[polishshooter]

I bought my first hunting knife at W. T. Grant's when I was 12, for $5.95.

AFTER I had to drag my Mom over from the other side of the store to vouch for me to the saleslady who wouldn't sell it to me without my parent's consent...

Looking back I am PROUD of my Mom for how "put out" she was, that they wouldn't sell it to me without her there...she thought it was stupid...I had my own mioney, why did they need HER?


Edge Brand "Original Buffalo Skinner" Stag handle, Soligen Steel....


I used that knife for over 35 years, was happy to see the same knife rise to $30+ over time, did a decent job gutting, a decent job skinning, and while it didn't seem to hold an edge very long, it got an edge again quickly with a few strokes on a soft arkansas, so I always carried one with me in the woods....

But after going through 4 or 5 sheaths that wore out over that time, I finally had one FAIL and I lost it in the woods dragging out a deer...

Next season I needed a new knife or two....

Years ago I made a deal at one of my stores that was "Clearing out" "Western" Knives and bought a bunch of them, and resold them or traded them off....except a Walnut handle "Drop Blade Hunter"SS I got without a sheath that we actually used as a kitchen knife for years....


After I lost my Edge, I decided I would try to find a sheath, and use the Western as my hunting knife...

..and I am thankful...because at about the SAME time I found a Schrade "Old Timer" Skinner on clearance at Dick's for $12......


Knives are SPECIALTY tools, and not very good as "Compromises."

The drop point Hunter is SO much better at gutting and field dressing, and quartering, AND holds an edge better than the Edge did....

..while the Old Timer "Skinner" does SO much better at SKINNING...even IF it's a carbon steel blade that you BETTER oil before putting back into the sheath, or it WILL rust...it is as sharp when the deer is skinned as when you STARTED....

...I found out I was "loving" my first Knife more for "old TImes" sake than efficiency....


While I regret losing my "Original" hunting/skinning knife, I am much better off with my "Better" Western Drop Point Hunter, and my "Better" Old TImer Skinner....


What do you use?


(But I still wish I had that stag "Buffalo Skinner" that I lost, it handled MANY deer for me, was my companion for decades and still looked good...)

 

[polishshooter]

And I noticed that I said "Processed..."

I should have said "Prepared..."

But for "Processing," EVERY deer I have cut up since 1990 I have use my Case Fillet knife that I won in a poker game from my ex-bro-in-law sometime the 1980s...he worked for Case when they used good steel...it is the best "deboning" knife you can find...

I have used many "butcher" type knives also over the years, but after my Mother died I "Inherited" my Dad's "Old Hickory" knives he had purchased over the years.

My oldest sister, who was born at Fort Bragg in 1946, told me that Dad told her the actual "Butcher" Knife was older than she was, that he bought it for Mom when they were married in 1945....


Those old Carbon Steel blades REALLY hold an edge..AND are easy to sharpen with a good stone...

After it is skinned and quartered, give me my Case Fillet and my Dad's Old Hickory Butcher and I will put ANY deer into the freezer quickly....

 

[Bindernut]

I prefer drop points.

That old Western Drop Point Hunter WR-84 was a favorite of mine too. Too bad they dropped it because I lost mine in 2001. I thought it had just about the perfect amount of drop for a general hunting knife. Mine was a pre-Camillus version from the mid-80s, but they were still decent even after Camillus bought Western out.

The Boker BA303 is similar in shape and it balances out a little better, has a little less drop and a little less belly...but it's a little too big for my taste so I don't carry it often. It's an Argentine Boker not a German one, but it still is a very well built knife that holds an edge well.

But honestly most of the time these days I carry a little 3" CRKT M21 folder for my primary hunting blade.
It's got a decent drop point and not too much belly so it does a good job unzipping a deer belly. Still does a decent job skinning though too even though it's a compact blade.
The only thing I don't like is the aluminum handle...it gets pretty darn cold during deer season.

Sometimes I'll grab a CRKT M16 Spear Point though too....I've got a bunch of these with the Zytel handles that I got on clearance a few years back. One lives in each vehicle plus I've got a couple spares yet. They've been put to use during deer season more than once already.

Processing...
I'm old school. I've got several OLD Chicago Cutlery blades that I use. The traditional butcher blade, a 6" boning, and a couple clip-point parers. They don't hold the best edge but are easy to touch up with a steel. The new CC blades aren't worth messing with though. I don't know for sure when they went cheap but I'd suggest anything else over the new CC garbage.

 

[polishshooter]

Yeah, Binder that is what my Western is....

