The knives I'm speaking about have been used mostly on deer and antelope.
The ones mentioned as favorites have also been used on bear, elk, hogs, grouse, upland birds, turkeys and waterfowl.
With that said.
Here are four knives with distinctly different blades.
The top two were my dad's, the bottom two have always been mine.
The Schrade Old Timer was a waste of money from day one.
The next knife I used was the Case Kiowa. It was great for skinning and gutting, however, it was nearly impossible to cut the anus away.
(Not sure where the dents in the blade came from, but dad used knives pretty hard.)
Other knives like folding Gerber, Buck knives, and even small folding knives like the three blade Shrades and Case brand were carried. All left something to be desired.
I bought the Browning 813 in 93 or 94 and it quickly became my go to knife. It holds an edge extremely well, it guts and does the anus cut very well. It's alright at skinning.
The Browning 809 above it became my dad's absolute favorite for the reasons I mentioned, plus it has a better skinning blade.
The thing I do is cut the anus loose first, then poke a small hole just below the center of the rib cage. I insert two fingers towards the back, slip the knife inbetween, lift and cut towards the anus.
I never cut through hair or down into it. It will dull any knife in short order.
The little Browning knife is sharp enough and stout enough to cut though the sternum up to the base of the throat in one cut if I decide I want the chest cavity open.
Yes, I cut away from myself. I don't want to be the guy that puts a knife into his femoral artery...
Anyway, I guess the point I'm making is, I've never seen a need for a gut hook unless it's the actual hook on a bird knife, and that isn't sharpened.
Is a properly built hook faster? Absolutely.
If I still lived in grizzly country, I might consider one simply because less time cutting and quartering could keep mama bear from showing up while I'm elbow deep in a carcass.
I no longer have that problem so one good sharp knife will do the trick.
