# Used my Pappy Lewis Knife again



## tocws2002 (Jan 6, 2020)

I was fortunate enough to receive a handmade knife from Jack "Pappy" Lewis a couple of years ago and got to use it twice this year when field dressing my youngest son's first deer and my first buck with a bow. I used it last year to field dress my oldest daughter's first deer as well. The link above shows the knife he made for me, though I wrapped it in paracord for a little better grip. He also made a custom sheath for it. I'll add pictures of the knife this evening, but wanted to acknowledge the craftsmanship he put into his knives. I was always amazed at his productivity in turning out quality products and his willingness to share and help educate others. I miss his posts and interaction on the forum, but hope by using the knife he created his goodwill and spirit will live on!

-jason

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## woodtickgreg (Jan 6, 2020)

I miss his post and interaction on the forum as well.

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## tocws2002 (Jan 6, 2020)

woodtickgreg said:


> I miss his post and interaction on the forum as well.



Yeah, me too. Pappy and I were working on another trade for a filet knife he was going to make for me out of an old saw blade that belonged to my dad. I was going to give the knife to my dad, who love's fishing, for his 80th birthday. Unfortunately, the unfortunate happened and we never completed the trade. That's one reason I cherish the knife I do have....and use it, I think that's what Pappy would want.

-jason

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## ripjack13 (Jan 6, 2020)

Nice. I have an 8" filet knife he made for me. I need to put some scales on it soon.

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## tocws2002 (Jan 6, 2020)

ripjack13 said:


> Nice. I have an 8" filet knife he made for me. I need to put some scales on it soon.



Would love to see it when you get scales on it!

-jason

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## tocws2002 (Jan 6, 2020)

Here are some pictures of the knife and sheath I got from Pappy.

Pappy.

-jason

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## ripjack13 (Jan 6, 2020)

tocws2002 said:


> Would love to see it when you get scales on it!
> 
> -jason



Will do.


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## JR Parks (Jan 9, 2020)

I have a couple of Pappy's knives and cherish them. Thanks Jason for reminding us!

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## tocws2002 (Sep 26, 2020)

Got to use the knife again already this season as my youngest boy shot his first doe with a crossbow. Using a Rage Hypodermic broadhead he shot her at about 23 yards and she only ran another 25-30 yards before expiring. Had to pull out the Pappy Lewis knife for the field dressing.

Thanks again Pappy!

-jason

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## JR Parks (Sep 27, 2020)

Thanks again Jason. This time you made me go find and show off one of Pappy's knives. Big and heavy with DIW scales - love it. Many thanks to Jack!

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## tocws2002 (Nov 24, 2020)

And the Pappy knife gets used again this season. Shot my biggest buck ever on Sunday and got to....nope, had to use the ol Pappy Lewis knife to field dress it.
Couple of pics below of the 12 pointer taken using my Henry 243 single shot at about 95 yards.

Thanks again Pappy!

-jason

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## Nature Man (Nov 25, 2020)

Congrats on the buck! Pappy sure made nice knives! Chuck

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## Eric Rorabaugh (Nov 25, 2020)

Nice deer. Pappy is smiling down again

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## tocws2002 (Jan 8, 2021)

The end of deer season is fast approaching and my oldest boy hasn't had a good opportunity to harvest a deer yet. We hurriedly made our way to the blind this evening when I got home from work and only had about 1.5 hours of shooting light. With about 8 minutes to spare he pulled the trigger of his crossbow on what we thought was a doe, but ended up being a button buck. Deer ran about 30 yards before expiring. My boy hasn't shot any deer since the first one he got in 2016 (8 pointer) because he let his siblings get first shots the last 3 years. To see the excitement on his face was awesome!! The next best thing was we got to use my Pappy knife one more time this season!

Looks like we get to make some more jerky and have backstraps for dinner tommorow.

Thanks again Pappy!!!

-jason

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## Wildthings (Jan 8, 2021)

That is so cool Jason. Congrats to all involved. Almost hate to mention this --->>

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## Wildthings (Jan 8, 2021)



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## tocws2002 (Jan 9, 2021)

Wildthings said:


> That is so cool Jason. Congrats to all involved. Almost hate to mention this --->>



Thanks, here are some pics.










Or were you talking about the deer? I can get pics uploaded later today. By the time we got it out of the woods it was too dark to get any worthwhile.

-jason

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## Wildthings (Jan 9, 2021)

Good golly the deer man c'mon

Sure miss Pappy on here!!

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## tocws2002 (Nov 28, 2021)

Fortunately the streak continues of using my Pappy Lewis knife again this year (and my Henry single shot 243). Three of us got drawn for a quota hunt in western Ky at Land Between the Lakes for a three day rifle hunt. While it was pretty slow (i.e. not seeing a lot of deer), 2 of the 3 of us harvested one. One was a small-ish 7 pointer on Friday my buddy shot, and I shot a doe on Saturday. Was about a 45 yard shot and the ol Henry did its job. Doe ran about 60 yards and was finished. Got the ol Pappy Lewis knife out and put her to work yet again. My buddies were amazed at how sharp the knife was and how cleanly it cut through everything. Of course they got the back story on the knife as well. Deer weighed 82 pounds, but aged at 5.5+ years.

Pic to follow.

Thanks again Pappy!!!!!

-jason

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## tocws2002 (Jan 18, 2022)

Deer #8 with the Pappy Lewis knife. Once again my oldest son takes it down to the wire. On Sunday, the second to last day of the season, with only 10 minutes of legal shooting light left he connected on what was his first harvest with a compound bow.

