First time hunting knife

The purpose of field dressing is to start cooling the meat. I never have cut through the pelvis in the field - generally I will open up the abdomen, start removing the intestine, etc, then split the breastbone up to the neck and get rid of the heart, liver, everything. Basically get everything out of the body cavity, because all the stuff that's in there is warm, and warmth is your enemy. Take the deer wherever - camp, home, wherever for skinning and quartering & the rest. We generally cut through the pelvis after skinning and all.

The rule of thumb for having good deer meat is to get the core temperature of the meat as cool as you can as quickly as you can. Not freezing, but below 40 degrees. If it's cold outside it's not too hard to do. The longer it takes to get the meat cool, the worse it turns out. Basically as soon as the deer dies, you are on the clock - and you need to get it cool fast as possible and keep it as dry as you can. No waterhoses, etc. If you go to one of those deer processing places and look around at the skinned deer hanging up. The ones that have dark, dark red meat, and really white tissue are the ones that got cool fast, and the brownish looking ones are the ones that didn't

We've always used a saw on the pelvis. Axe will do it too.
 
UK dealer? Why bother, he lives in Ireland and so you can access Bark River direct from the EU and pay with paypal. DLT TRADINGCOMPANY.com or similar, big stock of Bark River gear. You MIGHT like to consider KIZLYAR fixed blades from Russia, amazing finish and surp high quality too. Many models,most with Caucasian walnut curved handles and finger grooves.Excellent leatherwork on the sheathes too. See kizlyar.de from Germany so no prob with imports to another EU country(no taxes or suchlike) if you opt for a hunting folder, any Buck will do well, but rather overlooked is the Buck Alpha Hunter either with rubberized grips or Rosewood with superior steel. A hefty folder for sure with keen edge, exc lockup and a decent sheath.Bit heavy maybe. Check e-bay don't buy in the EU as they cost twice as much as from the US!
 
Bark River in A2. Huntsman, Fox River, Gameskeeper, etc...Barkies have done great on Caribou and Moose in Alaska
 
Fallkniven H1 (love it)
Rat-3 (excellent)
CS master hunter
CS Pendleton hunter (best bang for the buck in a fixed blade hunting knife IMHO)
Buck 110 (have used one on more than 30 animals, and it has done just fine)
 
Hi Doberman. If you go for the Fallkniven you'll be buying a damned good knife.
Try getting in touch with Andrew at http://www.outdoorcode.co.uk/catalog/ for really good service and good pricing too. He stocks most of the Fallkniven range which is quite rare for someone on "our" side of the pond.

I have no connection with or to the company, I'm just a satisfied customer of theirs many times over.
 
A Swamp Rat Howling Rat (G2) is my blade of choice for deer, I usually have a Bark River Clip Point Skinner to back that up, but it is not necessary.
 
I would recommend the Cold Steel Master Hunter. It is a good size hunting knife and I love it. I got mine for $75 from the cold steel website but I think it was on sale (you can get it for around $100). It will be a good size for deer and is a pretty thick tough blade so you won't have to worry about breaking it or anything like that. Also the sheath that it comes with is semi nice and will do. Don't get a knife with a gut hook you don't need it and personally I think they are a pain in the ass. I have used my master hunter to gut and skin many animals including squirrels (mind you that was kind of hard b/c of the small size.) So the size will work well for a deer. Another thing, when you skin that deer if you want to get minimal fat on the hide if you are going to tan it try to just use your hands to skin it and use the knife as little as possible, this is very difficult but you won't have to scrape it as much in the tanning process.
 
I say a us made marbles or a queen premium hunter.Both are the right size for cleaning game super quality and affordible.Also both will hold an edge plenty well for skining deer.

You can buy both for well under $200.

Happy Hunting!
 
I would have to say the most popular hunters around here are Bucks with cheap generic copy's of Bucks coming a close second. I have lost count of the guys with 800$ rifles and 10$ knives. You can't go wrong with the Fallknivens or most of the knives mentioned.
 
i would go with a cold steel outdoorsman or cold steel master hunter great knives for the price
 
lambertiana said:
My first choice would be one of two Bark River models.

Fox River:

http://www.barkriverknifetool.com/professional/foxriver/index.html

Highland:

http://www.barkriverknifetool.com/professional/highlandspecial/index.html

I know there is a UK dealer for Bark River, but their link from Bark River's website doesn't work for me. You could e-mail them for details on their UK dealers.

They are very good designs, and very easy to maintain with a strop.
Click to expand...

I'll second this advice. Fox River would be my first choice.
 
How can someone order a custom knife if they don't know what they are looking for in said knife?

Wouldn't it be easier to spend far less money on a commercial blade and see what works then get a custom if he still wants to?
 
Another vote for Fallkniven, H1 would be the choice. I have an S1 myself (I'm not a hunter) and love it. Several friends of mine are hunters and carry the H1 and never consider anything else.

Just a note: try a Frost stainless Mora at 8$ as a backup. Ugly handle, worse sheet but a quality knife made for hard use. Ragweeds got it.
//Jay
 
SlamFire said:
. Talking to people who regularly bring lots of deer home, (meat hunters), I now wonder if field dressing was the thing to do. Several of these people just remove the forelimbs and legs. Don’t bother with the tenderloin, ribs, etc. The legs have the most meat on the deer.
Click to expand...

Yeah the legs do have most of the meat, but anyone who waste the rest is not a good hunter in my book:mad: . There is a lot of meat in the neck,back, and the rest. I was raised to use every bit of the meat you can off a animal you killed, and to hear of people not doing so makes me sick to my stomach! There is no reason not too, unless your just being lazy!
 
troutfisher13111 said:
Yeah the legs do have most of the meat, but anyone who waste the rest is not a good hunter in my book:mad: . There is a lot of meat in the neck,back, and the rest. I was raised to use every bit of the meat you can off a animal you killed, and to hear of people not doing so makes me sick to my stomach! There is no reason not too, unless your just being lazy!
Click to expand...

Hell yeah, brother! There's a hot cup of coffee for you in my camp any morning. :thumbup:

I have heard that the deer are so tiny down south, though, that just taking the shoulders/hindquarters is a common thing. However, I still despise waste and agree with you a hundred and twenty percent.

I say 120% because I believe you should try to use every part of the animal that you can. Tan the hide, keep the ivories from Elk, eat the heart, eat the liver, make gun or bow racks from the front legs/hooves, etc.

I guess there's really no harm in leaving what you don't want out in the woods, though. It will all be reclaimed by nature in the same way all of us will be some day. Worm food! But to waste the back-straps! Not in my camp, NOT IN MY CAMP!!! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top