What makes a "hunter"

T

therulebookman

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May 10, 2007
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I'm unfortunately not a hunter. I hope to go hunting sometime soon and I also hope to make my first knife before then. So, I have a few questions about "hunter" knives.

What kind of steel is good for a hunter?

What are good dimensions for the blade? OAL? Thickness? Width?

I've seen a few pictures so I have a decent idea of what blade shape should be, but a pic with some dimensions on it would be really cool.

What kind of finish to put on it?
 
My hunting knife is actually three knives.

My pocket knife, for general cutting needs, stays in my pocket. 3" drop point. I made it in D2 (God I love D2). Gets put to deer processing service if my main knife gets dull.

My hunting knife, which has opened many deer, is often kept on my hip while I hunt. Was a Buck, will be a CMD in S30V this year.

A beater knife to cut or hack through bone (rib cage, pelvis, etc), stays at the house. Old Hickory. Will be my old Buck this year. Gets hammered on with a hammer.

A great hunter, in my opinion:

7-8" total length, under a 4" blade with a belly to it for skinning. I like a drop point design, though the hunting knife I've been using is a clip point (which can nick meat while skinning if you're careless). I prefer a thin (1/8") hollow ground blade. The knife needs to be designed to keep your hand from slipping onto the blade while slippery. It rains when I hunt, so stainless, or semi-stainless, is good. S30V, D2.

Some people like a hole in the handle for a lanyard cord. I don't personally like hanging a sharp knife from my wrist, swinging around. I prefer to set it down.

So, the dimensions/specs you asked for: 7.5 X 1 X 1/8", hollow grind, .030" thickness behind the edge, HRC 61 ish, 15 degree honing angle. This would be an ideal hunting knife for me.

I might setup and make a run of them in the shop. Anybody want one?
 
The typical hunting knife is usually 4" drop point blade, 1" wide, 1/8" thick at spine 0-1,A-2, D-2, 440C, 154CM, S30V ,VG-10 are my choices for steel. 400 grit finish for me, straight handle.
 
its a wide range of knife
and its more what the hunter thats buying likes


or that he can show off at beer camp ... i mean deer camp
 
Keep in mind, its the leading two inches, of a hunting knife, that performs 90% of the work.
No one knife will do it all, in the field. I carry three when hunting deer.

Show us what you come up with, Fred
 
When trying to design a hunter you need look no further than your kitchen.2 knives in the drawer or block work great,the Butcher knife and the narrow bladed slicer with a slight curve,These have been used for meat proccessing with slightly any changes in 100 years or so.the narrow bladed knife works great to skin with and slicing the meat off the bone,the butcher knife will do it all,from skinning to splitting the rib cage to working in between the pelvic bones and cutting the tenden and releasing the legs off.

I have a hanger in my shop and all the neighbors here use it as the shop is warm,we have tested allot of my knife designs on deer here and have figured out that the 1/8 inch thick blade works best and is plenty strong enough.Length of blade depends on the hunters taste as I have seen them skinned and gutted with a 2 inch blade all the way up to a 8 inch blade.A deep belly on the front works best as it gives more cutting area when skinning.If you slip your finger behind the point when cutting the hide to gut you dont have to worry about cutting anything you dont want cut so point preference is also determined by the hunter.I rip the rib cage open with my skinners and have never used anything to hammer it through,just hang the deer by the back legs,use the back of the edge by the guard and point the knife down and you can just push it through the ribs with little resistance,this keeps the front edge sharp for skinning.Ring the back legs at the pelvis and you can go all the way into the pelvis joint and use the point of the knife to reach in and cut the tendon and the back legs will come off,also at the knee joint just use the back edge of the knife that you used for the ribs and you can easily cut the joint off without a axe or saw.

I have done this and my friends have done this with 3 inch blades and never had to sharpen the knife on a deer and we have done multiple deer at a time without sharpening,I prefer a 5 inch blade with a nice clip and sharp point,the length just makes skinning faster...

I use forged 5160 on my knives and have no rust problems even in rainy weather,of course you have to keep it cleaned and oiled up.

