First time hunting knife

[iamsmiling]

Check out the Spyderco Bill Moran Drop Point. It has a VG10 blade just under 4" and is that classic Bill Moran drop point design. I purchased mine several years ago for about $75.

 

[Monocrom]

One Sleeper in this segment would be Benchmade's Rant Bowie.

Despite the name, it's a short-bladed knife with a very comfortable handle, single guard, and steel that is easy to re-sharpen out in the Field. Reasonable price too.

 

[FullerH]

Spyderco makes a nearly perfect hunting knife that sells for about $66.00 at New Graham in Virginia, USA. It is the Bill Moran Featherweight in either Swept Point or in Drop Point. I prefer a Drop Point, which is numbered FB02 while the Swept Point is FB01. You should be able to find either one well within your price range in Ireland.

http://www.newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=5213

 

[kingdomknives]

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[jpvjr]

I have only killed four deer; I am not a very experienced deer hunter. I field dressed my deer, which is the process of slitting open the abdomen and removing the guts. 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.

You really don’t need a big knife to field dress. A four inch blade will cut through the pelvis so you can remove the lower intestine all they way to the anus. However I do recommend something that will sound totally candy ass. Rubber gloves. Getting your hands in the gut of a deer is a bloody, and depending on what organs were hit, disgusting experience. All the grass, crap, blood is going all over your hands. And, since you don’t carry a kitchen sink, stays on you. You can toss the gloves away after sweeping out the blood, guts, and hair.

You might want a light axe to cut a pole. Dead deer do not carry well. With string and a pole two people can carry the thing out. Better than dragging.

Removing the hide took a lot of work, and does not pull off easily. A curved knife was the best. I used a Russell Green River Buffalo Skinner
http://www.dexter-russell.com/Search_details.asp?id=11074&group_name=Dexter-Russell.asp

A saw worked very well in removing limbs, heavy things.

You need to talk with the folks in your area. In the US there are plenty of butcher’s who will process your deer , convert it to slices and sausages for a fee. Just bring a gutted deer and they will do the rest. One fellow, who was a gamekeeper in the UK, used to hang his deer, in temperatures above freezing, until they were “just beginning to be disgusting” on the outside. He claimed that after this aging the deer lost all of the “gamey” flavor.

3" blade soddy (skinner), is all you need (meat hunting), my high school wood shop teacher used a smaller knife yet for everything (he used a stock knife w/ the main &sf blade busted off). if you learn to use a knife right you could do anything on earth w/ that 1 knife from groundhog to moose. a goodway to learn to use a knife is simple- PRACTICE get squirrels rabbits etc, & butcher them you'll do 2 things - learn knife handling & anatomy. (OK 3 things -save money on a butcher).

 

[jpvjr]

Yeah the legs do have most of the meat, but anyone who waste the rest is not a good hunter in my book . 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!

Just a question did you ever try fried moose nose? deliciuos & nutritious.