nice.I have a few of their folders in that steel.Although I have folders,I don't care for the cleaning aspect of them after job is done,speaking of experience here cause for many years,I have used a Buck 110 hunter before the Schrade and the soft 440 steel.Got any ideas?

[Jeff B]

Tim Johnson makes some very nice outdoor knives and can customize it most anyway you desire.

[Bluenoser87]

I’ve used Grohmann hunting knives for years. The steel is nothing exotic but the shape works very well. They’re nicely made.

http://www.gknives.com/index.php/produc ... ing-knives

[nevrknow]

Munetoshi butcher. I have 2, one original and another I ground shorter specifically for deer/game. Wrapped the handle with a thin rubber. Not aesthetically pleasing but works for me.

[old onion]

Munetoshi butcher. I have 2, one original and another I ground shorter specifically for deer/game. Wrapped the handle with a thin rubber. Not aesthetically pleasing but works for me.

I thought about doing that to my Russel Green River sheep skinner but........I like my sheep skinner for what it is but as is,is to long for a field dressing knife for White Tail.

[old onion]

Come on you ol cooks,get out of the kitchen for a bit and come to the woods.I need some ideas.I like hunting knives as much as I like kitchen knives.

[lsboogy]

Come on you ol cooks,get out of the kitchen for a bit and come to the woods.I need some ideas.I like hunting knives as much as I like kitchen knives.

I'm still a fan of Chris Reeve knives - you might check out some of his work. Doberman Forge has some real beauties if it's aesthetics you want (in makers part of site) and Carter Hopkins might make you one as well. But my favorite is still a Buck 119. When I lived in Montana we could get 7 tags a day for deer (Gallatin County) and many days I shot and dressed at least 7 - we viewed them as varmints, and would just sit in a hay pile and shoot dozens of them with 22's at less than 100 yards - meat was donated to a food shelf - I am not a fan of venison, so I might keep a few back straps, but that's about all I ever ate for deer, I usually got an elk so that was base red meat for many years). I remember many evenings dressing out a dozen deer in short order, and my 119 was able to do it all with ease. I have dressed out several elk and a moose as well, and that thing is still with me - maybe I will go hunting again, but not in Minnesota. The handle never got too slippery, even after doing a bunch of gland and esophagus cuts, blade is soft enough not to chip when doing lungs in rib cage, and stayed sharp though large numbers of carcasses. If you only take a single deer in a season, it would be a very capable knife. Even when I took hundreds a year, it was still my hunting knife of choice. Deer was not a hunt animal where I lived, we would check out of work 1/2 hour before sunset, drive a few miles to a local ranch, and climb up on a hay pile with our 22's - herds of deer would come in and many nights a crew of 6 of us would take 42 out and we could watch the rest of them eating the hay while we cleaned their cousins.

[cwillett]

I killed a large (4×5) mule deer this year. I field dressed him, quartered, and skinned primarily with a KOA Cub Bear. Small knife, but the D2 steel held up very nicely and the handle worked well even wearing nitrile gloves. I used a TOPS Tex Creek for some heaviler parts. I had this completely reprofiled by a local knife maker and sharpenner. In the past I've used a Mora stainless, but won't again due to edge retention issues. I was really impressed by the Cub Bear: when I got home I used it to break down the meat. After all that it only needed a little time on a 320 and 1k stones to get it back. I'm making no changes for next year, though I might add another, larger KOA incase I have to help partners with field dressing or for larger animals like elk.

[nakneker]

I have a few Gene Ingram’s and Charles May hunting knives. They are all D2 and S30V, all fixed blades. I have a few others but those two makers are my favorite. You would like a Gene Ingram but I bet you’d love a Charles Mays. The problem is lead time but I have a few and if your interested I would cut one loose for you. I’ll add a link. I also used a plain Jane spyderco this year, kinda of an experiment. It was spyderco Manix XL in S30V. The knife was eye opening, it took three deer and one elk to get it to the stones, I liked it so much a friend asked me what I wanted for Christmas, now I own a spyderco Para military 3 in S110V. As nice as the spydercos are for function the Charles May knives remain my favorites.

http://charlesmayknives.com/home/

[ken123]

I do carry Bark River knives. I prefer 3v steel for edge longevity and A2 for ease of sharpening.

