Larger hunting knives

chevyrulez1

chevyrulez1

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Oct 2, 2007
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Wanting to share my opinion on hunting knives, and get others opinions. First of all, I realize that it is possible to field dress a deer with a small sharp knife. I also recognize that many people prefer smaller knives, and some use nothing but a small havalon with the disposable blades. I am good with people using whatever they are comfortable with.

The issue I have is that the interweb loves to bash people who like larger knives. I have seen all the usual comments, "all you need is a 3-4" blade, anything larger than that you cant control"
And "anybody who uses a big knife like that doesn't know what they are doing"

I dont understand all the hate for larger hunting knives. Traditionally, larger Bowie style knives and butcher knives were commonly used for field dressing wild game. If I am not mistaken, the Military Kabar was patterned after a large Western brand hunting knife. I caught grief from someone one time because I carried a Buck 119 hunting. They looked at it and said "thats a big knife!" I must say it worked well for me . One reason is because I do not stick my arms up to my elbows inside the chest cavity to cut the esophagus and such. I split the rib cage and open it up so I can see what I am doing. I may not cut as far if I am planning to mount the deer, but still.

I am thinking the idea of only using a 4" blade max for deer hunting is a fairly new concept, and now anyone who doesn't follow that philosophy gets attacked as an idiot or a Rambo wannabe. Does anyone else here prefer a larger blade for hunting?
 
chevyrulez1 said:
One reason is because I do not stick my arms up to my elbows inside the chest cavity to cut the esophagus and such. I split the rib cage and open it up so I can see what I am doing. I may not cut as far if I am planning to mount the deer, but still.
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Yup. I tend to prefer larger knives with blades in the 4.5-7" range for hunting medium and large game (hogs, deer, elk) simply because I have better reach, leverage, and more sharpened edge to work with. I can use part of the blade closest to the handle to split the sternum, cut around joints/bones, or slice through skin (which is often loaded up with abrasive dirt, sand, etc.) and spare the first few inches around the tip for finer detail work. I don't have to worry about dulling the entire edge for any one task as the front end stays sharp for use on flesh while the back end takes the brunt of rougher work, that way I can keep using the same knife to clean multiple animals without needing a touch up. On one occasion, I used the same 5" knife to clean 10 whitetails in under 20 minutes and, due in large part to the technique described above, didn't have to stop once for honing.

Plus, I like having a little extra length in case I need to administer a finishing blow to a downed animal. I've done so with shorter blades but would rather not have to do so again.

Don't get me wrong, I love my pile of small/medium fixed blades (which to me means any fixed blade blade up to 4") and carry them frequently when hunting birds or other small game and for general use and work. I would probably consider carrying only a small fixed blade if I was planning to hike 20 miles into the back country for something big like an elk and every extra ounce mattered. But, barring any such external factors, I would rather carry something a little larger than smaller. To each their own.
 
I've used larger knives such as the Buck 119, Cold Steel/Red River Elk Skinner and SRK with 5-6" blades for field dressing moose, but came to prefer something a bit shorter such as the CS Master Hunter or Marbles Campcraft. A grippy handle is just as important as the blade (Master Hunter's kraton grip is ideal). A small axe (Snow & Nealley Hudson Bay 3/4 single bit) is useful for splitting the breastbone, or a chainsaw :rolleyes: (shake the oil out first).
 
I'm no idiot, or maybe I am. but for years it was a Buck 103 or 105.
at one point in the early 2000s i was gifted a 479 and really like the rubberized handle on that one. it as about a 4" blade.
somewhere along the lines I started packing a Buk Paklite skinner which was a little under 3" blade, but I really liked that it would fit almost anywhere.

last year i got a TFK T11 with a 4.3" blade and its my favorite so far.

occassionally with the paklite, I'd think a little more blade would be handy, but the rest of them have worked just find for me. My experience is limited to eastern us whitetail being the biggest thing I hunt.
 
brianv said:
My dad used a Case fixed blade with about a 6 inch blade. Early Sixties. Wild Ben is correct too. Green River butcher knife and Hudson Bay knives were the standard for 200 years.

