Favorite hunting knife?

michaelm466

michaelm466

Joined
Mar 5, 2009
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A friend of mine is looking for a new hunting knife (all-around, but mostly deer), and I was wondering with those of you that have experience, what some of your favorites are, specifically for the initial gutting, skinning, and quartering. We looked at Cabela's the three that stood out to me online were the CS Pendleton in VG-1, Spyderco Moran, and BM Bone Collector, but looking at them in person I favored the Moran because of the good belly and thinner blade stock. I also have a BM drop point Rant that I think would do well because of the thinner high hollow grind, but haven't used it before on game.
 
heres my new deer knife....backwoods forge made.....1095 carbon.....FES

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any knife that is sharp... i have some buck and gerber gut knives and my Mora uitility knife is 2 x sharper than those. i might use that this year.
 
A couple of years ago I ended up buying a Fallkniven F2. I guess it's similar to the Bone Collector Caping Knife. The narrow, stout, VG-10 blade makes field dressing a pleasure and has plenty of edge for skinning deer sized game or smaller. It's more of a boning knife style, but I've found it to be my favorite fixed blade for hunting. It doesn't look like a hunting knife, more of a kitchen knife, but has a grippy handle and stays sharp. For folders, I take my Benchmade 710. The blade is near all around perfect in shape and size (for deer/hog sized game or smaller).
 
Man I have a ton of hunting knives and I want to say that one of my customs is my favorite, but I almost always carry my Buck Zipper. If I have a folder its my folding Buck alpha hunter.
 
This is my favorite, after 40+ years of looking. Loveless drop point hunter. This one by WC Davis. Last used up in Alaska a couple years back. A trip to the sandbox kind of ruined the last two seasons for me.

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I'm a fan of the Fallkniven H1. I've had one for years and it is a very solid knife. Full tang, good thickness, non-slippery when wet and holds its edge.
 
Field dressing?


This is what I carry when looking to harvest Bambi.


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BRK Woodland Special, part of my Bow Hunting Kit.


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This Andy Roy custom is also my friend in the Deer Woods.


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A few more, the bottom knife, a BRK DPH.


It's based on a Loveless design, with the Lamb ergonomic handle,

...it is one of the best hunting knives ever developed.





Big Mike
 
this is my field dressing knife (not the military)
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this is for when the deer is hanging

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Not enough knife for most folks, but my edc and deer, turkey knife is an Opinel#8.
The one drawback to this blade is that the wood swells up some making it tighter to open when wet.
I gut,split the pelvis, skin, remove legs, and quarter deer with this knife.

I will admit that a fixed blade is probably better for deer, but the #8 fits nicely in my pocket and has done the work for years for me.






Kent
 
I started using a Moran last year on deer and was very impressed with both its edge holding and the ergonomics. Before it I used a Benchmade 151 and several Buck Diamondbacks and a Bucklite Max small. While I'll still use the rest the Moran will probably be my primary skinner for the forseeable future.

A friend of mine, who is one of the more succesful deer hunters around here uses the Cabelas Buck Vanguard in S30V and loves it. He cleans 40-50 deer a season usually.
 
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I'm suprised that no one's mentioned the Knives of Alaska set.
Nothing wrong with a nice custom, but for a real work horse with some of the best steel out there those KOA two knife sets are awfully hard to beat IMO.

Buck Vanguards another good one that won't break the bank.
I've used this one for 25+/- years and she's still going strong.
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If your only looking for a skinner, Scott Gossman who makes knives here on the forum has a good one called the UNK (Utility Neck Knife). He used it to field dress a hog he killed, you can see pics on his forum.
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Now for deer hunting this is what I use, it will field dress and do other things as needed, it's also made by Scott Gossman called the Tusker. (top: Tusker! Bottom: Backwoods Companion)
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Hope this gives you a few more choices.
 
The Moran is a good choice for a field knife. Got one. I would choose something a bit larger for the meat prep however which for me is mostly done by a butcher. If I did the quartering, it would be done at home or in the camp. So I would not be carrying the big blade with me in the woods. There are so many excellent hunting knives. But if I have learned anything over the years, it is I favor a small blade (under 4") for hunting chores that allows me better precision and control.
 
This one from David Farmer (differentially H-T'd L6 and bamboo) does a great job for me on big southern Illinois whitetails.

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