Knives for the fall hunt.

6mm Remington

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Well it's never too late to start thinking about fall hunts coming up and having a good sharp knife or two is always nice to have in your pack. Curious as to what everyone is packing. Here are a couple that I really like.

The first is a Ruana Steelhead made in Bonner Montana. Hard not to like a good old fashioned Ruana knife! They are not fancy but I sure like the Steelhead model. Seems to be just about a perfect size for a lot of tasks.





Of course a Case lock-back knife made in USA is a good one also. It and the Buck 110 are both great knives and are very similar in shape and design. Nice size, shape, and stout as all get-out.



A buddy of mine who goes to countless garage sales and auctions found two identical old Herter's skinning knives at an estate sale and bought them both. He had a good friend of his make sheaths for the knives, and then he gave one to me! I'd love to know more about the knife and it's history. You all remember the old Herter's catalogs? I put a wicked sharp edge on it and sanded down and put a new finish on the wood handle. The handle finish was not in very good shape prior to this project. Someone at some point had used sanding wheel or something to sharpen the darn thing with as evidenced by the scratches in the blade. I sanded those down trying to make them a little less visible, and it looks okay. Yes it's really too large to pack on a hunt, but if an elk or deer can be gotten out whole, this thing sure will work fine skinning it out!





Also what are you using to put those edges on a blade? I bought one of the Lansky stone sharpening kits about three years ago and I wish I would have tried these much sooner. Man are they effective at putting a perfect edge on a knife, and you will never ever ruin a blade by getting the steel too hot like you can with some of the other systems.

If an edge has been sharpened free-hand on stones or is in rough shape it might take a while with this system to get it perfect. Stoning is not fast work! That being said though, once you have that edge on the knife, it only takes 10 minutes or so to re-sharpen a knife when it gets dull if you haven't abused it severely. Every knife in my house is now shaving sharp!

David
 
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My combo that I have been carrying for a while is a Buck 110 like you mentioned. It is pretty hard to improve on a classic design. Then I carry a Browning Reaper for a gut hook and saw. It has a stiffer blade than most comparable saws and the gut hook is perfect for deer sized game. I also like my old Kabar skinner. I still like the feel of the stacked leather handle.
 
I can't sharpen a knife to save my life...lol I use a Havalon for skinning and an Outdoor Edge Razor-Lite for gutting and cutting. I have a nice Outdoor Edge butchering kit for the actual butchering in my cold room that has done me well for years that a buddy of mine sharpens for me and I use the honing steel as I go.
 
Yep, Buck 110 for 30 yrs now. That knife has been half way around the world, and back, with me. See no reason to change now.
 
I've used a Puma Catamount Stag for the past six years. A good looking knife and not bad for the price point. I'm going to pick up a Gerber Vital soon and I've been thinking about picking up a Benchmade Saddle Mountain Hunter.
 
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I've come to appreciate having some belly in the blade of my hunting knives. Like everyone else, I cut my teeth (forgive the pun) on Buck 110s and Case XX pocket knives. Yet, the ability to really make full use of the blade is huge benefit in breaking down and skinning game. Thus, I gravitate to the Canadian Belt Knife and Nessmuk patterns. I currently carry a Knives of a Alaska Yukon which has the benefit of being made of tool steel. I've also purchased Grohmann knives as gifts and they are very fine. Blind Horse (now Battle Horse) makes a really good Nessmuk (had one of those stolen out of my truck), as does Bark River if you are into custom and semi-custom knives.

Here are a few photos of my Yukon, along with a full set of processing knives:

View attachment 59093View attachment 59094View attachment 59095
 
I've used a Puma Catamount Stag for the past six years. A good looking knife and not bad for the price point. I'm going to pick up a Gerber Vital soon and I've been thinking about picking up a Benchmade Saddle Mountain Hunter.

I really like Benchmade knives in addition to the Buck knives. The Saddle Mountain looks like a great knife. The Buck Vanguard sure seems to be nice also. I really like the shape and size of the blade at just over 4" long and the wood handle is comfortable and looks great. Nice choices.

I do have a Benchmade mini-Barrage and man what a great pocket knife it is! It opens fast and has a great blade locking system. I really like how it feels in my hands and the shape of the 2.9" blade is perfect. It should clean a deer very easily.

Like others on this site, the Buck 110 is a classic. The Case knife I have looks identical and it too WAS made in the USA before they moved operations oversees. What's not to like about the Buck 110.
 
I've used a Puma Catamount Stag for the past six years. A good looking knife and not bad for the price point. I'm going to pick up a Gerber Vital soon and I've been thinking about picking up a Benchmade Saddle Mountain Hunter.


You might go someplace that has Benchmade knives and look at the Saddle Mountain Skinner in addition to the Hunter. I really like the blade shape and size on the Skinner and it looks like it would be useful for a variety of tasks. I prefer how it feels and the blade size and shape over the Hunter. That being said, they are both very fine knives and you probably cannot go wrong with either.

Skinner:
http://www.benchmade.com/saddle-mountain-skinner-family.html

Buck Vanguard:
http://www.buckknives.com/product/vanguard-knife/0192FAM01/

You can get the Vanguard at Cabelas with a black coated blade of S30V steel. It is a very nice knife.
 
A Busse scrap yard Swamp Rat Knifeworks 4 3/8" workhorse blade


Charles May Noxubee


Keith Murr....found in a display case at a gunsmith shop considerably underpriced. I told the owner what it was...he thanked me and kept price the same.
 
You might go someplace that has Benchmade knives and look at the Saddle Mountain Skinner in addition to the Hunter. I really like the blade shape and size on the Skinner and it looks like it would be useful for a variety of tasks. I prefer how it feels and the blade size and shape over the Hunter. That being said, they are both very fine knives and you probably cannot go wrong with either.

Skinner:
http://www.benchmade.com/saddle-mountain-skinner-family.html

Buck Vanguard:
http://www.buckknives.com/product/vanguard-knife/0192FAM01/

You can get the Vanguard at Cabelas with a black coated blade of S30V steel. It is a very nice knife.

Thanks for the recommendation 6mm. I was actually looking at both the Hunter and Skinner. I haven't been able to decide on the two, but you have me swaying towards the Skinner. I would like to check them out in person.
 
A buddy of mine who goes to countless garage sales and auctions found two identical old Herter's skinning knives at an estate sale and bought them both. He had a good friend of his make sheaths for the knives, and then he gave one to me! I'd love to know more about the knife and it's history.



David

I don't know much about the history behind those Herters knives, but I love the shape of the blade, they look very similar to the Green River Buffalo Skinner. I bought a pair of these a couple of years ago and built them for my buddy and myself. Wonderful knives to work an animal with, and the carbon steel sharpens very easily. Perhaps a little large for detail work on whitetail or antelope, but perfect for mule deer and elk.

blade-buf-05_1.jpg
 
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Knives of Alaska Alpha Wolf.

I ditched the Lansky and got a Ken Onion Worksharp.
 
I'm packing three this year:

A German made Olsen I inherited from my grandpa, a Benchmade Steep Country BHA knife and a havalon for some of the finer work. Really hoping I can put grandpa's knife to work this fall.
 
I'm still using an old Buck 112 that is 35+ years old, it's small and can do anything I need. No need for those flimsy replaceable throwaway blade knives and dedicated skinning tools like the razor raptor that can only do one thing.0625161112-00.jpg
 
My old Buck Zipper and a Mora boning knife, which my recently deceased father was given while visiting relatives in Sweden. Both have a great history and work well together.
 
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