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Real deer hunting knives
- Thread starter j man
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on_the_edge
Gold Member
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Question for you real deer hunters...I am not, but I am thinking of gifting my nephew, who is, a F-1.....is it considered a good one for dressing out a deer?
He mentioned it must have a good belly on it, and wondered if the F1 fit the bill....thanks!
I'm sure the F1 will be more than suitable for a hunt. As you may know, Fallkniven's dedicated hunter is the H1. Compare the two and you will see how close they are in design.
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Question for you real deer hunters...I am not, but I am thinking of gifting my nephew, who is, a F-1.....is it considered a good one for dressing out a deer?
He mentioned it must have a good belly on it, and wondered if the F1 fit the bill....thanks!
Man, I wish I was your nephew
The F1 should be a great deer knife.
I'm sure your nephew would cherrish it and think of you every time he used it.
I have a deer rifle that was given to me by my father in law when I started deer hunting 30 years ago.
He is no longer with us and the marriage is over.
My gun collection has many "nicer guns" now, but I still deer hunt with that rifle and think of a great man every time I use it.
I killed my first deer with it, my son killed his first deer with it, and when I have a grandson or daughter they will kill their first deer with it.
Sorry for the ramble, just pointing out that by starting him with a quality knife like that will provide him with a lifetime of memories.
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This has been my "Real Deer Hunting Knife" for a long while...
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Any sharp knife with a good belly, and a blade from 3" to 3.75" will work great. I'm talking whitetail deer. A straightish handle with no, or little rear drop is very important. If you plan to hunt big mule deer, a blade up to 4" would work great.
You could use more blade, but its not needed, and may make the task more difficult.
My favorites hunting fixed blades...
Gene Ingram
Bob Dozier
Charles May
Sean O'Hare
My Favorite folders...
Large Sebenza
Small Senbenza
Case Trapper in CV
Those are some of my favorite knives, but you can spend alot less on a great deer knife. A decent steel, good handle shape, and a 3" to 4" blade with some belly is all you really need.
You could use more blade, but its not needed, and may make the task more difficult.
My favorites hunting fixed blades...
Gene Ingram
Bob Dozier
Charles May
Sean O'Hare
My Favorite folders...
Large Sebenza
Small Senbenza
Case Trapper in CV
Those are some of my favorite knives, but you can spend alot less on a great deer knife. A decent steel, good handle shape, and a 3" to 4" blade with some belly is all you really need.
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Last year an EESE Izula, but this year an RC3.
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Question for you real deer hunters...I am not, but I am thinking of gifting my nephew, who is, a F-1.....is it considered a good one for dressing out a deer?
He mentioned it must have a good belly on it, and wondered if the F1 fit the bill....thanks!
That would work just fine. The handle looks a bit slippy to me though - when covered in goop and I'd be inclined to lose the rawhide (nice as it looks). The inside of a deer would make a mess of that.
But sure - that would be a great knife for the job. I wouldn't mind being your nephew.
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That would work just fine. The handle looks a bit slippy to me though - when covered in goop and I'd be inclined to lose the rawhide (nice as it looks). The inside of a deer would make a mess of that.
But sure - that would be a great knife for the job. I wouldn't mind being your nephew.
Good point on the slippery handle...the one in the picture is mine (Ironwood)....the one I "handle" for my nephew will be of Micarta of some sort...I'll keep the slippery factor in mind:thumbup:
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- Mar 2, 2008
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i would consider the F1 more knife than anything needed for dressing deer. The point is slightly dropped also which is nice for the first incision.
I'm sure your nephew will love it.
Bill
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- Apr 7, 2006
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- 5,215
I used the F1 last year to gut and butcher this 8-point buck. We were unloading our gear from the boat into the cabin and spotted an antler floating down the river... A very freshly shot deer was connected to it! The only deer we got last season was fished from the river! I grabbed my F1 and it worked great (I normally use my Benchmade 190 for all butchering). The blade length is perfect, and as your nephew stated: it has a lot of belly.
(I'm in the blue sweatshirt, my uncle is using my F1 at the moment to remove the "very end of the digestive tract"):
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Oooh excellent. That'll do very nicely.
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for many years now i have used an older gerber 450 EZ out. it looks like hell and has a bit of up and down play but it's the one that gets carried. it's a good combo of weight, size, and grippy scales. i guess i've carried it about 15years now.
most any knife would do really.
most any knife would do really.
Whatever has been readily available, which has included the Gerber Gator, Buck Lite, an orange handled CutCo hunting knife (worked well, I was surprised), Cold Steel Master Hunter and no-name blades that came with a cheap Chinese butchering kit. All worked, none so much better than the other that it made any real difference. That said, there is one cutting instrument that I will not hunt without, and that is a pair of game shears. While small knives are necessary for small game, my shears end up doing about 75% of the work.