I got it in maybe '84 or so, and that was probably the reason my company was "Clearing Out" the Westerns which we had carried for years, because they were bought by Camillus and the "deal" must have changed...

...even though Camillus makes (Made?) nice blades too...

 

[spottedpony]

Field dressing I use an old Schrade pocket knife for all chores except splitting a deer's pelvis, then i use an old Buck 110 folding hunter, that also gets utilized for other camp chores. The same combination gets used on elk, except that a hand axe is needed to split the heavier pelvis. At skinning time the same pocket knife serves me well and i've never seen the need for a larger knife to perform that chore.

 

[myfriendis410]

I was given an Outdoor Edge "Swing Blade" and it is just about perfect for every task except deboning. The best gut hook going, a great working blade on the other side and holds an edge well with little work to touch it up. It's also the sharpest knife out of the box you've ever seen......

 

[bumblebee]

I still use the Toledo blade my Dad brought me back from Spain almost 50 years ago

 

[jim brady]

I use a Buck Skinner knife for the hide and the Buck General for every thing else. Picked up a gem of an idea from a former neighbor: Because my skinning knife got dull towards the end of skinning an elk, my neighbor brought out a little box of those single edge razor blades. Those were much sharper than my knife ever was, and did a quick and cheap job of skinning.

 

[hardluk1]

polishshooter You sir are showing your age when you mentioned W T Grants. That does go back for me to around the mid '60 to the early '70s. eaven a bit everly for my hunting days.

First knife was a 4" case used for many years then a bought a 4" puma single blade for years. Finally bought a knifes of Alaska pair, alpha wolf and muskrat set. Been a great set of knifes and has worked on deer hogs and elk. Well worth the money 15 years ago. Todays cost???

 

[cycloneman]

When I was a teenager I bought a buck knife. It was the hardest thing to keep an edge on. Hard steel.

Now I use a Wyoming knife to skin and a repala for every thing else. Cheap and easy to keep a razor sharp edge. The Wyoming knife gets dull just change the blade, back to a razor.

 

[RichR]

Buck special 119-20+ years old- sharpered once to get my edge on it.only 1 or 2 touch ups over the years.Sharp as all git out-however it takes a while to get your egde on instead of factory.

 

[polishshooter]

Yeah, I am partial to Buck Knives too, my normal carry folders have been various Buck 442s over the past ten years or so.

It takes some time to figure out getting an edge on that "Patented 60/40 Buck Bevel" but once you do a resharpened one will hold it's edge as long as a factory edge. It's just a question of "feel" on the soft stone then keeping the same stroke on the hard one to finish.

But I have seen MANY used Bucks at auctions where guys didn't understand the bevel, tried to sharpen it to a normal 50/50 like most other knives and got frustrated, then ruined them on a GRINDER....

But like any of the major makers today, look at the PACKAGE. I have yet to find any Buck, Gerber, Kershaw, Remington, Winchester (ESPECIALLY WInchester) whatever licensed knife "Made in China" that has anywhere near the steel you get in the ones still Made in USA. And PRICE is not always the key either, as we always thought "You get what you pay for." Some of the Chinese stuff is packaged and displayed in major stores in flashy displays at a pretty high price but all you are paying for is the name.

But most of them still also make their regular line in the USA too, you just have to look at the label.

And I've found the "New" Bucks made in Post Falls, Idaho to obe as good as the "Old" ones made in California, and I maybe like them even more since they moved from that Socialist State....

 

[nmckenzie]

The lady of the house uses a Wyoming Knife, wheras I favor a Schrade Sharp Finger.

 

[carver]

I also use the Sharp Finger. I don't debone, unless you call cutting out the back strap deboning.

 

[polishshooter]

Carver, I don't know if it really matters, but I debone all my venison, except for the ribs.

I grew up in the "farms" south of Buffalo, NY, and my Dad knew how to cut up beef on the bandsaw, and used the same method for his deer....

And while my Mom was a GREAT cook, and we had to eat EVERYTHING Dad shot, ( I LOVED the rabbits and pheasants and "partridges" he shot!) the venison was always "Tough and Gamey" and all us kids HATED it....

Now it COULD have been the fact he cut through the bone, or MAYBE because after he skinned it he let it "age" for a while in Grandma's barn which meant in Western New York winters it usually was completely FROZEN when he cut it up...or MAYBE because Mom over cooked it in the cast iron fry pans she used....

But it WAS "tough and gamey." Quite frankly I didn't really LIKE venison growing up.

But later eating venison my buddies friends shot in NY and PA later which was "pretty good...."

