Calling deer hunters

[Txjohn]

I appreciate all responses . I'm going to follow majority opinion on fixed blade . I'm thinking sharpfinger , gec h10 or maybe the fixed 73 . Out of those three I'm getting the idea the sharpfinger might be he crowd favorite?
Im curious about the h20 for this task, I'm guessing a tad small , I just wanted to throw that out

 

[Sober_Survival]

Tops CUB

 

[Camillus]

Don’t go for either the H10 or the H20. Both are just too small and have poor ergonomics for this task.

The H73 is a good choice if you are going GEC.

But GEC is not really a deerhunter’s knife. As others have posted here, Buck’s fixed blade patterns are generally more suited to dressing game.

 

[steelnut]

That Hess white tail is calling my name
Look who is hanging in my back yard..

 

[Ripcord 82]

Besides my Schade Sharpfinger that I have used to field dress deer for the last 50 years, my Buck 110 has been a constant companion for it and has had it's share of deer meat too.

 

[blademan 13]

Tough to beat a finely ground, small drop point dressing deer

 

[navaja]

Bark River just released the Fingerling. It's a pricey, yet highly upgraded (3V steel and micarta handle) version of the classic Schrade Sharpfinger. Worth a look perhaps.

 

[jwb01]

My father used the Puma Bowie in the middle for everything game related, it’s a 70’s model Puma Bowie in pumaster carbon steel (whatever that recipe was, it is nice). I bought, and you can still find, the modern version in 440C steel and it’s a very nice knife. But I prefer the drop point on the bottom, it’s a custom Loveless style drop point that is out of your price range but similar knives can be found within your price range.
When I was younger and hunting more often I used a Puma Cub folding hunter for field dressing ( similar in size to the Buck 112), and everything else for that matter as it was all I had.
Personally I feel a Buck 112 would fit your folding hunter desire and do great! If you get the custom shop version with nice scales it will be an heirloom quality knife as well, not that the standard model isn’t heirloom quality, but custom scale material and possibly upgraded steel make the custom shop knives more so.
Just my $0.02.

 

[hornetguy]

IIRC, the Sharpfinger was also made in a drop point version. That would definitely be preferable to me if I was set on that size/type of knife for field dressing deer. I just don't really like an upswept point on a knife I will be gutting with.

My hunting knife for the past 25-30 years has been a Cold Steel Master Hunter. While I haven't dressed scores of animals with it, the few that I have used it on have proved it to be wonderfully comfortable and "agile". We used it to dress three aoudad one afternoon, and it started needing a little touching up during the third one, but all in all it was excellent. It's been used on a few hogs, and a few deer as well.... it's never let me down, and the Kraton handle makes it very grippy... no slipping around in use.

Mine looks like this one, but mine came with a nylon sheath, not leather.

 

[DrHenley]

My father used the Puma Bowie in the middle for everything game related, it’s a 70’s model Puma Bowie in pumaster carbon steel (whatever that recipe was, it is nice). I bought, and you can still find, the modern version in 440C steel and it’s a very nice knife.

I used the top one for many years, but the blade is a bit long even for me. I think I kept using it for the cool factor About an inch shorter is the sweet spot for me. For a beginner it is definitely too long.