What is your favorite knife to field dress a deer and why? I am looking to buy for me and welcome your input.

Havalon and Case XX trapper. I like them because they work well, don't take up much room and are lightweight.

Stay with a short knife, IMO. a three inch knife will do anything you need. I like deep drop point skinning knives.

I have a 3" blade folding type knife I have had since high school. I am 61 now! It has field dressed and butchered many an animal, from deer, hogs, to lots of elk. I can break down an elk with this knife using the "gutless method" to ready to pack out in a little over 30 minutes, using nothing but the knife, no saws. It is all you need.

Lots of guys switching to havalon type "scalpel" knives and they have some great advantages, but I guess I am just too hard on them. I like a knife you can lean on and not break! Just my personal preference.

The secret to a knife like mine is to get one with very good/hard steel that holds its edge well. But that also means it can be hard to sharpen. For me the Work Sharp solved that problem.

For many years, I used a classic Buck 110 folder. Strong, reasonably priced and holds a great edge. it just always felt clumsy in the hand though, and bulky. Still a great knife. It was replaced by a relatively inexpensive 3 inch fixed blade drop point I made from a kit. It needs more frequent sharpening, but will get through a deer, With a lanyard, I never worry about having to set it down during the gutting process, and mauevers easy. I still pack it, but it was replaced by Schrade Sharp Finger. Very ergonomic, has my lanyard, compact and holds a great edge. Mine is I think only the 3 inch or so blade. I also don't like the replaceable razor blade knifes...too flimsy for my taste.
It is easy to get too big a knife, and use it for what you want it for... a deer hunting / gutting knife, is never used for whittling, dinner, etc. Keep its edge for what it was intended.

***Deleted by CalHunter***

To the OP:

Why have you copied and stolen my profile info and why have you copied and pasted my location info onto your profile? I do not know you and I do not appreciate this. I request you remove my info from your profile immediately. A MOD has been notified.

That's odd...identity theft right here on HNI who would have thought that could happen.

Yeah, I couldn't believe it when I saw it. I sent PMs to Cal and both the "IB" Mods. As far as I am concerned the OP has some explaining to do. What would possess you to use another members bio info? UNBELIEVABLE! You can't make crap like this up.

Cal hasn't been on in about a week, so I went ahead and blocked the OP. I tried to edit out the profile, but don't have authorization to do so, so admin will have to take care of that.

Although unlikely, it's possible that it was a strange glitch in the system. We've run into a few weird issues lately revolving around people's profiles, user IDs, etc. So admin will need to look further into that.

-Jake