traditional folder for field dressing?

D

dd61999

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Sep 12, 2007
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Any of you use traditional folders for field dressing an animal after the hunt?

If so what model do you use?

Anyone try using a peanut?
 
My dad used the "1 of 50" Northfield trapper (#73) that I gave him for father's day to field dress each of the deer that he shot this year. I think that between him and his brother that was somewhere around 7 deer. I'm sure he and it will be around for a bunch more next year.
 
i use a older case xx trapper pattern #6254 for large game and a newer case model stockman model #5318 for smaller critters. imo,its the very best knives for the job and i don'`t think a man can do much better.
 
During the late 60's and early 70's my Buck 301 stockman as my go-to knife. Traveling light while in the army, from base to base, it got used for everything I needed a knife for.

A couple of summers ago, my grandson and myself did a little experiment in the spririt of Huck Finn, and used a Case peanut for all our outdoor needs while fishing. Cut bait, gut pan fish, whatever. The pocket knife got all of it done, but it was a little bit of a pain to clean it really good so it wouldn't smell like fish guts. Now I just used the Swedish mora I have in my daypack. Easier to clean.

One old boy I worked with used a zbuck 303 cadet for his everything knife. Watching him field dress his opening day buck was the motivation I needed to simplify my own stuff.

For most of what you do, a small pocket knife will do. A fixed blade is nicer to deal with though. Most of the rough cobbs I grew up around used the little finn type of knives. Used their pocket knives for the odd jobs and 'saved' the sheath knife edge for hunting.
 
I think a scalpel-sharp peanut would work well on small game and smaller fish. Also on smaller birds like dove or quail. I HATE plucking birds, so I skin them with a small knife. A peanut would do well there, too.

Not so well on big stuff. While on deer and medium game I prefer a sheath knife, I hunted a couple of times but was around an old buddy that used his CASE medium Sodbuster for cleaning deer and hogs. He could dismantle a deer very quickly with that knife, and that was all I ever saw him use when cleaning/field dressing a deer. He even did some actual butchering of the deer with it, along with a bow saw.

Robert
 
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we used a gec mdl23 lockblade [3.75 in.blade] on our 1st 2 whitetail this yr.mostly i was curious to see if the razor edge would turn on ribbones. knife shot thru bone like silk. generally we use straight blades since much easier to clean. for rabbits & squirrels we like muskrats.
 
I have been carrying an old Schrade "Heritage" trapper for about the last 10 or 11 years when hunting. It was made in 1983, the shield has fallen off and been lost and the blades are scratched up but it will take a terrific edge. I have probably done 7 or 8 deers with it and never found it lacking as far as getting the job done.
 
I clean deer most of the time now with my old Schrade Walden two bladed folding hunter.

When I was a kid, the old Schrade shadow stockman or the Case 6332 that I foolishly traded off did for the deer.
 
Buck stockman,Explorer Swiss Army knife, And currently using a GEC large two bladed trapper. Nothing as small as a peanut though. I field dressed a pig with the small blade on my Swiss Army knife. Any small knife should work. You really only use the first inch or so of the blade. The smaller the handle, the harder it is to grip, especially when bloody.
 
I partially dressed out my first turkey with this Robeson Trapper, and it made the job easier! I also used it to dress out the largest jack rabbit I have taken.
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I field dressed both of my deer this past season with an old Case Hunter. Worked like a charm. A couple strokes on the stone afterwards and it was razor sharp again. My med. Case Stockman would do just fine for ducks and small game, but Imo, my Peanut is a bit too small.
 
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