I am looking into buying a good boning knife for cleaning deer and I'm not sure what kind to buy. So what I'm looking for are some good brands for holding their edge and also just the right amount of flexibility in the blade.

If you could please include the brand,price and where you can purchase them. Thanks

I have contemplated this too.

I use a Normark fillet knife right now. it works very good, but its not very specific to what I probably need.

I also use a fillet knife for boning, for skinning I use a marbles skinning/fleshing knife and for caping and smaller stuff like that I use a Schrade old timer.

I use one of those boning knives (fillet knives) that I found years ago laying on the ground. It is a packing plant knife and has done an awesome job on fish, deer, and whatever else. Sharpens easily and very flexible. Clearly, it was meant for red meat. If you have a hook-up in a plant, see if you can get one of those, probably for free.

I too often wondered about this, now I'm sold on CUTCO. They sell a 6" Boning Knife for around $60. They keep an edge for a long time but if you want it sharpened just send it to them and the only cost is S&H.

this is the only knife that my ole man uses for boning a deer he has had since I was a little kid it is a schrade plus

Personally I started using a Normak fillet knife. Its not a boning or skinning knife, but I like the flexible blade and they are easy to sharpen. When cutting around bone and hair it seems easier to me to just do a quick resharpen as needed.

I know I won't go back to the old lockback like above or a Buck knife. They are versatile, but not flexible. I don't know that I would use a full knife set if I had it. Who knows.

I use a baby buck knife for skinning, and an old fillet knife for boning out the deer. This year I bought a Gerber 2 in one knife, gut hook, 3 inch blade, and saw all in one case. I really like it, but haven't used it yet, so the verdict is still out. Maybe this weekend.

I'll have to find out what mine is called, its got a sharpener built into its case, so every time you put it away it sharpens.. Its a little shorter than a fillet knife(which I also use), and is a little more stiff.

forschner-victornox makes really good knives in many styles. They are inexpensive, relatively, and dishwasher safe with the fibrox handle. They are widely available from Internet sources links to which I cannot post because of course they are not sponsors. One site sells books as well and is named after a long south american river. The 6 inch flexible boning knife is 16 bucks.

I usually use my Chicago Cutlery knifes for butchering. The fillet, the 6" boning, and the larger 7" I think? They steel up real nice between quarters and are relatively cheap. The fillet knife skins off the silver skin nicely. I use the other 2 for the larger cuts of muscle groups and roasts.

The nice thing about butchering your own deer is no fat, no hair, no blood shot meat, no bone sawdust! Just high quality meat and grind trimmings!

Good Luck,

Ferny.

I like to use a fillet knife also. It works well for filleting out the backstraps, and also for deboning, and skinning.

I use a Wustof boning knife for all my butchering work. My wife is a trained chef so she came with her own set of knives. I've found the Wustof really holds and edge well and is still easy to sharpen. I've used filet knives in the past, but they are too limber for my tastes. A good boning knife has a little less bend to it.

I also agree...Filet knife here too...There are alot of good ones out there to choose from.

Ditto Hubercita..Get a couple Wustof's and you won't go back to your hunting style or filet knives ever again...They are what is meant for the job..Little pricey up front but a lifetime replacement warranty...There are also plenty of other forged boning knives out there as well...