Before deciding on that new hunting knife, there are a few things to consider. What animals will you hunt? How will you dress and kill the animal? Planning to make a mount? How do you want to carry the knife? Is size or weight a factor? All of these things may not seem important at first glance, but if you step into the elk forest with a poorly suited knife for skinning, capping, or boning, they suddenly become apparent.

Small game and highland game birds are often easily handled with an average pocket knife. However, there are knives specifically designed for small game hunting. Big game like deer, elk, bear, elk, and caribou are just that … GREAT hunt. As the size and weight of the animal increases, the toughness of the skin increases. Body size and weight are definitely an issue if you need to quarter or bone the animal to take home or take to a meat processor. That pocket knife you use on rabbits or quail might do the job on a bear, but it won’t be easy or pleasant. Neither is dressing a cottontail rabbit with a large fixed-blade sheath knife.

Let’s look at the basic tasks we ask of our knives.

We will stay with the big game. After the slaughter, your first consideration is most likely to be slaughtering or gutting. Any experienced hunter knows this, right? But is there a particular type of knife that is better for gutting than another? Can’t you gut a deer or elk with the same knife you’ll use to skin it? Sure you can, but …

Consider that a special gut hook, or a knife with a built-in gut hook, will do a neater and cleaner field dressing job than a skinning knife, just like a skinning knife will skin that moose easier and more efficiently. than a boneless. knife ever could. And speaking of boning … try it sometime with a special hook. What if that moose you just shot is your “Lifetime Trophy”? You want a mount, right? At least a full head or shoulder mount, huh? That means someone will have to cover that moose properly so your taxidermist has something to work with other than ragged skin full of nicks and holes. A cape knife is in order.

The point here is that there are different types of knives for different tasks. The right tool for the job, as the saying goes.

Now let’s compare the types mentioned so far.

Dedicated Gut Hooks

This knife (for our purposes we’ll call it a knife) actually only has one intended purpose … to cut open the belly or tummy, WITHOUT slicing through the insides and making a huge, stinky, polluting mess. The blunt tip won’t dent the gut, as the inverted “U” shaped cutting edge zips open the belly like a hiss. Kind of like one of those fancy letter openers. It doesn’t do much good for anything else, although I suppose it could double as a pencil sharpener in a pinch.

Knives with built-in gut hooks

This is a regular knife, almost any style of blade, but with the built-in gut hook. Double function, two in one, so to speak. (We’ll talk about the different styles of blades later on the page.)

Skinning knives

Skinning knives usually have a rounded blade and are not as sharp at the tip. The rounded edge facilitates the cutting of the membrane that holds the skin to the animal. You use it in a sorting or “sliding” or “swinging” motion, rather than “slicing.” The bluntier tip helps you avoid puncturing your skin and meat as you go. As with any knife, there are variations and adaptations, but a skinner almost always has this rounded, blunt-tipped appearance.

Boned knives

It is often thought of as a “butcher knife” or simply a “boning knife”. This type of knife is ideal for cutting bone meat. The relatively narrow blade makes for clean, tight cuts so you don’t waste meat. At the risk of offending or angering purists, this is, in all honesty, the one you can probably do without. There are many general and versatile hunting knives that can properly debone a large animal. On the other hand, a boning knife could serve as a good general and versatile hunting knife.

Cape knives

The cape involves fine, detailed skinning work around your trophy’s antlers, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. A good cape knife usually has a thin, thin blade … but not too flexible … and a fairly small and somewhat ergonomic handle. Control and finesse are paramount with a cape knife. Some cape knives have pointed blades, others rounded. Some take the rounded end to the extreme. This is more of a matter of preference than anything else. While the rounded versions help ensure you don’t accidentally poke a hole where you don’t want one, the pointy versions can go into narrower spots to make more delicate cuts. Just remember … control and finesse. Any unwanted holes will have to be repaired by your taxidermist (most likely at additional cost to you) and any “missing” skin is not easily or inexpensively replaced.

It’s possible to gift a nice trophy with that versatile general hunting knife, but keep in mind the old saying about the right tool for the job. Do not use a mallet to drive finish nails.

Blade styles

When it comes to hunting knives, there are three basic styles of blades. delivery point , clip point and skin .

Tea delivery point It is an excellent blade design for big game hunting. The blade is generally heavier and thicker, making it a sturdy, sturdy knife capable of splitting the sternum and even the ribs of all but the largest and strongest game. The gradual curve from the handle to the point allows full use of the entire length, rather than just the first inch or so from the point. The drop point is an excellent option for hunting.

Clip point the leaves are somewhat thinner than the drop points and the tip is pointed. It’s also a bit flatter from the edge to the back and makes an excellent all-purpose knife other than hunting. Most hunters would agree that if you only have a hunting knife, the clip point is not as good as the drop point. It will work, but not as efficiently in a variety of situations.

A lots of skinner knives they are very similar in design to the drop point. However, “typical” and “modern” skinners do not have the gradual curve associated with the drop point. The skinner curve is usually more drastic, starting more in the middle than the handle, and the curve tends to have a radius greater than that of the drop point. A good skinner is also a good camping knife. Cuts better than the other two types. Some very old skinner designs, not as widely produced as hunting knives today, are almost crescent-shaped and often much longer blades. They are still used in commercial operations, but they are not very “useful” to carry around camping or in hunting forests.

Fixed or foldable?

Fixed blade knives generally have no moving parts. That said, there are some with interchangeable blades, and even some that have two blades, one sticking out of each end of the handle … one blade at a time, “sliding” the handle back and forth. For our purposes these are still fixed blade knives.

Fixed blades require a sheath to protect the blade and the hunter. They are obviously longer than a folder of the same sheet size, so they are not as compact for storage or transport. All but the smallest / shortest, by necessity, will be carried on the belt or in a backpack. Fixed blades are very strong, easier to keep clean, and tend to last a long time.

Folding knives do exactly what their name says. The blades fold into the handle when not in use, but not by themselves. Safety comes first, folks. Folders are more compact. All but the largest will fit in your pocket, but most hunting folders come with a belt holster. Any folding knife used for hunting big game must have a mechanism that locks the blade open. Folders are not as strong or durable as fixed sheets. The pivots eventually wear out and occasionally a locking mechanism fails. They are also a bit more difficult to keep clean. Debris, blood, sand, dirt, animal hair, you name it, always find their way into the blade storage slots, pivots, and even under the locking bar. It’s not a big deal and it’s not that difficult to clean, just something to consider.

Summary

There is a knife for every task you come across on the hunt. Each task calls for the right knife. Does this mean that you will need to carry three, four, five knives every time you leave the camp? Of course, no. With a well-designed and well-made knife, maybe two, you can accomplish any of those tasks. The options are there, you know what they are. Now just make a decision based on what you know and how much you can afford.

Good luck hunting!