Your favorite skinning knif

Big_red_truck

Big_red_truck

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Hey guys , just wanted to see what everyone is using to skin their game.

I use a buck omni hunter or my old buck woodsman.

Since I'm in the buying mood I was looking for a real good quality skinning knife for smaller game like fox , coyote or wolf. Or do you guys use the same knife on all game. The reason I ask is because it seems to me the omni hunter would be a bit large for smaller game to make precision cuts to preserve the pelt.

On the other hand I'm not exactly impressed with either knife I currently own for
Skinning. They lose their edge fast , especially skinning moose.

Cheers
 
For larger game, I use a cold steel master hunter, and really like it. Easy to sharpen and seems to really hold an edge. It does have a really thick blade though (that might be a negative for some people).

A couple years ago i field dressed a deer with it and headed back to camp. I put the knife on a table outside and went it to boil some water to wash up. a friend's (landowner) dog must have smelled the deer blood and somehow got it off the table. I couldn't remember for certain where i put it down and went crazy looking for it. He found it in the spring, with the rototiller, buried in the garden. Dog was never hurt. The knife still looks good.

For small game, i find the havalon knives work good.
 
The old Russel #1 belt knife design is an excellent field knife and will work very well for skinning with it's drop point & elliptical blade shape. You would not be disappointed with one of these for all around use here in NB.

I found this one in a pawn shop last year for 20 dollars.

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The top three are are Bark River, custom clone and another Russel.

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I carry a Cold Steel Pendleton model on my belt and keep a thin bladed Mora in my pack as a spare. The Mora is actually classified as a carving knife, but it's a great blade for small game, and it's very light so the extra weight is no bother.

I've experimented with a lot of different knives over the years, from expensive custom, to high end production, to the dirt cheap Moras, and if I knew then what I know now I would have saved myself a lot of money and just stayed with the Mora. I've also moved to shorter blades. The Pendleton is only 3 1/2". A longer blade is just a nuisance when dressing out game, even moose.
 
Big_red_truck said:
On the other hand I'm not exactly impressed with either knife I currently own for
Skinning. They lose their edge fast , especially skinning moose.
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I find skinning game, esp moose to hard on most knives. The Bark river I own is the best one I have for heavy skinning.
 
blasted_saber said:
If you want to get serious about skinning smaller game, try one of these. They are "work grade" so the scales arent exactly pretty, but the steel and design are excellent. Thousands of trappers across Canada cant be wrong. They're hand made in Canada too.

http://www.postknives.com/Post Fur Skinning Knives.htm
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It's something along this line I'm looking for. Quality and canadian made. Any other suggestions out there?
 
I've been using a bark river custom skinner for the past 5-6 years, I really like the knife but not really how the sheath hung on my belt, kinda floppy and the longer handle didn't help. This winter I picked up a benchmark saddle mountain skinner, so far I like the knife, sheath fits close to body with no flapping around. Mine is the kydex model. We will find out this coming fall when I actually get to skin something with it.
 
jk123 said:
I've been using a bark river custom skinner for the past 5-6 years, I really like the knife but not really how the sheath hung on my belt, kinda floppy and the longer handle didn't help. This winter I picked up a benchmark saddle mountain skinner, so far I like the knife, sheath fits close to body with no flapping around. Mine is the kydex model. We will find out this coming fall when I actually get to skin something with it.
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I will look into these as well , I'm opened to anything. Does anyone here have experience with the puma coyote stag? It's a beautiful knife and seems to be well reviewed. I know some of you guys have wayyyyyy more experience then me , I'm open to anything
 
I took a plastic handled straight bladed Henckel butcher knife along once because I knew that the best chance of getting the moose loaded was in quarters. It is halfway between a boning knife and a butcher knife and cost a whopping 22 bucks at Cabellas. After using it for all the gutting and skinning chores I came back to town with a abrupt change of heart and bought another one. We made sheaths for them, and that's the hunting/skinning/quartering/boning and take it home and use it in the kitchen knife now. And this is coming from a knife nut that made knives for years.

When I toss one to hunting partner they inevitably ask where they can get one, and get my boy to make them a case. You can sharpen it on anything, but a stupid Samari Shark from wally world as easy as it gets. Put it in the dishwasher when you get home.
 
For smaller game like coyotes I like to use a knife that is/looks like a boning knife. Chicago blue works well. Don't know if it's in your budget though, runs about $10.00. For deer and occasional beaver then it's my schrade sharpfinger. That one is a whopping $20.00 or so. My purpose beaver knife right now is a dexter but am planning to replace it with a post sometime this year.

For the most part I prefer smaller knives for working on animals.

Supercub that purpose skinner is a nice looking knife.
 
Dogleg said:
I took a plastic handled straight bladed Henckel butcher knife along once because I knew that the best chance of getting the moose loaded was in quarters. It is halfway between a boning knife and a butcher knife and cost a whopping 22 bucks at Cabellas. After using it for all the gutting and skinning chores I came back to town with a abrupt change of heart and bought another one. We made sheaths for them, and that's the hunting/skinning/quartering/boning and take it home and use it in the kitchen knife now. And this is coming from a knife nut that made knives for years.

When I toss one to hunting partner they inevitably ask where they can get one, and get my boy to make them a case. You can sharpen it on anything, but a stupid Samari Shark from wally world as easy as it gets. Put it in the dishwasher when you get home.
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I'd be interested in trying this on moose. Any chance
You could send me a link to the knife you're referring to? If this is coming from a knife nut who's made knives for years I'd be crazy not to give it a go. Hook a brother up with a sheath too! Haha

For smaller game I've had my eye on the puma coyote stag , anyone have experience with it?
 
Big_red_truck said:
I will look into these as well , I'm opened to anything. Does anyone here have experience with the puma coyote stag? It's a beautiful knife and seems to be well reviewed. I know some of you guys have wayyyyyy more experience then me , I'm open to anything
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I'd order one of the grohman assemble yourself kits, it will give you a little project for a few icy evenings. I like the trout and bird knife for all my uses although I plan to order the survival knife kit and make myself a camping/survival knife during the upcoming weeks between the close of ice fishing and start of open water. If we even have any open water before May here in New Brunswick.
 
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Jim870 said:
I'd order one of the grohman assemble yourself kits, it will give you a little project for a few icy evenings. I like the trout and bird knife for all my uses although I plan to order the survival knife kit and make myself a camping/survival knife during the upcoming weeks between the close of ice fishing and start of open water. If we even have any open water before May here in New Brunswick.
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Also sounds interesting , so many choices , so little money haha. Makes it hard
To choose because they all seem like decent working rugged knives
 
I have a couple old (original schrade) sharpfingers, pro hunters and a 165OT.

Can't go wrong with a schrade.
 
I don't harvest many animals ....1 deer tag here in NB , 3000 or so hunters drawn for Moose here , the odd coyote and I've never harvested a bear (I don't enjoy guarding a bait pile).

A common thing to see around our deer camp when it's time to skin one is a common box cutter. Get things started , pull at the hide and work it down ... When the blade dulls break it at the line and voila sharp again. It gets the job done quick and the meat is ready to be boned out.

Not Uber traditional but it's worked well for our crew.
 
I pretty much only skin out beef' so my knife choices might not be appropriate, but I really like the classic Buck knives. I use a 103 skinner once I get the legs off and started opening with a bigger, pointier hunting knife.

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I would like to try the 113 as well, it looks like a pretty decent shape and size too.

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Kristian
 
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