Deer Hunting Gear - Hunting knife / Field Dressing

Let's talk about hunting knives. A sure sign of a novice hunter is a dull knife or, worse yet, no knife. Get a knife and keep it sharp. I carry two knives and a small sharpener in my pack.

For hunting you will need a fixed-blade knife or a folding knife. Either will do the job, but a folding knife has an immediate advantage: after it is used, it can be folded up and placed in a plastic bag for later cleaning. Then the bag can be placed back in your hunting pack without risk of getting everything else all dirty. A fixed blade knife is typically carried in a leather scabbard, and I personally don't relish the idea of putting a dirty knife back in the scabbard. Of course, this could be avoided by carrying the supplies necessary to clean the knife in the field. But, to me, that seems like more pain than it is worth. I just carry a folding knife.

I carry a homemade field dressing kit. It contains the following items, placed inside a ziploc bag:
1. rubber gloves
2. folder paper towels (at least 2)
3. small bottle of hand cleaner (like Purell)
4. another ziploc bag

I field dress the deer with my folding knife while wearing the rubber gloves. Then I remove the rubber gloves, turning them inside out. I clean my hands with the hand cleaner and the paper towels. (I also use the paper towels to clean any blood off the deer that would interfere with taking a decent picture.) I place the used gloves, hand cleaner, folded knife, and dirty paper towels back in one of the ziploc bags. I use the other ziploc bag to hold the heart and/or liver.
I can throw the bags in my pack, and everything in my pack stays nice and clean.

I carry two knives, and often end up using them both. Usually one gets soiled while cutting the anus, so I switch knives to avoid contamination. Also, I have a field saw that I use for cutting branches and sometimes I use it to saw through the pelvic bone and/or sternum. The only thing is that it tends to create some very sharp bone fragments, which can easily cut your hands. So I only use it if I have to (like on a really big buck).

When I get home I clean my knives in the sink with hot water and dish soap. If the knife is really dirty I use a steel wool pad. I clean the knife completely. Then I rinse it off. Then I take it outside and spray it down completely with WD-40. (the WD stands for water displacer) Then I dry it with a paper towel. Then I sharpen it razor sharp and put it back in my pack. I know some might say "You clean your knife with steel wool? Doesn't that scratch the finish?". Of course it scratches the finish. But its a hunting knife, not a tiara. I only care if it is clean and sharp, not shiny.