What kind of knives are you supposed to use when cleaning a deer?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “best deer cleaning knife“
About Ayla
Written by: Ayla
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What kind of knives are you supposed to use when cleaning a deer?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “best deer cleaning knife“
About Ayla
Honestly, I use an Olfa snap-blade utility knife.
The blade is extremely sharp – and stays sharp enough to dress (and skin) a deer. Then simply wash and replace the blade. Some of the replaceable blade hunting knives are likely very similar – but many times the price!
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I used to use a 3” or 4” fixed blade knife with a very high carbon steel content so that I could make it extremely sharp. You need a sharp blade to cut through hide without hacking at it. The more you hack or have to restart the cut, the more hair you will get on the meat.
Over the last several years, though, I have shifted to a disposable locking blade hunting knife. This would be akin to an Outdoor Edge RazorBlaze. It’s nice to use a razor sharp blade until it’s dull and then swap blades and continue on instead of stopping to sharpen a knife.
in general, you only need a 3” to 4” blade to do the work. I’ve seen some people get very specialized with a skinning hook, and then a separate filet knife. I’ve found that I can do my field dressing with one very sharp knife and then I have far less gear to carry.
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Whichever you are the most comfortable with.
The knife that I use to gut and skin game has a 7-inch blade that is serrated at the base so it assists in cutting through the diaphragm.
When I am working on rabbits, geese, (any kind of poultry), shoats and lamb or veal, I use a knife that people actually laugh at.
The entire blade is roughly 3 and 1/2 in Long but, it is so sharp and fits my hand so well that it is like an extension of me. (Okay…it’s a paring knife…go ahead, giggle, lol everyone else does!)
The best thing to do is try different grips and find out what you are the most comfortable with. I will admit that a knife with a rubber grip is much easier to use when you are field dressing because blood is extremely slippery and, the rubber handle with a scored surface helps you maintain the grip on your tool.
If you aren’t used to working with knives in situations like that, I would strongly suggest you get one that has a bolster. You don’t want to cut your fingers off.
Also, learn how to sharpen your own knives. Learn how to put an edge on a dull knife and hone a sharp one. A dull knife is an extremely dangerous tool.
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Skinning knife, boning knife, and meat saw. That’s all that’s required. You can get as fancy or pricey as you want. I’ve had a Shrade deer skinner/boner knife for 41 years, skinned and deboned a doe two weeks ago. Knife is still in excellent shape and has cleaned a many deer in it’s life.
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I can take a deer from whole to carcass in around 15 minutes with a sharp knife so my answer is a sharp one works great. Other than that there isn’t a “correct” answer. I’ve skinned many deer with my 23/4 Benchmade pocket knife and many with blades much bigger. The common denominator is edge.
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Preferably one with a guy hook. You can use a utility knife if the blades are new and degreased.
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Frank Popa pointed out that you do not need a big knife.
In the past I used knives which had blades between 3 and 4 inches long. A drop point can help because it reduces the likelihood you might cut the stomach or intestines open when gutting the deer. I prefer a fairly stiff blade instead of a flexible blade.
You do not usually use the knife to slice the hide off because after the deer cools and you have opened the deer you can pull the hide off it like pulling a coat off.
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Just need one pocket knife 3–4” blade. You can skin, gut, cut out the back straps, tenderloin, quarter and cut out the neck roast all with one knife. If you know where the ball joints are for the hind quarters and which vertebrae to cut through to get the neck off.
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It depends on what you’re comfortable with. I know someone who uses a Kabar USMC Knife. The full sized 7″ one. I personally would use a Buck 110.
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In 55 years of hunting I have tried them all. I’ve settled on a foldable 4″ drop point skinning knife with a gut hook. It came with a synthetic camo sheath ( leather absorbs scent) and two other quick change blades. A bone saw blade and another drop point without gut hook. I think it is a Gerber and it’s very light and has a belt loop on the back of the sheath! I’ve skinned many, many 🦌 deer with it but you must keep any knife sharp!! If you have access to a skinning rack keep a hack saw handy to saw off the legs much quicker than using a small bone saw on a small knife like mine. In the field it comes in handy to cut small branches or the lower legs off deer to lighten the load, nuff said!
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I use a fixed blade drop point knife with a 3 1/4” blade, plenty long enough and light enough to pack all day.
a friend of mine, a thoracic surgeon suggests one uses the shortest blade that will do the job- the argument being that if something goes wrong it doesn’t go wrong too deep.
I’ve used folders but they are a PIA to clean afterwards.
earlier this month I helped a buddy using his Gerber with the replaceable blades, nice enough but not significantly sharper than my own knife.
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I use two types of blades when field dressing a deer or elk, one to cut and one to gut & skin. Any standard “hunting” knife works good enough for the first operation; I like a “drop point” hunter for that.
Once I get the carcass opened I switch to a smaller, skinning blade to work on gutting the animal, then skinning it.
Here’s a skinner I make and use:
Some folks prefer a clip point hunter like this matched set hunter/skinner I made for a customer.
But as long as the knife you are using is sharp enough you can get buy with most any blade, if you had to.
Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops SWA24S 7.1in S.S. Folding Knife with 3.1in
I used a swiss army knife.
I used the saw to split the pelvis.
Oddly enough, although not for gutting, the most used attachment on that knife was the scissors. I had to replace a couple of knives when the spring on the scissors wore out … broke due to metal fatigue.
Mine did not the hook attachment sticking out the bottom of the knife in the picture.
The little blade was small enough that it was easy to control while making the initial cut through the stomach – I could keep a finer under it to prevent cutting into the intestines.
The bigger blade was used for the cutting around the diaphragm.
You don’t need Rambo’s knife to gut a deer.
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