# A good dressing/skinning knive?



## TSYORK (Mar 16, 2006)

I need to invest in me a good skinning/dressing knive. However, my budget is very tight right now, so I can't put crazy money into a blade. Any suggestion on a good but economical knive to use for deer?

Thanks,


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## Haggis (Mar 11, 2004)

Truth is that the hide of "warm" deer will peel right off with only a few cuts being made, and certainly, with a wee bit of elbow grease, the hide of a cold deer will come off in the same fashion. Primitive man (and woman), across millenia, skinned countless deer with nothing more than a sharp rock, one supposes a modern hunter could get by with nothing more than a box cutter or a run-o-the-mill $1.50 utility knife of the sort sold at lumber yard counters nigh everywhere. Neither will look very "woodsy", but both will work as well for skinning a deer as any high end custom made skinner.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> Any suggestion on a good but economical knive to use for deer?


Kershaw makes great knives at reasonable prices:

http://www.kershawknives.com/products.php?brand=kershaw


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## Wis Bang 2 (Jan 12, 2010)

Hate to plug Wal*Mart but they sell some Gerber & Kershaw knives at reasonable prices...

Also google 'golf ball deer skinning' where a golf ball is tied into the skin and the other end connected to the bumper of a pickup...

Our butcher skins every deer b/4 hanging them in the cooler. His gambrel is on an electric chain hoist [he also does sheep, pork & beef] and he anchored an eye bolt into the floor and uses a length of 1/4" aircraft cable & the hoist to pull the skin off. Got the idea form seeing a you tube video w/ the golf ball idea. He says it really speeds things up at his shop!


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I have an old russle 5 1/2 inch rigid strait boning with a side gaurd , paid 50 cents at a rummage sale i preffer it for most deer proccesing 

i would take a seriose look at a russle green river knife the seath knife would probably do you fine they are under 20 dollars but still need a sheath , but mainly becaise i like carbon steel.

old hicory would also serve you fine 

for gutting in the feild almost any thing will work i like somthing with a point and a rubber grip about 4-5 inch blad is good i flip the knife dull side down and push forward on the sternum bone once i have a hole i turn the knife around still dull side to the deer and work back to the inside of the inner leg 
i remove a long dimond shapes strip from the sternum to the inside of each leg then around the backside to the base of the tail fold back with the genitaila cut the stomach muscles dump the guts cut the pelvis crack it open and pull the colon and such out thru the cut pelic bone and cut free the hide hoding the rectum and leave that dimond shaped strip the rectum and all the guts in the pile then perce the diphram pull the hear and lungs and tug in the wind pipe with one hand wile you reach up in as far as you can with the other hand and knife and cut it thats it toss it on the truck 

some paper towles to clean up with stored in a gallon ziplock bag are nice 

lately my hunting knife has ben a cheap buck 471 i paid 11 dollars for it at gander a few years back , it is cheap , rubber handle decent sheath and so far held an edge decent 

i never got into the expensive hunting knife thing 

a 12 dollar Mora knife would probably do you just fine i prefer carbin steel but as long as it holds an edge and the grip feels decent the seath holds up i'm not that picky
my brother has a fancy cutstom hunting knife he got as a gift i think it was actualy a regift very sharp great steal but the varnished birds eye maple doen't make for a good grip when your hands are full of blood , i think he has cut himself more than once with it because it gets so slippery. and went back to the cheap rubber hanled buck also.

i f i found a wood handled knife with the steel i liked i wouldn't hesitate to add some grip to the handle with handle with a saw file make some checkering criss cross cuts or add a guard like my old knife has it isn't much more than a bent peice of steeel with a fe littl nails and a good rapping of electrical tape to hold it but i always know right where my hand is in refrence to it by feel.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

I also agree with the Mora knife. I had one and lost it. Turns out the importer is about a half hour drive away. Everone is getting one for Christmas.


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## tryinhard (Jul 19, 2007)

Or I use a paring knife to skin and make parts. I use a hatchet to open them up and gut them. Very light and does a good job plus every kitchen has one!


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

not cheap but durn good knives, i have a few of them and like them

KNIVES OF ALASKA

http://www.knivesofalaska.com/

and they are made here in the states!!


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## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

I've used 3 inch bladed pocket knives to gut and skin deer with. You don't have no big fancy skinning knife. If you don't have one then use whatever you might have handy in the kitchen drawer. Look for a sharp pointed knife with a blade about 5 - 6 inches long. A meat hatchet or a limb saw will be needed to go through any bones. 

I use to be one of those young fellars who always believed bigger was better. A big bowie type skinning knife strapped to my side. It was nice, till I started trying to skin something with it. I found out a much smaller knife was much better.


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## Ol Tex (Oct 4, 2007)

It doesn't take much of a knife to skin a deer. Just something to cut the membrane as you pull the skin off. I like the curved blade skinners, but almost anything with a decent edge will work. Good luck.
John


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## coontrapper (Nov 4, 2010)

Oldcountryboy said:


> I've used 3 inch bladed pocket knives to gut and skin deer with. You don't have no big fancy skinning knife. If you don't have one then use whatever you might have handy in the kitchen drawer. Look for a sharp pointed knife with a blade about 5 - 6 inches long. A meat hatchet or a limb saw will be needed to go through any bones.
> 
> I use to be one of those young fellars who always believed bigger was better. A big bowie type skinning knife strapped to my side. It was nice, till I started trying to skin something with it. I found out a much smaller knife was much better.


I agree !!! Bigger is not always better.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

5" chicago cutlery boning knife, belonged to Grandma. Cut on some critter almost every day, and keep it sharp....James


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I have a Bucklight i have had for 20 years it i was just out looking for christmas presents they have a bucklight max the newer version of the bucklight looks like the changed the grip and gave it a one hand open stud and pocket clip for 20 dollars on amazon and the best part made in the usa 

so someone is getting a bucklite max 

thier buck light max fixed blades are also made in usa and would be a fine choice for a hunting knife also.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Whatever you get make sure it has a guard to keep your hand from sliding up the handle and over the edge. 

When the knife gets bloody it's real easy to do that and it only takes once to cripple your hand permanently.


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## Jolly (Jan 8, 2004)

If you could find a used Schrade Sharpfinger, it is the perfect deer knife.

When I say used, I mean made before 2004.


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