Show Us Your Hunting Knife

[Wyatt Smith]

I know some trapper who made a hide puller for raccoons. It had two of the vise grip style welding clamps with the big flat jaws. A sort of a gambrel with choke chains for the feet. Once you got the legs started you just cranked the winch.

 

[mdwest]

Anyone ever have to resharpen/modify shape of, their gut hook on the knife. Got one that likes to get the skin bunch up in it--needs to be taut to work much. Might get a zipper....hmmm.

Bring it with you to the party on the 11th.. I’ve got some round files and round sharpening stones that usually do the trick on a gut hook if the steel isn’t bothered up too much…

 

[62flint]

Blade a friend made me Do not know all the details of steel and such But holds a edge and just feels good

 

[Datchew]

Anyone ever have to resharpen/modify shape of, their gut hook on the knife. Got one that likes to get the skin bunch up in it--needs to be taut to work much. Might get a zipper....hmmm.

That's actually how I learned of the zipper tool. Couldn't resharpen a gut hook properly and gave up on it. An older buck hunting knife if I recall.

The larger, broad radius of the zipper is much easier to sharpen, even with a steel. You're also not driving the skin at a normal angle to the blade. The gut hook angle of attack to the skin is like an axe to wood. With the zipper, it's 20-40 degrees over a larger radiused surface and held taut by the tip and sliding force as you move.

Not the best description but hopefully that gets the idea across

 

[cash_tx]

Ive never used a "zipper" type profile... but I definitely like the idea/concept.. I think it would be especially useful on larger game like elk, moose, etc..

Ive gotten a bit lazy lately.. I saw someone using the "golf ball" technique sometime last year on a youtube video.. I gave it a try on my wifes most recent doe (basically skinned to just a couple of inches below the tail with the deer hanging head down on a gambrel.. then tied a golf ball under the hide using a length of 550 cord.. attached the other end of the cord to the winch on my UTV.. etc)... I was absolutely AMAZED at how easy this really is to do (thought it was a bit of a parlor trick when watching the youtube videos).. basically pulled the entire hide off like a sock, all the way down to the bottom of the front legs and the middle of the neck, exposing meat all the way to the neck roasts..

Ive also started butchering using the "gutless" method (once again thought it a bit of a parlor trick initially.. how would you get the tenderloins out?????).. but found it to be super efficient and easy (and no real problem getting the tenderloins out after all)..

My dad switched over to the "gutless" method on whitetails sometime around Y2K, and I don't think he ever looked back. My brothers and I kept gutting, mostly cause we thought it was cool and to see who could do it the fastest.

I'll never forget a time in the mid-1980's when I watched my uncle try a variation of the golf ball method using his old Jeep CJ5. Problem was, he didn't use a golf ball and tied directly onto the deer's tail and wound up yanking it out of the tree.

 

[cash_tx]

Ok, I'll go. Moving left to right is:

- An early 70's vintage Browning that was my dad's go-to deer skinning knife for several years until he bought the Kershaw next to it.

- An early model Kershaw folder by Kai Japan that my Dad got sometime in the 1980's and is very hefty and wicked sharp.

- a custom that @mdwest was so generous to make for me this past year, and was an instant family heirloom. It hasn't been in the field yet, but just a matter of time. This knife is going to the grave with me. ;-)

- a Boddington of some sort that I really don't know much about (related to Craig Boddington, I guess?), but it was in my dad's collection and I thought it looked cool and seems pretty sturdy.

- the Kershaw Oso Sweet on the bottom is my EDC pocketknife, and sees far more use than all the others combined. I recommend these to everybody.

 

[CZDiesel]

My hunting knife, a late 80s US made Case… It’s served me well and I’ve always thought of it to be a really nice knife!
But seeing some on this thread we’ll sit in the back lol

 

[BeeMaa]

@CZDiesel - That’s OK, the Omega Planet Ocean in the first picture moves you up a good bit.

I believe the PO I have is the model that came after that one with “Seamaster” written in orange.

 

[wvfred]

I still like old school knives.The Randall I have used for several years and the Corbet Sigman I never used after his passing.

 

[Vashper]

Its Central Asian pchak.
I take it with me when there is hope for meat. As a fillet knife. This is an artisanal product, no two are the same. The handle is the horn of a simple cow, the guard is a tin alloy. The price nowadays for such a thing is 20 bucks, or even less. It is forged in a special way, the butt is quite thick, the blade is a triangle in cross section, with slightly concave lobes. And although it is traditional, nowadays they are made almost exclusively of steel for ball bearings - the steel is hard and extremely wear-resistant, but it is necessary to keep it clean: acidic impurities leave traces. It is recommended to keep the knife greased, and even lubricate the sheath from the inside.
The author claimed that it is not necessary to sharpen it, it is enough to edit ( I do not know the term for fine-tuning the blade ) the blade on the bottom of a porcelain bowl

 

[BeeMaa]

The author claimed that it is not necessary to sharpen it, it is enough to edit ( I do not know the term for fine-tuning the blade ) the blade on the bottom of a porcelain bowl

In English, it's called honing. To hone is to smooth or fine tune a blade for sharpening.

