Crossbow doe & new knife (carcess processing photos)

kyturkey

kyturkey

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Oct 10, 2007
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My dad got a crossbow this year to try on turkeys, and agreed that I could borrow it when he wasn't using it. I jumped at the chance to extend my season and spend some more time out in the woods.

Well I didn't have a chance to try it on a turkey, but did shoot a small doe with it. Shot her broadside just past 20 yds and she went about 20 yds after the shot and fell over. It's a Wicked Ridge Invader crossbow and I'm not sure of the broadheads. To me they seemed small, but they did the job - complete pass thru.

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And the new knife, a JK Cutlass (I believe that's going to be the official name)

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I received this as part of a pass around, I was the 4th person to try it. Protourist here on BF came up with the design- to quote him "Yesterday John and I discussed a heavy duty skinner that I'd like. It will be roughly 13 1/2 inches overall with a roughly 8 1/4 inch blade of 3/16 O-1. The design is sort of a cross between a Randall 3 and a Randall 4 and it will have Ebony scales"

I believe he intended it as a skinner for elk and moose mainly, so I thought I'd try it on a deer. Gotta say from looking at it, it's not like any knife I have and I probably wouldn't have picked it to use. With that said it worked great on that doe, really couldn't ask for any better. In use it doesn't feel overly large and it has great balance. The blade shape and point worked really well.

Field dressing was a breeze, and it split thru the breast bone with two swings.

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Skinning and cutting up the meat

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part of the end result

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I'm gonna say that if you like the Randal model 3 and 4 and want something similar you need to check this one out.
 
Nice review Derek - I think protourist will be pleased to see this!

Did the edge hold up during the skinning?

best regards -

mqqn
 
Thank you very much. It's great to see John make a design come to life and really cool to see it in use, knowing it does it's job well.
Great job on the deer. You'll have a few great meals there.
 
I'm interested to hear what you thought about the handle angle. Did it put your hand in a natural cutting position? Was it comfortable?
John will be making me a 5 inch version of this in 1/16 O-1. What would you change in the design?
 
I liked the ergonomics, it is comfortable to use.

I believe 1066vik sanded the sharp edges at the front of the grip. Which works, but I would make the handle slabs come up closer to the blade. That is a preference of mine.

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A 5" version in 1/16" sounds awesome. I'm really liking thinner blades right now, my last couple have been 3/32".
 
Good to know, thank you.
 
Well done on putting some venision in the freezer!
That big trail point looks like it would cut like crazy!
Bruce
 
Bruce, I have to admit that I never liked trailing points until recently. After trying one and seeing just how well they cut I am hooked. There is something about them that I should have recognized years ago.
 
kyturkey said:
I liked the ergonomics, it is comfortable to use.

I believe 1066vik sanded the sharp edges at the front of the grip. Which works, but I would make the handle slabs come up closer to the blade. That is a preference of mine.

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Click to expand...
On future versions the handle will be a bit shorter, so the slabs will come further up. The wood was only available in 5" long pieces, not long enough for the handle.
 
I should have thought of that when drawing it up. It's good to know now, mine is exactly as I had envisioned it so I sure won't complain. That's why I wanted other people's opinions. You can't really be sure about a design until it's been used.
 
I did consider that the handle could be shorter for my med/large hands and not give up any comfort, but some guys with xl hands might like the extra room. As it is now it looks very proportional, and that might change with a shorter handle.

I like the ebony handles, but did notice that they shrunk a little. As you can see in the photo, you can just catch your nail on the tang, but you don't notice it during use.
 
A thought about the handle. What about keeping the overall length and moving the scales forward, leaving an extended tang with a lanyard hole? What do you think?
More like this.
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I know that I like them but some don't. I guess it's an option for those of us that do.
 
Crossbow's are excellent hunting tools and I feel strongly that they have a place in every outdoorsmans arsenal I have a Horton Tacoma Trac-150 and while this is an inexpensive entry level crossbow it has served quite well in the field and pasture by helping me harvest a smallish six point buck and dispose of several destructive armadillos.
 
Now that everyone that wanted to has played with my knife, it is finally coming home to me. I can't wait. Thanks again.
 
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