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How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
#7024764
01/04/18 06:58 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,257
Texas Dan
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In your opinion, how many deer should you be able to skin with a "good" knife before it needs sharpening?
I'm looking to see how the "average" knives I own stand up against the really good ones.
Thanks in advance.
"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7024791
01/04/18 07:10 PM
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 4,140
Dalee7892
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I probably run my knife at least once on steel while skinning. Just to keep the edge.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7024793
01/04/18 07:11 PM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 6,287
scalebuster
THF Trophy Hunter
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7024999
01/04/18 09:50 PM
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,811
TxAg
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It'll do 2, maybe even 3. But I like to touch it up after each. A good sharp knife is a pleasure to use.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025063
01/04/18 10:28 PM
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 19,652
Pitchfork Predator
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Pitchfork Predator]
#7025202
01/04/18 11:51 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,257
Texas Dan
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I'm interested to know what brand of knife and grade of steel you guys are using to clean two or more deer. All of my knives are Buck knives and I can get through one deer at best. Perhaps I need to get better at sharpening them. Thanks.
"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025223
01/05/18 12:01 AM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
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Taking Requests
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I always touch up a knife blade after gutting a deer or hog just to keep it nice and sharp. My MikeC is always ready to go after gutting something. Matter of fact last yr I killed 4 hogs one night and gutted them all with my MikeC and that included cutting through the ribs by the sternum.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025431
01/05/18 02:15 AM
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Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 19,652
Pitchfork Predator
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I'm interested to know what brand of knife and grade of steel you guys are using to clean two or more deer. All of my knives are Buck knives and I can get through one deer at best. Perhaps I need to get better at sharpening them. Thanks. All of mine are custom, many from the knife makers on this forum. Damascus and Elmax are the top 2 steels for holding an edge the longest out of what I own. I use the Worksharp to sharpen them.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025495
01/05/18 03:15 AM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,124
postoak
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I'm interested to know what brand of knife and grade of steel you guys are using to clean two or more deer. All of my knives are Buck knives and I can get through one deer at best. Perhaps I need to get better at sharpening them. Thanks. Are you using one knife when you do a deer? Are you gutting and skinning, and quartering?
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025546
01/05/18 03:58 AM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 18,770
HuntingTexas
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I have a G W Stone knife that has been used on 5-6 deer between sharpenings. We use it for skinning and cutting but keep it off the bones.
" In God We Trust "
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025547
01/05/18 04:00 AM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 18,770
HuntingTexas
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A couple of my Pancho (Fred Aguirre) knives processed several deer between touch ups.
" In God We Trust "
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: postoak]
#7025612
01/05/18 05:48 AM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,257
Texas Dan
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I'm interested to know what brand of knife and grade of steel you guys are using to clean two or more deer. All of my knives are Buck knives and I can get through one deer at best. Perhaps I need to get better at sharpening them. Thanks. Are you using one knife when you do a deer? Are you gutting and skinning, and quartering? Yes, but with a saw used for all bone cuts of course.
"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025618
01/05/18 06:11 AM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,358
bronco71
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My old Boker will get thru 2-3 deer dressing and skinning, needs attention doing a 2nd hog...
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025749
01/05/18 12:56 PM
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Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 7,047
mikei
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I can easily get through two deer with one sharpening with my Bucks. I use the WorkSharp system. My son was struggling to get through even one deer with his Buck, and I discovered that he was using the wrong angle when sharpening: it was too fine. The finer the edge, the more likely it is to become dull more quickly. Not only are really sharp knives a pleasure to use, they are much safer than a knife with a dull or even a marginal edge, since you won't have to "force" your way through a cut with them. WorkSharp recommends the following angles in their User's Manual: Outdoor knife: 25 degrees; Kitchen knives: 20 degrees. These angles will give you what WorkSharp describes as "Toothy Sharp" and "Shaving Sharp." If you want the ultimate edge, they recommend going to 22.5 degrees on your outdoor knives and 17.5 degrees on the kitchen knives. My personal experience has been that putting the "ultimate" edge on my hunting knives makes for great cutting but a fragile edge that doesn't hold up quite as well, so I stick with the 25 degree angle.