Most of their handle materials hold up well. Micarta is particularly rugged. Kirinite has the advantage of having a good grip even for wet work. Their burls hold up pretty well but if a handle fails the warranty covers it. For hunting applications I prefer a fixed blade.

I have apretty good selection of 'Barkies' both for my own use as well as for sale if this is of interest.

---
Ken

[old onion]

Come on you ol cooks,get out of the kitchen for a bit and come to the woods.I need some ideas.I like hunting knives as much as I like kitchen knives.

I'm still a fan of Chris Reeve knives - you might check out some of his work. Doberman Forge has some real beauties if it's aesthetics you want (in makers part of site) and Carter Hopkins might make you one as well. But my favorite is still a Buck 119. When I lived in Montana we could get 7 tags a day for deer (Gallatin County) and many days I shot and dressed at least 7 - we viewed them as varmints, and would just sit in a hay pile and shoot dozens of them with 22's at less than 100 yards - meat was donated to a food shelf - I am not a fan of venison, so I might keep a few back straps, but that's about all I ever ate for deer, I usually got an elk so that was base red meat for many years). I remember many evenings dressing out a dozen deer in short order, and my 119 was able to do it all with ease. I have dressed out several elk and a moose as well, and that thing is still with me - maybe I will go hunting again, but not in Minnesota. The handle never got too slippery, even after doing a bunch of gland and esophagus cuts, blade is soft enough not to chip when doing lungs in rib cage, and stayed sharp though large numbers of carcasses. If you only take a single deer in a season, it would be a very capable knife. Even when I took hundreds a year, it was still my hunting knife of choice. Deer was not a hunt animal where I lived, we would check out of work 1/2 hour before sunset, drive a few miles to a local ranch, and climb up on a hay pile with our 22's - herds of deer would come in and many nights a crew of 6 of us would take 42 out and we could watch the rest of them eating the hay while we cleaned their cousins.

The Buck 119 must have been the go to hunting knife way back cause I remember when even I was a kid,the hunting side of the family all had that same knife.Then one day while the wife and I were backpacking I came across one laying on the ground,obviously dropped by a hunter from the past season or many seasons ago.It was still in like new shape.I used it for White Tail one time and knew that is was not the knife for me.I found the handle to be extremely slippery and the 6 inch clip point was just way to long and to wildly inside a deer.I much prefer a knife with a Drop Point blade between 3 to 3-1/2". I still have that Buck 119 stashed away in a box and it would make for a nice Bush Craft knife because of it's size but then again,the blade steel isn't quite good enough for that.Something like D2 would be much better.

[old onion]

I have a few Gene Ingram’s and Charles May hunting knives. They are all D2 and S30V, all fixed blades. I have a few others but those two makers are my favorite. You would like a Gene Ingram but I bet you’d love a Charles Mays. The problem is lead time but I have a few and if your interested I would cut one loose for you. I’ll add a link. I also used a plain Jane spyderco this year, kinda of an experiment. It was spyderco Manix XL in S30V. The knife was eye opening, it took three deer and one elk to get it to the stones, I liked it so much a friend asked me what I wanted for Christmas, now I own a spyderco Para military 3 in S110V. As nice as the spydercos are for function the Charles May knives remain my favorites.

