How to Sharpen a Hunting Knife with Born and Raised Outdoors

Want to learn how to sharpen a hunting knife? Hunters are some of the heaviest users of knives, and dressing down and animal can quickly dull a knife. We have worked with the Born and Raised Outdoors crew for several years now for field testing sharpeners and gaining knowledge on the situations where knives dull and a sharp knife is needed.

Modern hunting knives tend to be made of harder steels to improve edge retention so they can (hopefully) withstand the dressing of an entire animal without needing to sharpen in the field.

The first, and most important, tenet of a sharp hunting knife is to make sure it's already sharp before you leave your house. Setting an edge you can touch up in the field is important, as you never know when your knife will dull and your sharpening resources may be limited when you're miles from electricity and every ounce you pack matters.

The second tenet of sharpening a hunting knife is to ensure you have the appropriate sharpening medium for the field. Softer steels tend to dull quickly, but also sharpen quickly, so a diamond-plated sharpener is a quick way to raise a burr. Harder steels tend to hold their edge longer and can typically get by with a ceramic honing device like the Benchmade Edge Maintenance Tool unless your blade chips.

Watch the video above to see Josh talk sharpening with Born and Raised Outdoors and their upcoming hunt!

P.S. If you are shopping for a new sharpener for your hunting knives there are many on the market. Big Game Logic has reviewed several sharpeners and in this article they outline the pros and cons to help you decide which is best for you.