I have seen these and am on the fence. Having already mentioned the butcher lite set up, and the swing blade I am well covered. I do intend on getting a havalon at some point but these look promising as well. You can't have to many. Most likely will get a havalon down the road.
So when your dragging them out there is more places for dirt, leaves and crap to get into... Seriously it's not needed on deer size game...and if your dead set on splitting it wait till it's hanging so you don't have the area to mess up during the drag out.
I use this knife for skinning a deer, But I don't use the ''hook'' when field dressing a deer because it doesn't work to well. . It was given to me several years ago when I bought a new gun at my local fishing & hunting shop at Christmas. Smith & Wesson CK201 Field Skinner Gut Hook Knife - Amazon.com I also have a Kershaw O' SO Sweet! . . . This is the best knife I've ever owned for hunting & fishing. .. It stays sharp a long time! . . I use it to field dress deer, cut the meat off deer and can use it to fillet Bass, Trout & Crappie! . . I really like the Speed-Safe spring-assisted for instant opening! Kershaw Oso Sweet Knife - 713559, Spring Assisted Knif at Sportsman's Guide I started to buy the Outdoor Edge Processing Kit, but I first tried these knives pictured to field dress and cut the meat off deer and they worked great, so I didn't buy the kit. The larger knife is a Uncle Henry. . My younger (only) brother bought the knife a long time ago, and he was killed in an accident several years ago. . He loved to Bow hunt and I'm sure he would be happy to know that I'm using the knife! The one next to it is a Western knife that my dad bought for me 34 years ago!. . Both of them are great for cutting up a deer. These are the knives that I use to field dress and cut up a deer, and I just use a regular hacksaw.
I split them open to make it easier to get the guts out. has nothing to do with cooling them down. If you split the chest, you can continue the cut from the anal hole all the way up to the white patch on the neck. Then simply cut the wind pipe, and pull all the guts out. You do not have to reach in and get blood all the way up to your shoulder by doing this. I normally only have blood on my hands. I think one long continuous pull is easier than fighting to get it out of the closed chest. same goes for the anus. I prefer to saw through the pelvis, and then cut out, rather than using a small blade to carefully "circumcise" the anus to remove the gut. there are many ways to do everything, but I find using a small saw blade makes the job cleaner for me. This notion of it allows more dirt to get in the cavity has never been a problem for me. the ribs are very flexible, and the cavity always closes right back up for the drag out. You have brace it open to keep it open for cooling. This is a pic of the end result. notice the chest is not wide open. it does allow you to reach everything easily, and "cleanly" . The knife blade to assist with this just needs to be sharp, not anything special. making a straight cut through deer skin is pretty straight forward and does not take very long to do.
I understand to get the guts out... but what is in there that needs to be removed? I remove all the meat from the outside, grab the tenders with a quick slice to drop the guts into the chest cavity and then remove the heart from the hole between the ribs. I leave the guts in the rib cage and toss the carcass. Of course I don't often hang a deer for cooling in Alabama... its seldom cool enough to do that so I have to process everything the same day. Nice bucks BTW
I have a Buck 110 that has dressed dozens of deer. I have over 30 knives (mostly gifts) but always use the 110. It's the only piece of hunting gear I haven't upgraded in over 20 years.
I use a Havalon and most recently a swing blaze knife. I will admit that the swing blade knife worked great but as soon as it is dull I will just give it away to a friend. I do not see myself sharpening another hunting knife again. The havalon is just too easy! I guess if I had a knife that meant something to me it would be a different story. My friends will sit around and talk about the best knife sharpeners instead of the best knives. Some are coming around to using a havalon but I assume all will eventually.
The only knife I take on any hunt is a Havalon. I gut, skin, quarter and cape elk deer and antelope with this single knife. I use the 70 blades instead of the 60XT that most people do.
I've got a custom made knife made by my cousin in Alberta the blade holds a great edge and the handle is cool made of Rosewood and inlayed with Muledeer antler I have a few commercial knifes too but this one is by far my fav Dan
I like knives way more than guns, but slightly less than archery. Thus, I spent a lot of time reading reviews, watching YouTube, etc. I spent about $60 and got one that a frog could shave with and it also came with a bone saw. However, I learned that I really do NOT like folding knives for gutting a deer. It was really a pain getting the knives cleaned up.
