Over the past two months, the hunting season has been rolling in many places around the world. Since September is the opening month of hunting season, there already are hunters who got their first harvest of the season while others are making plans for their first trip to their favorite spot and organizing their gear. During the lunch break, talks and thoughts are shared about the first successful hunting trip and can be heard among the hunter-workers. Some of them might already get a taste of freshly taken venison. I find myself getting excited about the upcoming opening of the wild boar season, at least from my perspective. The season started mid-September but my job doesn’t allow me free time until early October.
My hunting preparations
For my upcoming hunting trips, preparations begin with gun inspection and cleaning. I make sure that my shotgun is running smoothly and also I buy ammunition. The next step is checking my hunting pack which in my case is a Frost River haversack. My hunting trips take place on weekends and are short day trips. The hunting begins in daylight and finishes at sunset. We rarely stay till sunset; most of the hunting is already finished by 13:00-14:00. In my haversack I keep a first aid kit, a small fire kit, a stainless steel water bottle and a cup, a headlamp with spare batteries, a roll of 1” duct tape, toilet paper and baby wipes, few feet of cordage, a cotton bandana and a shemagh, a sharpening rod, a small folding saw, a small monocular and an emergency bivy. Except for the water bottle, the most used items I am carrying are my knives.
I always carry a few knives with me and will explain the reasons shortly. A belt knife and a pocket knife are carried on me, while on hunt. My belt knife has a Scandinavian grind and will be used if I have to spend the night out, so it would perform bushcraft tasks, like making feather sticks and striking a ferrocerium rod to start a fire. The pocket knife will be used in the camp kitchen, to cut vegetables and meat to prepare a meal.
Besides these two knives, I am carrying another four. Two are going to be used while processing the game. One will have the role of a dedicated skinning knife. The wild boar is my usuall big game hunt and its skin is pretty thick and could dull a knife’s edge. For processing the meat, I have a separate knife for that task. Both of these two knives come with flat grind edges and I keep them sharp. My favorite knife brand is LT WRIGHT HANDCRAFTED KNIVES, and I use their models most of the time. The particular knife that I use for skinning purposes is a Frontier First. It is a small knife with an overall length of 4.8 inches. The cutting edge is about 2 inches. Its small size makes it ideal for skinning around difficult areas especially if you need precise cuts. The other model that I prefer for butchering the game is a Maverick Colt. This knife comes at around 6.3 inches in total length, with a cutting edge of 2.8 inches approximately. Despite not being a big knife, it comes with a full four-finger handle that provides a very secure grip. Also, it doesn’t make your hand fatigued, if you’re a working for long period.
The other two knives I am keeping in the haversack are cheaper knives, like a Mora 511 and a Buck 110 LT, for fellow hunters who may have not sharpened their knives well or missed or lost their knives.
I would like to wish all fellow hunters to have a great and successful season. Most important, never forget the safety rules.