A FEW BLADES AND PAST MEMORIES

For those of you who hunt: Do you remember the kind of knife you used to field dress your game?  As I was growing up and would go hunting with my Dad, I always wanted to carry a hunting knife. It wasn't until I was 15 that I was able to have a hunting knife. 

My Dad had and old hunting knife that he had used when he was a youth. I was so excited -- I got to use his old Winchester .32 special and have the knife he used to use. I still have this knife and a few others. The one I got to use those first few seasons was a Schrade Walden, red and white handled, the blade well used from years of use.

I used this knife on my very first Bull elk when I was 16. That same season, Mom bought my Dad a new knife: a Puma White Hunter. He got to break it in that same season. He dropped an elk. I now have that knife, and cherish it with memories of hunting seasons past and of deer and elk that we harvested. . . and of others that we missed.

They were used for other things besides dressing out game. They were used for some of the camp chores, too. Later, as some years went by, my Dad bought me a Buck 119, as he thought that I should have a " newer " knife. I received it after Mom and Dad had moved to Arkansas. Before I got the Buck 119, I purchased an Air Force Survival knife. It worked really well for chores around camp and for dressing out game.

These knives have lots of memories attached to them. The Schrade Walden is from around 1946 or so. The Puma White Hunter was manufactured in the fourth quarter of 1969. And the Buck 119 is from around 1973. The Air Force knife, I'm not sure of when it was made. 

When I'm in the hills camping, fishing, or metal detecting, I have one or more of these knives with me. They all are good and will get the job done, from cutting back strap, to skinning, and even cleaning trout. When I have one of them on my hip, the memories are right there and new ones are added on.