To my fellow hunters:
I have been incorporating a new philosophy when it comes to hunting knives. When field dressing game, I will only buy top notch knives with fantastic steel that holds a razor sharp edge under hard use, and I only use that knife for gutting game, and nothing else. That knife will never touch wood, rope, wire, cardboard, or anything else. Now, I will always carry 2 knives on my belt while hunting and a tiny hatchet. My hunting knife, and a separate knife for my rope and wood and other material cutting needs.
Let me explain why.
Back in 2008, my buddy who was a firefighter shot a buck and it ended up running over to where my stand was and died about 100 yds away from me.
My buddy did not know how to gut a deer, and asked if I would help him out. I went over to him with my buck 119, which I had been whittling with while in my stand to pass some time. My buck 119 was made with the 420hc steel. I had been using this knife to whittle and to help hack down some branches as I put up my tree stand, thinking nothing of it at the time.
I went to cut the deer open. I successfully got down to the pelvis region, put the tip of the blade on the bone and batoned it a bit to split it open. I then went to cut some of the tendons from around the pelvis, when suddenly my knife hit part of the bone. I put some extra pressure on it when the knife tip broke through, and hit me in my left wrist.
I was wearing orange gutting gloves, and as I was processing the deer I was already covered in blood. I took the glove off to look, and blood squirted out of my wrist like in the movies. the firefighter quickly ripped off my wool hat and wrapped it around my wrist, and basically dragged me 1 mile out of the woods. We had to go to a clinic ( as there was no hospital within 50 miles) and finally got it taken care of.
I got 24 stitches, and was millimeters away from knicking a main artery. I had cut a large slab of skin and meat down to the bone off of my wrist.
Now every day I go out in the woods I have a scar that reminds me to always carry a razor sharp and sturdy knife for gutting, one for utility purposes, and a small hatchet to split the pelvis.
I still have my buck 119 that is now my backup knife that I keep in the trunk of my car. (it wasn't the knifes fault, rather mine. I still love the knife and I will never forget it). I now carry an s30V alpha hunter as my hunting knife, a mini alpha hunter 420hc as a utility, and a very small hand hatchet for trimming limbs for hanging my tree stand and for splitting the pelvis of a deer.
/story
I have been incorporating a new philosophy when it comes to hunting knives. When field dressing game, I will only buy top notch knives with fantastic steel that holds a razor sharp edge under hard use, and I only use that knife for gutting game, and nothing else. That knife will never touch wood, rope, wire, cardboard, or anything else. Now, I will always carry 2 knives on my belt while hunting and a tiny hatchet. My hunting knife, and a separate knife for my rope and wood and other material cutting needs.
Let me explain why.
Back in 2008, my buddy who was a firefighter shot a buck and it ended up running over to where my stand was and died about 100 yds away from me.
My buddy did not know how to gut a deer, and asked if I would help him out. I went over to him with my buck 119, which I had been whittling with while in my stand to pass some time. My buck 119 was made with the 420hc steel. I had been using this knife to whittle and to help hack down some branches as I put up my tree stand, thinking nothing of it at the time.
I went to cut the deer open. I successfully got down to the pelvis region, put the tip of the blade on the bone and batoned it a bit to split it open. I then went to cut some of the tendons from around the pelvis, when suddenly my knife hit part of the bone. I put some extra pressure on it when the knife tip broke through, and hit me in my left wrist.
I was wearing orange gutting gloves, and as I was processing the deer I was already covered in blood. I took the glove off to look, and blood squirted out of my wrist like in the movies. the firefighter quickly ripped off my wool hat and wrapped it around my wrist, and basically dragged me 1 mile out of the woods. We had to go to a clinic ( as there was no hospital within 50 miles) and finally got it taken care of.
I got 24 stitches, and was millimeters away from knicking a main artery. I had cut a large slab of skin and meat down to the bone off of my wrist.
Now every day I go out in the woods I have a scar that reminds me to always carry a razor sharp and sturdy knife for gutting, one for utility purposes, and a small hatchet to split the pelvis.
I still have my buck 119 that is now my backup knife that I keep in the trunk of my car. (it wasn't the knifes fault, rather mine. I still love the knife and I will never forget it). I now carry an s30V alpha hunter as my hunting knife, a mini alpha hunter 420hc as a utility, and a very small hand hatchet for trimming limbs for hanging my tree stand and for splitting the pelvis of a deer.
/story
