Skinning / Deer Dressing Knife?

I've been using my BM 710 lately and find it to be a good balance between narrow pointy blade for the finer details of field dressing and the front swedge/belly does a decent job skinning. I mostly hunt hogs and blacktailed deer. Other than that, Gerber Gator and Buck 110 have served well over the years.
 
I've been hunting big beasties since '56: deer, black bear, moose, speed goats and a couple of Elk. I used to use a two bladed Case Folding Hunter, then in the early '70's I bought a Buck Folding Hunter (same pattern, but no longer made) and still use it. This last fall I bought a Rough Rider Folding Hunter to try at $15. It worked out quite well through 2 deer; I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this Chinese made knife. Now I understand that knife snobs look down on such stuff, but there is a big difference when it comes to using a knife maybe once or twice a year, with no interest in any thing about knives except getting the job done and collecting, while appreciating fit and finish, super steels, etc.

As far as "gunk" is concerned, other than fat and blood on the blade and a little blood on the handle, I've never had much of a problem. Since I always carry a canteen, I wipe the knife off with paper towel then wash it off and wipe it down again. When I get back to the truck, I spray it down with Water Displacement Formula 40 (WD-40) and let it drain, then wipe it off again. Not much to it.

Dan
 
Last edited:
Cold steel American lawman, the first thought I had when holding that knife was how great of a skinning knife it would be.
 
Jerked the guts outta and knocked the hides offa lots of animals since the early 90s with a Kershaw Folding Hunter.I think thats when they began making them or when I bought one anyway
Have your pal look at one think it may be what hes looking for.
Little heavy ,well built but works well and you can and should clean all your gear after a successful or any hunt
Works so well ive a few other Kershaw on account of that one folder
Dan'l
 
I personally have used an opinel 10 for a lot of skinning , cleaning snd parting up , mainly goats tho .
To be honnest , I didnt ever have an issue with gunk build up , but , with it being a carbon steel blade , I suspect the usual clean up at end of job did a lot to do with that

Id throw it out there as a low cost option , but with a rider , he has to be prepared to spend that extra minute or so to care for his blade ... no shutting the blade all gunky , or putting it away bloody ...or he wil have rust issues real fast not to mention a case of bad hygene ..
 
Buck 110 or Case folding hunter. Large stockman would do well also. Or a muskrat (?) something with a large clip and a large spey blade. Sharper is better.

Guess you could also get a Rough Rider sodbuster. It has a liner lock if you were worried about it folding up on you inside the chest cavity. And if he forgets to clean it well, or to oil after cleaning, he only spent $10 -$15 on it.
 
Last edited:
I think most decent quality knife can dress a deer. It's really all that difficult a job. As one can see from a variety of blade shape used here that most would work.
 
Picking out a hunting knife is kinda like picking out a girl friend or a truck or a hunting coat. Get the one you like or your not going to be happy with it. Go looks at some knives and find one that feels good to you. JMO
 
Last edited:
First I was thinking that a Spyderco Impala with the gut hook would be brilliant, however it is no longer easily available (discontinued for a few years). Then I was thinking the Opinel No. 8 would be just the ticket, but I find I need to at least remove a burr when I buy a new Opinel and I do not know if your friend is proficient with abrasives.

When I started hunting, I was given a Buck 501 Squire from my father which I carried through my first 12 years of hunting. Then I used the previously mentioned Spyderco Impala with excellent results. Then I switched to a fixed blade Spyderco FB01 Bill Moran (collaboration) featherweight with an upswept point. This year, my plan was to use the Spyderco FB02 Bill Moran (collaboration) drop point, but alas, no game came my way so no harvest was possible. Next year...
 
Personally, I would choose a Buck 112, but the Buck Vantage (available in 3 different steels) may suit someone who has a more modern tastes. I love Buck's 420hc, which happens to be the cheapest, but all are a great value.
 
My favorite knife is my Dozier. There are a lot of great choices though.

I've used folder and fixed blades, and never really saw the gunk in a folder to be a big deal. They clean out easily... My preference is a drop point blade.
I know the 110's have probably served many well, but its not my favorite blade design for working on animals. I do however like the 112's, but have not tried them out on any critters yet.

If your friend doesn't want to spend much money, KaBar makes a Dozier designed folder. One version has a nicely shaped drop point blade. It has AUS-8 steel, and can be found for around 20 bucks. The reviews on them are very good for the price.

As someone already mentioned, picking a knife is a personal thing, and the only way to find the perfect knife, is to actually use different styles of knives.

I've had knives that I just knew I was going to like, until I used them.
 
I agree that the Buck 110 has probably cleaned more deer than just about any other production knife. Still, the blade shape of the 110 is not what I would consider an optimal skinning knife. YMMV.

Personally, I rather like the Grohmann "Canadian" style fixed blades for cleaning and skinning game, but if it has to be a folder, they do offer a lock-back with a similar blade profile:



The Grohmann 300S are a bit pricy at $150+ MSRP (depending on the handle material), but they are solid, well built knives
 
I'm partial to a Puma hunter's Friend/Pal. but there collector items and a bit on the pricy side. Kissing crane offers a Euro hunter that duplicates it for a decent sub benjamin price. but it's china made 440B. which I guess aint all that bad and I actually heard they nailed the heat treat on it!

Jason
 
440B is a very underrated steel. Like everything else, the HT is what makes or breaks it's ability to perform. I had a Puma Trailguide with the kraton handle. It was the most popular knife in camp for many years. The sheath was awful though.
 
a folder for dressing game? eeeew.

as mentioned, a small fixed blade is superior to a folder in every possible way for this purpose.

personally, i use a Fallkniven WM1-3G.
 
We got our first elk this year. I happened to have my new Benchmade BoneCollector folder in D2. It cut, skinned, gutted, and cut a nice 4 point Roosevelt Elk. When done it would still shave my arm. Fantastic knife. I own some 200 "hunting and survival knives. This one is the best hunting folder I have ever held.
 
if it has to be a folder look for the discontinued case copperlock in c.v. steel. for the small texas deer 3 in. of blade is plenty. on hogs over 250 lbs find a bigger blade.----dennis
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top