Little knives for big jobs (ode to the Sharfinger)

[Barry E Harris]

I skinned out two more deer last night with one of my Sharpfingers. From time to time someone will comment that a Sharpfinger or a Little Finger isn't really big enough to do big jobs. It always makes me think of an interesting taxidermist experience I had. Several years ago I shot two bucks one evening, one of which was a wall hanger. I called my taxidermist to see if he would be around in the morning for me to drop the cape and antlers off. He was going through a divorce and was so depressed he hadn't been working much. As a consequence he was dead broke. He told me he wouldn't be home in the morning because he was taking a young filly out of town for a little R&R. However, he was real short on cash and if I could give him the deposit on that mount he would come over to the house right now and help me skin and butcher both deer. Of course I said yes. He showed up with no knife. I proudly laid out some of my favorites and offered him his choice. He informed me that he didn't need a knife. He reached in his jeans and pulled out a tiny cardboard box from which he removed a double edged razor blade. I watched in awe as he caped one deer, skinned the other, pulled the loins off both, quartered both, and even disjointed and removed the fore-limbs without that razor blade ever leaving from between thumb and index finger (he did switch to the second edge about half way through the second deer). He was gone with the cape, antlers, and my cash deposit less than 45 minutes after he drove up. I subsequently was at his shop and asked him where his fleshing board was at and what kind of fleshing knife he used. He took me out back and showed me a 10' by 10' slab of concrete and a pressure washer. He told me he didn't own any knives except for kitchen knives. Never saw the need. Didn't have time to sharpen them. His only skinning equipment was a razor blade, an old flat screwdriver, and a pair of needle nose pliers. He does top notch mounts. I suppose its all a matter of perspective and what a man gets use too. One of my closest friends was a Special Forces medic who saw action all over the world. He has an Old Timer 7OT that was given to him as a teenager. It was the biggest knife he ever carried in the service. Carried it on every mission he ever went on. His other knive was a Swiss Army knife. The Sharpfinger is a lot of knife in the hand of a man who knows how to use it.

 

[Codger_64]

Good story, though I'd hate to do that skinning job with a razor blade. But I have done it with broken glass once, and a tiny pen knife another time. My Sharpfinger/Woodsman combo had done seven deer so far this year, so I guess I'll stick with them a while longer.

Michael