Favorite hunting knife

[adk hunter]

I was waiting Huntsman to weight in!
Great concept for sticking through the meat while skinning.

Found a new EDC this year may make the perfect whitetail gutting knife. ACE Mouse Sonoma V2 but the one that goes eveywhere is a fixed blade I made myself.

 

[MJN030]

What is everyone's go to field dressing knife mine is the buck 102 . Good luck to everyone who is hunting

Mine is a knife made by New West Knife works.

https://www.newwestknifeworks.com/cdn/shop/files/Ourfitter_Front_Ironwood2023format_2048x.png?v=1699031530

 

[Hoss50]

Montana knife company Stonewall Skinner is my new go to. It has been fantastic on a bear and 2 turkey. I can't wait to try it on an elk or deer.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

Knives of AK Bear Cub. I use it for house meat work too.

I have the set that comes with the Alpa Wolf. Alpha works good for the tougher skinning work.

 

[unclefish]

Benchmade grizzly creek

 

[M77Fan]

Gerber A450. Out of print, but as good as when it was made. Plenty of mileage, but plenty of life left.

 

[nksmfamjp]

These knives are all pretty awesome. Thank you so much for sharing.

That said, I think if I were buying a best for me, I think I would get this Buck:

https://www.buckknives.com/product/664-alpha-hunter-pro-knife/?sku=0664BRS-B

About $200, but really a top quality, lightweight, USA made knife!

….but, I have this and it works well. (Not my pic)

 

[birddog 68]

I've been using a buck 442 the last few years. Had it for probably 20 years and should have been using it the whole time!

I would like to add that before carrying the little buck folder I was carrying a older fixed blade Case. After purchasing a "butt out" and using it I realized that I could get away with a much shorter blade for field dressing. Anyone else using the butt out?

 

[Kiowa Cowboy]

I generally use whatever pocket knife I am carrying. Always a folder. I don't break the pelvic bone on deer, so I have never really needed a big knife. When I am hunting I carry a Camillus stockman or Benchmade barrage.

 

[M77Fan]

You know, that is actually a very relevant point. Depends on what your next steps will be. Some people have adopted gutless method, others "Indian quarter", and still others bring an animal out whole or in halves or bone-in quarters.

Because my game will be boned out for packing out within an hour or two, I do a quick field dressing that gets the guts out and allows a post-mortem, but I'm not finicky about super clean. It also exposes the tenderloins for easy extraction. Any internals will stay with the skeleton anyway.

However, if you are inclined to split the pelvis and sternum, my go-to knife is not the tool for that. You will require different tooling for that, especially to do it without too much force. Force on sharp objects can and has killed people. There is a place on a trail I have used elk hunting a popular area, where a hapless guy did just that. While trying to field dress an elk, he applied too much force, broke through and stabbed his thigh, severing his femoral artery. He bled out on the spot. Right tool for the anticipated job.

 

[Sockeye66]

You know, that is actually a very relevant point. Depends on what your next steps will be. Some people have adopted gutless method, others "Indian quarter", and still others bring an animal out whole or in halves or bone-in quarters.

Because my game will be boned out for packing out within an hour or two, I do a quick field dressing that gets the guts out and allows a post-Morten, but I'm not finicky about super clean. Any internals will stay with the skeleton anyway.

However, if you are inclined to split the pelvis and sternum, my go-to knife is not the tool for that. You will require different tooling for that, especially to do it without too much force. Force on sharp objects can and has killed people. There is a place on a trail I have used elk hunting a popular area where a hapless guy did just that. While trying to field dress an elk , he applied too much force, broke through and stabbed his thigh, severing his femoral artery. He bled out on the spot. Right tool for the anticipated job,

I tell newer hunters as much as possible that arguably the most dangerous place is with the knife out, too easy to slip with bloody hands and the result is rarely a positive one. I stopped splitting the pelvis bone as well, when I do, it's with a sawzall.

 

[Highbrass Shooter]