The best way to design a hunter is to look at what is available at your local stores and ask at the guns shops what the hunters carry,or talk to guys that hunt allot and ask what they preffer then make what you think will be the ultimate hunter and test it out,you can slice roasts and slice the skin off hams as a test till you get to try it on the real thing,then keep adjusting it untill you make the perfect hunter for you and your buddies.Testing is the key,lots of testing.....

Most hunters just want their knife to stay sharp through 1 deer as most states have a 1 deer bag limit anyway,here we have a 10 deer limit and I have had guys do all ten without sharpening their knife (at least that is what a few have told me).Allot of guys now days only quickly field dress the deer here and then take it to the butcher shop for proccessing and thus never cut a bone or anything but the first incisinon to gut the deer so they dont need anymore than a small pocket knife.

So ask around,make some designs on paper show them around then make a couple and TEST,you will find your answer to what a hunter is quickly this way,just remember every guy has his idea of what his perfect hunter is just like his perfect rifle setup:D

Sorry to be so long winded her,and take this as just my 2 cents worth,make sure and show us what you come up with.

Good Luck,
Bruce
 
A good hunting knife cuts what you want to cut and avoids cutting things like intestines when you don't want them cut. For this reason blades in the 3 to 5 inch range are favored for animals like deer, blades in the 2.5 to 3.5 inch range for birds and small game, and 3.5 to 7 inch range for large animals like elk. Some people want a skinny point to make it easy to puncture skin. Some people want a broader point to avoid accidentally piercing a colon. Generally you want some curvature to the blade in the "belly" region right in front of the point. This curved belly will tend to follow the contours of flesh instead of gouging into it. You are often trying to separate parts of an animal rather than hack the tissues into pieces. You want the edge thin and sharp enough to cut resilient fibrous materials like animal hide and sinew. On the other hand you may need to push the blade through some bone and cartilage so you want it somewhat tough. If you are only working on moderate sized animals with clean hides, like deer, you don't need a fancy alloy to hold an edge. If you are working on a bear or even an elk you may want a more abrasion-resistant alloy.

It is hard to find a knife blade designed to do everything. One that comes close is the Buck model 110 folding hunting knife. The blade is 3.75 inches long. That can handle an elk if you need to. The clip point is fine enough to handle a rabbit as well. I would prefer a non-folder for most hunting chores since they are easier to clean than a folder, but the blade shape is amazingly versatile.

Here is a link to a catalog of hunting knives sold by AG Russell. Take a look at his own Deer Hunter model for descriptions of what goes into a good using knife.
http://www.agrussell.com/knives/by_purpose/hunting.html
 
Two things come to mind when I read this post. Here is my disclaimer as to not offend anyone, these are not my personal thoughts but find some relevance to them.

1. You can tell the experienc of the hunter by the size knife he carries (meaning the larger the knife the less experienced hunter) large bowies maybe not the best of tools for the job.
2. I have routinely heard that the carbon based knives, although plenty sharp tend to drag a little when skinning thus some sort of stainless type knife or some mix of carbon and stainless (sorry don't have the metal knowledge to expand).

I guess overall the drop point in around 3 or 4 1/2 inch would suffice.
 
I agree that the buck line-up instantly comes to mind for a deer/hunting knife. Great design, materials for the job.
 
I guess after 35 yrs of hunting and bunches of outdoor adventures I'm not to experienced because I like a 8"-10" bowie when I'm in the woods with a bow or rifle . It will do many things and I only need 1 knife. I grant you a 2" blade will field dress about anything, but thats just the beginning of the work, especially if your walking in a mile or 2 or 3. But thats just my unexperienced opinion. LOL
Everyones opinion of the perfect hunter is just that, their opinion. ;)

Bill
 
Bill, The question is, what make a "hunter", not what makes a good general purpose camp knife. The question is more "what would make a good first hunting knife for a novice" or "what do people typically mean when they refer to a "hunting knife". On occasion I use some odd alternatives for a hunting knife, but I won't even describe them here. I never go into the field without my swiss army knife and I have often used it on rabbits, but I wouldn't call it a "hunter".
 
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