Outdoorsman vs bear

[spareparts]

Anyone ever use and Outdoorsman for a hunting knife?

Bought the knife years ago and it just sat in a drawer. Finally decided to carry it this year during hunting season.

Killed a bear recently and the Outdoorsman didn't fare so well on skinning and dressing her.

It was plenty sharp, just the shape of the blade didn't lend itself well to any of the tasks I put before it. Ended up using a couple of my homemade knives with better success.

So what is the Outdoorsman good for in the outdoors?

 

[DocJD]

Might come in handy if the bear's buddies come seeking revenge !

 

[spareparts]

Hope it doesn't come down to that, cause then it means I've already expended 34 rounds of 10mm hard cast. And if that doesn't do it then I'm not sure a knife will

 

[nephron]

I believe its designed to be a camper/hiker knife. An old neighbor used a Master Hunter for hunting and liked it, I believe his model had the gut hook.

 

[NapalmCheese]

As a hunter who has used 6 inch blades for field dressing deer and antelope (along with smaller blades), the outdoorsman doesn't strike me as much of a hunting knife. Bigger than I like, I've never found myself breaking large bones in the field, and not flexible enough to be a boning knife. It looks like it has enough belly at the point to skin effectively while keeping the tip out of the skin, and I suppose the bone breaker edge could be useful if you like to split the pelvis by whacking it with an edge; but for my money I'd choose something else as my field knife.

That being said I've always thought it was a great looking knife and I still want one.

 

[spareparts]

...Bigger than I like, I've never found myself breaking large bones in the field, and not flexible enough to be a boning knife. It looks like it has enough belly at the point to skin effectively while keeping the tip out of the skin, and I suppose the bone breaker edge could be useful if you like to split the pelvis by whacking it with an edge

I like longer knives, maybe it's my culinary background as I find I have better control and more conservation of energy when processing game.

It wasn't the length that made it ineffective. And the tip is curved back far enough. Just didn't seem to want to cut the tissues well while skinning. And the tip was too pointy for running up the belly and legs to open the skin without cutting in to the body cavity or meat.

Looking back on it, I'm wondering if the edge was too polished. Not toothy enough for what I was asking. I'll redo the edge and give it another shot. What do I have to lose?

 

[NapalmCheese]

I like longer knives, maybe it's my culinary background as I find I have better control and more conservation of energy when processing game.

For processing game I like 5 and 6 inch boning knives. For steaking I use the same 10 inch chef knife I use daily for food prep, though I'm looking to get a 12 inch butcher for steaking.

For field dressing I prefer something around 3 inches and slender.

IMO a 'hunting' knife is really a 'field dressing' knife. I don't use my hunting knives to process meat, I use meat processing knives.

Just didn't seem to want to cut the tissues well while skinning. And the tip was too pointy for running up the belly and legs to open the skin without cutting in to the body cavity or meat.

I mostly hunt deer and antelope and for both I generally do very little cutting while skinning. Instead I just peel the skin back which generally leaves me with a nicer hide that requires much less fleshing. Last year however I used an 8 inch leuku to good effect as we ended up letting a couple of the antelope freeze overnight in their hides. I personally don't think the problem with cutting into the flesh while opening the body or the legs is that it's too pointy, I think the problem (with the legs specifically) is that the slightly upswept point and heavy belly doesn't allow the point to get under the skin as well as something much more slender and narrow. As for the belly, this is the real reason I like 3 inch blades for field dressing; I can put my finger tip on the spine of the knife such that my finger rides against the point preventing it from catching on organs. I can do it with longer knives as well, but it's easier with a shorter knife.

The outdoorsman doesn't look like much of a field dressing knife to me, which is why I said it doesn't seem like much of a hunting knife. However, with that somewhat long and rigid blade with a bit of curve and a somewhat trailing edge I'll bet it does a great job cutting out backstraps all the way down to the sirloin in one clean cut. I've found long rigid knives work out great for that since they ride the spine nubs on the vertical cut and ride the chines really well on the horizontal cut. Makes for a nice looking loin. You lose a bit by not going between the nubs on the vertical cut, but you can take that out later with a boning knife as you clean up the carcass and throw it in the grind pile.

Looking back on it, I'm wondering if the edge was too polished. Not toothy enough for what I was asking. I'll redo the edge and give it another shot. What do I have to lose?

It would be interesting to hear about your findings.

 

[spareparts]

Thanks for the tips, Napalm, never even heard of your method of putting a finger behind the tip.

This was my first bear and it was sure different than skinning a deer. Between the fatty layer next to the skin and the way the tissues interlock (best way I can describe it), wasn't able to do much peeling at all. It's like it had crosslinked fibers running crosshatch all thru the tissues.

Fleshing the hide was a nightmare, too. Every scrap had to be cut, no scraping, and even the pressure washer helped very little.

This was all a whole new experience.

For what it's worth I took her using a Grozer horsebow and a homemade arrow with a broadhead made from an old rusty circular saw blade I found on a hike.

 

[NapalmCheese]

Thanks for the tips, Napalm, never even heard of your method of putting a finger behind the tip.

This was my first bear and it was sure different than skinning a deer. Between the fatty layer next to the skin and the way the tissues interlock (best way I can describe it), wasn't able to do much peeling at all. It's like it had crosslinked fibers running crosshatch all thru the tissues.

Fleshing the hide was a nightmare, too. Every scrap had to be cut, no scraping, and even the pressure washer helped very little.

This was all a whole new experience.

For what it's worth I took her using a Grozer horsebow and a homemade arrow with a broadhead made from an old rusty circular saw blade I found on a hike.

Pigs are quite a pain in the but to skin too, I've had done one yet myself though.

Funny, I just finished up some arrows for my Grayvn longbow and was considering trying to chip an arrow out of a piece of glass I found or pounding one out on my railroad tie. I ended up buying some ACE broadheads instead I haven't taken anything with my bow yet, hoping to remedy that soon.

 

[spareparts]

Pigs are quite a pain in the but to skin too, I've had done one yet myself though.

Funny, I just finished up some arrows for my Grayvn longbow and was considering trying to chip an arrow out of a piece of glass I found or pounding one out on my railroad tie. I ended up buying some ACE broadheads instead I haven't taken anything with my bow yet, hoping to remedy that soon.

Just this year I talked the NM Game and Fish in to letting us hunt with stone. Sent in a proposal and they changed the wording from "broadheads with metal cutting edges" to just "broadheads with cutting edges"

Been working on my knapping and hopefully will hunt with stone or glass poimts next year.