Good skinning/Gutting knife for whitetail

[22-rimfire]

The Moran is a good choice for field dressing. I like mine. It is less good for riguorous cutting and so forth. But for meat.... yeah, works just fine.

These have all been more than helpful. I've been in contact with a guy that is going to get something made up for me and my buddy. But I have used all the input and positives from the knives you guys recommended. And I think this knife will be perfect. And a one of a kind set of two.

On a side note what do you guys think of S35V? The thought of D2 and a A2 crossed my mind. But the rust scares me. I'm not going to lie I'm one of those guys that will gut a deer semi clean my knife. And forget about it in my pack for a week or more. So I want something that won't rust to easy. And will hold an edge well. The need to resharpen in the field isn't going to be a huge deal breaker. I do most of my hunting in metro bow hunting situations and so does my buddy. So my full sharpening set up is very close. And I haven't seemed to have to much trouble with most of the knives I've sharpened with S30V but have no experience with S35V. But it sounds like a good choice to me.

I believe I only have one knife if S35VN (Spyderco Native) and I like the steel which for my deer hunting uses would work just fine if you clean it afterwards. I don't think you'll go wrong with S35VN. There is a thread back in the Outdoor forum that mentions S35VN and I was impressed with the comments. But honestly, I think you would be just fine with D2 (like my Doziers) or A2 (like my Bark River/Blackjacks). Yeah, you need to wipe them down as I think you should with any steel regardless of it being stainless or carbon steel. I'm not much of a steel snob and even like S30V for hunting chores like the Cabelas Guide Series 192 which is just a beautiful knife and plenty for normal hunting use. That thread mentions S30V edges rolling, but I can fix a rolled edge. Even with a rolled edge, the knife is still usable. Chips are a little harder. I would not choose the 192 for hard use however. Something like the ESEE's and Kabar Beckers work better for that.

 

[The cow]

The buck is a pretty popular and inexpensive one. I have that Saddle Mountain in dymonwood. Its great knife from the kitchen duties I've had it do (sadly no deer this year). You might be lucky and still find some first production numbered ones out there. End of the season, you can send it back to benchmade and they'll sharpen it for you (I can't tell you all the buggered up blades that I've seen from yuppies)

Virtuovice has a great channel of him processing deer with various knives side by side. I believe his favorite knife is the Bark River Gunny (he's fond of bark rivers in general)

 

[link2derek]

That Bark River Nomad is a really nice knife for field chores for both small and larger game. Beautiful handles. It was one of my more expensive factory knife purchases in 2014.

It is definitely a sweet little knife, rimfire, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites...