Knife Guthook

Does a guthook help much for skinning?

Also, what knifes would you recommend for skinning. I have a Marble Ideal 6″, would that work on elk, and deer, and rabbits?

Speaking from my own experiences, using a gut hook at all is asking for a punctured gut, and quick massive contamination of all that pristine steak! In truth, those guts are awfully slippery, and pulling them out requires a better grip than often is readily available on them. (1) Using any kind of gut hook to get a purchase on them to pull them out is asking for trouble. So I use a pliers. No risk of gut perforation, and you often need a pair of pliers around for other jobs anyway. (2) Using a gut hook (with sharpened crook) to open the stomach cavity hoping to not pierce any gut is a fool’s errand. Just use your knife blade pointing out toward you, with a fingertip behind it to keep it from nicking any gut. Don’t get cocky and do it too quickly, as this works almost too good! Also, I have yet to do a complete cleaning job on a large animal without “needing” to re-sharpen the knife at least once, whether I had a sharpening stone handy to do it or not! So along with the game bags and pliers, goes a small sharpening stone! Any swept-back blade is fine for skinning. But in the field, I find leaving as much hide as possible on the quarters, beats dirt and blowflies on the meat. The hairs will wash off back at the creek by the camp. Finally, I suspend the animal head upward, when possible, so the offal will be gravity-assisted in coming out. Head down is a disaster!!!!! I refuse to help anyone who does it that way. Also, I tie off the esopahagus and anus with pieces of cord, to keep things super-sanitary, as I remove the entire guts as a single unit. I usually put up the meat in pint jars on location or nearby. 1 tsp of seasoned salt, 1 dollup of kidney fat, 1 inch chunks of steak, loose and not quite full. 65 minutes after the pressure cooker top starts rocking, with 1 inch of local creek water in the bottom, with the bottom spacer in place. Slow natural cool-down, or the jars will boil out all the gravy. Enjoy at your leisure! Regards, Larry.

Gerber Profile Gut Hook Knife 22-01131 – Demo