Very nice blade. Do you carry anything smaller for detail work?

 

[CBH Australia]

In English, it's called honing. To hone is to smooth or fine tune a blade for sharpening.

Very nice blade. Do you carry anything smaller for detail work?

Interesting, yes honing can be done on a number of surfaces. I heard once you can use the edge of a car door window when it's wound down. It actually works I have done it It worked well to get the job done.

I have never used the bottom of a ceramic bowl but I can see that working.

I see that you are a watch person . I walked into a Rolex shop on a quick stopover in Singapore, nice but I'm tight with money and while I like nice things I don't wear jewellery etc.

 

[rifletuner]

This is a "lion killer" I made recently. I think it qualifies as a "hunting knife". I am sure most members here will already know the story behind the original knife - its certainly a hell of a read. The blade is 3mm SF100 stainless, with a full flat grind and a tapered tang. The handle is gidgee scales with thin red G10 liners, brass pins & a brass mosaic lanyard tube. Handle finish is hand rubbed Aussie oil. The sheath was made by AH member @yumastepside

 

[TMac]

Batch of knives headed to some soon to be happy hunters in Oregon, USA. Two with upgraded handles of spalted hackberry with buffalo horn. Mini skinners and Chamois hunters.

 

[Vashper]

In English, it's called honing. To hone is to smooth or fine tune a blade for sharpening.

Very nice blade. Do you carry anything smaller for detail work?

I'm sorry, I didn't answer the question right away. The family wanted to spend the New Year holidays outside the city, and besides, I went “on the hoof” for three days (unfortunately, the last attempt to implement a license for an elk was unsuccessful). I was without a computer.
When the temperature is about -30 degrees Celsius, everything freezes: fingers and toes, nose, lithium batteries (hello to collimator sights), diesel fuel, various sensors in the car. And if you touch metal with a wet hand, you can leave a piece of your own skin.
That's why the “right” hunting knife has no metal parts on the handle, not even rivets. This is the main feature of the knife for winter. This knife uses pressed birch bark and some kind of African wood. The style of the knife, of course, is controversial, and besides, it is from a rather expensive craftsman, I would not have bought it myself, it is a gift. But it's quite practical.
A knife for constant carrying, of course, should be a universal tool suitable for different jobs, but it should be suitable for the main task: remove the skin from the moose, gut it, and, if necessary, disassemble the carcass at the joints for carrying.
I have also met knives made of steel for bearings (analogous to American steel 52100), but even steel of type D2 is not welcome, because it corrodes at least a little. Therefore, an analog of AUS-8 or powder, Elmax, etc. is mainly used.. But powder steels are too hard and do not like sharp side impacts, that is, they can break and they are difficult to sharpen in the field. Therefore, the analog of AUS-8 is optimal, with a hardness of 57-61 HRC.
Is there an endless discussion about the optimal blade thickness – 3 or 4 mm? This knife is 3.4 mm.
Is the blade length 4.5 inches or 5.5 inches? This knife is 4.5.
The butt of the knife should be straight or with a slight drop, so that it is convenient to clean the snow from the skis although I don't go skiing.
And a deep and hard scabbard, so that if you fall unsuccessfully, the knife does not stick into the thigh.

 

[375er]

Ok, I'll go. Moving left to right is:

- An early 70's vintage Browning that was my dad's go-to deer skinning knife for several years until he bought the Kershaw next to it.

- An early model Kershaw folder by Kai Japan that my Dad got sometime in the 1980's and is very hefty and wicked sharp.

- a custom that @mdwest was so generous to make for me this past year, and was an instant family heirloom. It hasn't been in the field yet, but just a matter of time. This knife is going to the grave with me. ;-)

- a Boddington of some sort that I really don't know much about (related to Craig Boddington, I guess?), but it was in my dad's collection and I thought it looked cool and seems pretty sturdy.

- the Kershaw Oso Sweet on the bottom is my EDC pocketknife, and sees far more use than all the others combined. I recommend these to everybody.

View attachment 576926

Love that era of the Brownings. I have several I use to this day.

 

[ActionBob]

@Royal came down last weekend and we culled 5 whitetails. Cut them them up with some great knives

 

[Vashper]

 

[yumastepside]

That looks like a " safety " knife for cutting seat belts ?

Roger

 

[CBH Australia]

That looks like a " safety " knife for cutting seat belts ?

Roger

I tend to think the same thing. The Deer head picture on the Red one doesn't fit with that theory and I think there would be some other sort of image used if marketed to Emergency services personnel etc.

I've been on a UK based site and the term Gralloching comes up and there have been a few short blades with an inside or back blade sharpened edge for Gutting or Gralloching. But that's where the serrated edge doesn't seem to fit in.