And marrying my wife who grew up in PA and ate a LOT of venison her step-father shot, both legal and "poached..." and knew how to cook it...


Fast forward to my time in Indiana, where I have killed most of my deer, wich are ALL "Corn and Bean fed," and a buddy who taught me to cut up my own deer who SWEARS the "gameyness" is from cutting through bone so taught me to debone EVERYTHING, plus the fact I have never let even my biggest and OLDEST buck "age" more than two nights, most are young ones who I usually hang one night and cut up and get in the freezer the next day, some I have even killed and cut up the SAME day....


Plus my wife ALSO agrees "Rare" is how you cook beef OR venison....

ALL the venison I eat now is tender, mild and JUICY....I can put a 1" thick backstrap Venison butterfly on the grill next to a 1" thick Beef Ribeye, season them the SAME way, cook them both rare, and while you will be able to tell them apart, you will NOT be able to tell me which one you like MORE....

I DON'T know if it is the "deboning" or not, but who am I to argue with my buddy?

 

[bumblebee]

I Cook venison, especially backstrap, on the grill to the rare side of medium.

 

[carver]

polishshooter, nothing wrong with the way you do it, nothing at all! Usually I butcher my own deer meat. I don't cut steaks, though I could. For the most part a leg becomes a roast, back straps, and any other meat not on the bone, are tenderized with a mallet before cooking. Neck is a roast, and ribs are cooked as ribs should be cooked. I said usually because I took my deer meat to a butcher this year. I will be doing it again next year. To me it's worth the $50, or $60 these guys charge. They do cut steaks, but all the meat is run thru a tenderizer. Ribs are pared down for the meat, and all that, pluss scraps, are made into pan sausage. The sausage I got this past year wasn't very good, so a different butcher next year. Like you I grew up eating wild game, some folks do a good job cooking game, some do a horrible job of it. I've had some tender meat in my time, and I've had some I couldn't eat at all!

 

[langenc]

Yeah, I am partial to Buck Knives too, my normal carry folders have been various Buck 442s over the past ten years or so.

It takes some time to figure out getting an edge on that "Patented 60/40 Buck Bevel" but once you do a resharpened one will hold it's edge as long as a factory edge. It's just a question of "feel" on the soft stone then keeping the same stroke on the hard one to finish.

But I have seen MANY used Bucks at auctions where guys didn't understand the bevel, tried to sharpen it to a normal 50/50 like most other knives and got frustrated, then ruined them on a GRINDER....

But like any of the major makers today, look at the PACKAGE. I have yet to find any Buck, Gerber, Kershaw, Remington, Winchester (ESPECIALLY WInchester) whatever licensed knife "Made in China" that has anywhere near the steel you get in the ones still Made in USA. And PRICE is not always the key either, as we always thought "You get what you pay for." Some of the Chinese stuff is packaged and displayed in major stores in flashy displays at a pretty high price but all you are paying for is the name.

But most of them still also make their regular line in the USA too, you just have to look at the label.

And I've found the "New" Bucks made in Post Falls, Idaho to obe as good as the "Old" ones made in California, and I maybe like them even more since they moved from that Socialist State....

I knew of one outlet that still had some USA Old Timers. They had jacked the price.

The 'new' ones (china) cost the same as they used to when USA. I always wonder where all the savings went?? Mason shoes is another big Chinese supporter that sells their CHINA shoes for over $100/pair.

I dont know where my next shoes will come from.

 

[langenc]

I knew of one outlet that still had some USA Old Timers. They had jacked the price.

The 'new' ones (china) cost the same as they used to when USA. I always wonder where all the savings went?? Mason shoes is another big Chinese supporter that sells their CHINA shoes for over $100/pair.

I dont know where my next shoes will come from.

In the early 80s I bought several knives from a seller in Ohio. One is a nice, heavy OTer, a folder. The co was going out of business and I believe I paid about $30 w/ sheath. A couple yrs later I was in the big 3 story mall in Toronto and saw the same knife for $110...but they also had mens shirts on 'sidewalk sale' for $55. My son (12 yo) said "let's get out of here."

 

[polishshooter]

I Cook venison, especially backstrap, on the grill to the rare side of medium.

More venison (and BEEF for that matter) is "ruined" by overcooking than anything else....

But venison is naturally "dry" without a lot of fat anyway, so it drys out and gets "tough" quickly if overcooked at all....

But then again, I get accused of liking my meat "raw...."

COOL RED CENTER, yum yum!


My school of thought on venison OR beef is there is only three degrees you can cook it....

Rare, Medium Rare, or......





BURNT.