http://charlesmayknives.com/home/

So tempting to break out my Spyders for the job but I just don't like the idea of a folder for the fact of getting deer parts inside the openings but if there is a folder strong enough for the job,the Spyderco would be the one.I have a Para 3 in CPM S30V and a Native 5 in CPM S35VN. When I am already suffering from bending over with a bad back,out of breath from being 71 and sporting a homemade bread belly,on a very cold day,the last thing I want to do is stand around picking out the blood and guts from my folder so I can close it back up.I think I like the blade on the Native.It is a drop point.I think the Para 3 is a Spear Point but I really love the jimping hump for the thumb.The Native has some jimping there for the thumb but with the Para 3,your thumb is locked in and is not going anywhere.However,the Native has a nice deep curved jimping on the underside so when you turn the knife over to run it up through the hide to open the cavity,you would have a lot of control.I believe Spyderco makes a fix blade but it has VG-10 steel,my least favorite and most likely,it will be to long,not sure what the blade length is.
I looked over the Charles Mays site you gave and his knives sure got my interest but probably way more then I can justify to spend.To bad I am so dam good looking but poor.

[Kit Craft]

I like a few fixed blades for trapping and fishing. Bark River Bird and Trout (CPM 154) and LT Wright Coyote (D2). But honestly I am a folder guy because I am too forgetful to remember to grab something other than my edc which is always on my night stand and my body moves on its own to clip it to my pocket in the morning. Habits, you know. I never got into edc for a fixed blade as that felt weird. (Not that I have hunted in the last few years...)

Anyway, both of the above mentioned companies make good knives for a reasonable price. I got my grandfather the Coyote to replace his sharp finger and he loves it.

[nakneker]

I have a few Gene Ingram’s and Charles May hunting knives. They are all D2 and S30V, all fixed blades. I have a few others but those two makers are my favorite. You would like a Gene Ingram but I bet you’d love a Charles Mays. The problem is lead time but I have a few and if your interested I would cut one loose for you. I’ll add a link. I also used a plain Jane spyderco this year, kinda of an experiment. It was spyderco Manix XL in S30V. The knife was eye opening, it took three deer and one elk to get it to the stones, I liked it so much a friend asked me what I wanted for Christmas, now I own a spyderco Para military 3 in S110V. As nice as the spydercos are for function the Charles May knives remain my favorites.

http://charlesmayknives.com/home/

So tempting to break out my Spyders for the job but I just don't like the idea of a folder for the fact of getting deer parts inside the openings but if there is a folder strong enough for the job,the Spyderco would be the one.I have a Para 3 in CPM S30V and a Native 5 in CPM S35VN. When I am already suffering from bending over with a bad back,out of breath from being 71 and sporting a homemade bread belly,on a very cold day,the last thing I want to do is stand around picking out the blood and guts from my folder so I can close it back up.I think I like the blade on the Native.It is a drop point.I think the Para 3 is a Spear Point but I really love the jimping hump for the thumb.The Native has some jimping there for the thumb but with the Para 3,your thumb is locked in and is not going anywhere.However,the Native has a nice deep curved jimping on the underside so when you turn the knife over to run it up through the hide to open the cavity,you would have a lot of control.I believe Spyderco makes a fix blade but it has VG-10 steel,my least favorite and most likely,it will be to long,not sure what the blade length is.
I looked over the Charles Mays site you gave and his knives sure got my interest but probably way more then I can justify to spend.To bad I am so dam good looking but poor.

Home made bread belly, Ahahaha.

I have two Bark River knives that do a good job too. They make so many models and use so many steels it can be mind boggling but you should be able to find something you like. You can get older gerber fixed blades used of eBay for under 20 bucks, I use to buy them for my boys and they did a good job, you could take care of an elk before needing to touch it back up. Good luck and let us know what you decide to buy.

[Drewski]

I've been wanting a Kurosaki hunting knife for a while now, but can't justify it... yet. There's one available in R2, but there were some in AS.
http://www.knivesandstones.com/yu-kurosaki/

My brother has a Buck 113 and loves the size and shape.
https://www.buckknives.com/product/113- ... 0113BRS-B/

[timos]

I do have a whole bunch of stuff partially finished in aebl/nitrov/1084 let me know if interested. There is also a bunch of nice stuff in the knifemaker for sale section at blade forums . Bark rivers are excellent, I also love the stuff at fiddleback forge. Big Chris makes some awesome stuff too.