People need to let people use what they are comfortable with or like.
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200 years.....Ummmm..no......The standard throughout much of the 19th century was the 5" Green River knife. The Green River Works didn't really get moving until about 1838, and their knives didn't make their way west until late 1839 or so.
Hudsons Bay Co knives were mostly made in Sheffield by companies such as John Wilson for much of the fur trade era. In the 19th century Sheffield makers were copying Green River designs, and many were marked Green River Knife Sheffield.
 
Arathol said:
200 years.....Ummmm..no......The standard throughout much of the 19th century was the 5" Green River knife. The Green River Works didn't really get moving until about 1838, and their knives didn't make their way west until late 1839 or so.
Hudsons Bay Co knives were mostly made in Sheffield by companies such as John Wilson for much of the fur trade era. In the 19th century Sheffield makers were copying Green River designs, and many were marked Green River Knife Sheffield.
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Thank you for the correction.
 
I am with the OP on supporting the use of whatever works for you in dealing with field dressing wild game.

My only real experience with this comes from two opportunities to hunt alligators back in the 1990s . . .and it was a lot like the "Swamp People" show. But returning to knives: What I saw was a few belt kn ives and a lot of fillet knives, but they were not used on the 'Gators. That work, mostly skinning, was done with knives they brought out wrapped in an oily cloth. Carbon steel and both longish at 5+" or so and much shorter with a lot of belly. And these were not high end or premium articles, nor were they what we would cll a belt knife or a sheath knife.

I have no idea what works best on large game such as Elk, Moose or Bear. I am guessing that some field dressing chores would require a hatchet on them.

Anyone here ever dress other than a bear?
 
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Different ways to field dress animals depending on your preferences and different tools to suit.
3.75" in high edge retention stainless is my sweet spot. I do not split the rib cage or split the pelvis (used too)
And I find 3.75 is adequate for reaching up in a deers ribcage and cutting the esophagus as well as cutting around the backside to free the intestines, but where in shines for me is in skinning. I find anything over 4" doesn't work well for me when skinning.
Of course you could use different knives or carry multiples I just like to use one knife for all the tasks and it works well for me. I will often skin deer for the older members during a trip or camp so I prefer retention over toughness.
There is no right or wrong. It is your hobby, do it the way it makes you happy.
 
fargo203 said:
3.75" in high edge retention stainless is my sweet spot………I find anything over 4" doesn't work well for me when skinning.
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That’s exactly what worked for me. However, use what ya want….enjoy what you’re doing…life’s to short to worry about the minutiae 😀
 
I have made a few skinners/hunters over 4 inches but most are between 3-3.5, as those seem to be what many folks want. I have a few in the 3.5 range in M398 on the bench at the moment, trying to figure out what handle material to use.
 
I agree for the most part, a reasonably skilled hunter can make small or large blades work.

I've done bear, moose and elk and sometimes a bit longer blade is nice.

This one is my all time favorite. About 4 3/4" blade.
Doyle_190313-wweb.jpg

These two would also work well for larger knives. 5 1/2" blade and 6 1/2" blade respectively.
20210516_125509.jpg0324200933b~2.jpg
 
I have field dressed large Pennsylvania whitetail deer with a Swiss Army knife because that’s what I had handy. It was fine. A hunting knife has to do 3 things, usually. Which may be better covered by different sized knives.

Field dress, anything sharp, really. Smaller is probably better so you don’t cut yourself rooting around inside the animal for the esophagus, etc.

Quartering, if you have to hike it out. 3.5-4.5 inch knives are fine for this

Butchering, I prefer a good flexible 5-7 inch boning knife. A fillet knife is great too, as long you have something more robust to get through the joints.

Realistically, you can do it all on most ungulates with anything from 3 inches to 7 inches. More specific knives for each task make it easier.
 
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