Last edited by mikei; 01/05/18 03:43 PM.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025779
01/05/18 01:19 PM
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 229
Amarillo.Hunter
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 229 |
My spyderco (Japanese) steel can make it through two deer with a problem.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7025890
01/05/18 02:28 PM
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Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 240
7six2
Woodsman
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Woodsman
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I use a Ka-Bar, with partial serration, and always resharpen after each kill. On deer I suppose I could do 2 or 3 before needing it...and we have done two hogs back to back before. I'm doing about a 20-25 degree "utility" angle and its just sharp enough to shave my arm hair.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7026441
01/05/18 09:33 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,124
postoak
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I use 4 knives at a time and so can get through 4 deer. I have a heritage knife (first knife I ever bought, in 1972) that I use for cutting through the hide and separating the hip joints. I have a Stic drop point that I find useful for the gutting. I have a Buck 103 skinner for the actual skinning. A skinning knife doesn't have to be particularly sharp, anyway. I have a filet knife for cutting around the anus. If all these were to fail during the quartering of a deer, I have my Havalon Piranta in reserve.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7027573
01/07/18 12:06 AM
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,185
Misfire
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Much of it depends on HOW you skin. If you cut through a lot of hair your edge will not last as long.
"I wanna go fast" -Ricky Bobby
"Mind bottling isn't it?" -Chazz Michael Michaels
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7028159
01/07/18 02:40 PM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,652
Jason Fry
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The knives I use are carbon steel knives I built early on in my progress as a knifemaker. I use the same knife to field dress, skin, and debone. I occasionally touch up on a steel. Two deer is no problem on one sharpening. By the time you get through the third one, you need to sharpen. Don't try and cut bones with a knife, and it'll go further.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7028884
01/08/18 01:45 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 193
Andrew Griggs
Woodsman
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Woodsman
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I had a someone leave this review on my facebook page: "Andrew sent me a CTX 440C Stainless Steel with Black G-10 Handle to field test and I field tested the heck out of it. I field dressed 14 deer and hogs and cleaned/quartered 5 or so of them....all without a single sharpening. I finally had to sharpen it only because I love a really sharp knife! Awesome knife Andrew. Perfect size. Great company! Recommend 100%!"
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7029140
01/08/18 06:20 AM
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Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 615
Frio County Hunts
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We all have pretty much switched over to Havalon knives with the disposable blades. I can usually quarter several deer before I notice anything. Hogs quicken the dulling process pretty significantly. Some of us like to cut through the joints for separating legs/heads/etc and some prefer the sawzall. It does take some getting use to as you can break the blades easily if you put them in a bind. I bought a 100 pack of blades on Amazon and I remember it was not expensive. Once you get used to it, it can really rock and roll on the skinning shed and cut some time off. The first time I used it 5-6 years ago, I cut myself pretty deep because it sliced right through the deer like butter and I wasn't used to it. My dad gave me hard time about it and took over for me while I went to bandage it. When I came back out, he was walking towards the house holding his hand with a cut in the same exact spot as mine. He said "damn, that knife is sharp!" I still makes me laugh out loud now.
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7029854
01/08/18 07:32 PM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,267
Sirrah243
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My Buck 120 will do two deer before I take the Lansky to it, I think it could probably do three but I've never had three to clean and quarter at a time. Hogs are a different story.
�A hunt based only on the trophies taken falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be.� -Fred Bear
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Frio County Hunts]
#7034960
01/12/18 01:14 AM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,084
Bucks and Ducks
Extreme Tracker
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We all have pretty much switched over to Havalon knives with the disposable blades. I can usually quarter several deer before I notice anything. Hogs quicken the dulling process pretty significantly. Some of us like to cut through the joints for separating legs/heads/etc and some prefer the sawzall. It does take some getting use to as you can break the blades easily if you put them in a bind. I bought a 100 pack of blades on Amazon and I remember it was not expensive. Once you get used to it, it can really rock and roll on the skinning shed and cut some time off. The first time I used it 5-6 years ago, I cut myself pretty deep because it sliced right through the deer like butter and I wasn't used to it. My dad gave me hard time about it and took over for me while I went to bandage it. When I came back out, he was walking towards the house holding his hand with a cut in the same exact spot as mine. He said "damn, that knife is sharp!" I still makes me laugh out loud now. x2 on havalon, yes super sharp
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#7035069
01/12/18 02:21 AM
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,409
Huntmaster
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Just like an old gun with marks that you put on it twenty years ago-a knife has a memory. It has marks on the sheath and on the blade. Your dad put some of those memories there. A disposable blade is well; disposable. Not to much to say about one at the campfire; but you bring out that 60 year old puma!!
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Re: How many deer skinned before your knife needs sharpening?
[Re: Huntmaster]
#7035155
01/12/18 03:21 AM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,506
syncerus
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Just like an old gun with marks that you put on it twenty years ago-a knife has a memory. It has marks on the sheath and on the blade. Your dad put some of those memories there. A disposable blade is well; disposable. Not to much to say about one at the campfire; but you bring out that 60 year old puma!! A disposable, no matter how effective, feels just that: disposable. As we gain experience, we realize that there's much more to hunting than simple efficiency.
NRA Patriot Benefactor & DSC Lifer
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