[lsboogy]

Onion - I'm starting to go more towards the handmade stuff on the bottom of the main page as well. I guess I am just used to my old 119, but it does have a more rectangular handle with finger grooves and a lucite handle (disks - kind of like a KaBar), and I found it fine even when my hands and arms were a mess. I think every one I know had either a 119 or a 110/112 years ago as their basic hunting knife. Kind of like everyone had either a 700 Rem (my first game rifle was a 700BDL in 06) or a Win 70 in 06 or 7mm. I would guess you could get a much better knife for hunting now (My Weatherby and Sako rifles are much nicer than my first rifles), and most of the makers here probably don't cost too much more than a benchmade, probably for a better knife, and it will be a personal knife. If I take up hunting again, I might re-think things. But for now, I'm in the doghouse for buying too many knives last year, and I have not hunted in years.

[nakneker]

Onion - I'm starting to go more towards the handmade stuff on the bottom of the main page as well. I guess I am just used to my old 119, but it does have a more rectangular handle with finger grooves and a lucite handle (disks - kind of like a KaBar), and I found it fine even when my hands and arms were a mess. I think every one I know had either a 119 or a 110/112 years ago as their basic hunting knife. Kind of like everyone had either a 700 Rem (my first game rifle was a 700BDL in 06) or a Win 70 in 06 or 7mm. I would guess you could get a much better knife for hunting now (My Weatherby and Sako rifles are much nicer than my first rifles), and most of the makers here probably don't cost too much more than a benchmade, probably for a better knife, and it will be a personal knife. If I take up hunting again, I might re-think things. But for now, I'm in the doghouse for buying too many knives last year, and I have not hunted in years.

If you get weak and start thinking about letting go of some of those Sakos... well enough said.

[old onion]

Onion - I'm starting to go more towards the handmade stuff on the bottom of the main page as well. I guess I am just used to my old 119, but it does have a more rectangular handle with finger grooves and a lucite handle (disks - kind of like a KaBar), and I found it fine even when my hands and arms were a mess. I think every one I know had either a 119 or a 110/112 years ago as their basic hunting knife. Kind of like everyone had either a 700 Rem (my first game rifle was a 700BDL in 06) or a Win 70 in 06 or 7mm. I would guess you could get a much better knife for hunting now (My Weatherby and Sako rifles are much nicer than my first rifles), and most of the makers here probably don't cost too much more than a benchmade, probably for a better knife, and it will be a personal knife. If I take up hunting again, I might re-think things. But for now, I'm in the doghouse for buying too many knives last year, and I have not hunted in years.

If you get weak and start thinking about letting go of some of those Sakos... well enough said.

Back in the day (70's and 80's) I left some mighty nice Sako Finbars and Weatherby's in the gun shop because I simply didn't have the money at the time so just kept hunting with my trusty Rem.700 BDL ott six.

[nakneker]

Onion - I'm starting to go more towards the handmade stuff on the bottom of the main page as well. I guess I am just used to my old 119, but it does have a more rectangular handle with finger grooves and a lucite handle (disks - kind of like a KaBar), and I found it fine even when my hands and arms were a mess. I think every one I know had either a 119 or a 110/112 years ago as their basic hunting knife. Kind of like everyone had either a 700 Rem (my first game rifle was a 700BDL in 06) or a Win 70 in 06 or 7mm. I would guess you could get a much better knife for hunting now (My Weatherby and Sako rifles are much nicer than my first rifles), and most of the makers here probably don't cost too much more than a benchmade, probably for a better knife, and it will be a personal knife. If I take up hunting again, I might re-think things. But for now, I'm in the doghouse for buying too many knives last year, and I have not hunted in years.

If you get weak and start thinking about letting go of some of those Sakos... well enough said.

Back in the day (70's and 80's) I left some mighty nice Sako Finbars and Weatherby's in the gun shop because I simply didn't have the money at the time so just kept hunting with my trusty Rem.700 BDL ott six.

I’ve always loved Sakos. Couldn’t afford them till later life but I’ve managed to find a few along the way. My favorite being a couple of pre Garcia 222s.