Bark River Gunny Hunter ELMAX

As a professional outdoorsman: hunter, fisherman, and outfitter, I’ve learned a thing or two about gear that is needed to get the job done. I know that the real work begins when the knives come out. So in order to provide my customers with thrilling, and memorable hunts, I make sure to use top quality, no-nonsense products that I field and use on a daily basis.

While guiding a hunt with Ohio outdoorsman, Jerry Fogt and friends, he asked if I would use his knife when it came time to break down the hogs. So I graciously agreed, but I’ll admit, I didn’t think it was going to do any better than what I had been using. Surprisingly though, not only did it get the job done, but I was so blown away by its edge retention that I went out and bought the exact knife from DLT trading the next morning.

I own a lot of off the shelf name brand knives, but this was my first Bark River, so I wanted to understand why the Gunny Hunter was so much better than what I had been using. Searching reviews and watching countless videos of people cutting line and then shaving through paper did not feel like a good place to start exploring the quality of this product.  So to get proof it was everything I wanted in a knife, I used it for a season of hog hunts, and any other hunting trip I was on.

Bark River Knives is a family owned semi production knife company out of Escanaba, MI USA. I would call it a semi custom knife company that builds heirloom quality at a reasonable price. The model I chose was the Gunny Hunter in ELMAX steel with black micarta scales. Before I purchased this knife, I had never heard of this brand nor did I know anything about it. 

The Steel used is called ElMAX and is considered a super steel, but when used for knife production, it makes a superior knife. It is stainless steel, so it will hold up in foul weather and needs less attention than a carbon steel knife. I have skinned up to 14 hogs in one night, so cleaning the knife is the last thing on my mind. I want my attention to be focused on looking for hog #15 to add to the pig pile.  

The edge retention on this blade is second to none, compared to other knives. A convex edge is superior to other designs for field use and resharpening. Sharpening this knife is a breeze as you strop it, so you don’t need the angular precision like other blade grinds. While stropping a convex edge by hand you sharpen the entire blade not just a narrow edge. The benefit is much more natural and forgiving so you don’t need mechanical aids. For comparison ELMAX does take longer to get sharp compared to A2 but is on par with S35VN.  I never needed to use anything other than a strop to get my edge back for the entire season while using this knife.  

At Pig Problem Inc., we outfit, fully guide, and butcher our hunters’ game. Guiding customers to as many shot encounters as possible has allowed me to use this Bark River to skin and quarter well over 100 hogs, a dozen deer, a bear, and an elk. The Bark River needs a minimal amount of maintenance for this kind of performance. This is a true hunter’s knife.