After sitting in freezing rain for a couple of hours we had both only seen one small doe that was well out of range. Fast forward a couple hours and time is running out on us. I see a couple of deer moving towards my son's stand so I send him a text to keep an eye out for them, but I'm not too confident they will get to his stand in time. As I watch them I'm also watching daylight slowly fade away. I send him another text that they are in front of the old shed, but that's still too far from him for a shot. I thought our hunt was over for the day, but he hadn't responded to either of those texts, which I figured was because of the cold and him having to take his gloves off to work his phone.

A few minutes later I see the 2 deer jump and take off, certain it was due to hearing my son climbing down from his stand, but then I get a text that he just shot at a deer and was going to head up to the house to warm up before looking for it. Unbeknownst to me, he had several deer in front of him at about 20-ish yards for several minutes that I was unable to see with my binos. The two I was watching ran when he shot at one that was by him.

We meet at the house and, after warming up far a few minutes, grabbed flashlights and headed back down. He thought he saw his arrow dip when in flight and was worried his shot was low. During the short time we were at the house it snowed enough to cover the ground, which would making tracking difficult. Once we got back to his stand we could see the faint blue light of his nock glowing. Inspection of the arrow indicated a pass-through in the vital area. Due to the snow covered ground we only found one small drop of blood on a leaf and a small sapling with a smear on it. My son had a good idea of where it ran to, so I called the neighbor to request permission to cross onto his property to look for it.

Unfortunately we couldn't find blood or tracks due to the snow, so we cautiously walked and looked ahead with our flashlights, letting my son direct based on where he remembered the deer going, though it was hard for him to tell exactly because of the woods, terrain, and lack of good light.

After about 10 minutes my son shines on an area about 25 yards away and says that looks like it could be a deer, but it could be a log. I think the same thing, yep looks like a log. I walk just a touch closer and realize it's his deer, so I shine my light in a different direction and tell him he should check it out to be certain. He heads in that direction and I fall in behind him so he can be the first one there. It was a great moment to see his excitement once he realized it was his deer and he recovered his first one taken with a compound bow!

Called the neighbor to let him know we found it and drug it back across the creek. Turned out to be a button buck. My son pretty much field dressed it by himself, but I had to "help" a couple of times to make sure the ol' Pappy got put to work. Got it up to the house, skinned it out, got the backstraps and tenderloins out, and planned on processing the rest on Monday. At that time we both realized we hadn't eaten lunch or dinner, so we grilled up some steak and called it an evening. It was a long, but awesome season capped off by a great ending!

Thanks, yet again, Pappy!

-jason

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## Wildthings (Jan 18, 2022)

Great story and hunt. Thanks for sharing it

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## ripjack13 (Jan 18, 2022)

Awesome story!! Congratulations !!!

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## tocws2002 (Sep 19, 2022)

Deer #9 with the Pappy Lewis knife. My oldest son and I got a little time in the woods this weekend for a September hunt. Not seeing hardly any bucks on camera (which is typical this time of year for me), we decided we wanted to harvest a doe to get some meat in the freezer and jerky in our bellies. I saw several does on Saturday, but had no opportunity to shoot as they pretty much stayed on my neighbors farm. My son bumped a couple going into his stand in the morning, but didn't see much after that. Went out again Sunday morning, but was a little slow. According to my Spypoint, there were a few deer near my stand just 15 or 20 minutes before I got in the tree. My son was on another part of the property in the spot he dubbed "The Arena"; a little after 8 he sent me a text that he had a small doe in front of him at about 20 yards. About 8:30 he calls to tell me he's got a doe down. He passed on the small one when a more mature doe came in a little bit later. This was his second deer with his compound bow and his first doe (he's taken a nice 8 pointer and a couple of button bucks in the past). She ended up crashing about 35 yards away. After making my way back to the house to grab tools and the deer cart, I made my way over to him where we put the Pappy Lewis knife to work. Ended up processing it ourselves and have the jerky marinating in the fridge as we speak. It was a great start to the season and the earliest either of us have taken one. Looking forward to our quota hunt at Ft Knox in November and getting in the blind with my youngest boy later this season. Happy hunting and thanks again Pappy!

-jason

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## Wildthings (Sep 19, 2022)

Great start to the season Jason!! We have a doe hunt scheduled in early November this year. Hopefully it'll turn out as successful as your son's hunt!

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## Nature Man (Sep 19, 2022)

tocws2002 said:


> Deer #9 with the Pappy Lewis knife. My oldest son and I got a little time in the woods this weekend for a September hunt. Not seeing hardly any bucks on camera (which is typical this time of year for me), we decided we wanted to harvest a doe to get some meat in the freezer and jerky in our bellies. I saw several does on Saturday, but had no opportunity to shoot as they pretty much stayed on my neighbors farm. My son bumped a couple going into his stand in the morning, but didn't see much after that. Went out again Sunday morning, but was a little slow. According to my Spypoint, there were a few deer near my stand just 15 or 20 minutes before I got in the tree. My son was on another part of the property in the spot he dubbed "The Arena"; a little after 8 he sent me a text that he had a small doe in front of him at about 20 yards. About 8:30 he calls to tell me he's got a doe down. He passed on the small one when a more mature doe came in a little bit later. This was his second deer with his compound bow and his first doe (he's taken a nice 8 pointer and a couple of button bucks in the past). She ended up crashing about 35 yards away. After making my way back to the house to grab tools and the deer cart, I made my way over to him where we put the Pappy Lewis knife to work. Ended up processing it ourselves and have the jerky marinating in the fridge as we speak. It was a great start to the season and the earliest either of us have taken one. Looking forward to our quota hunt at Ft Knox in November and getting in the blind with my youngest boy later this season. Happy hunting and thanks again Pappy!
> 
> -jason


Congrats on starting out the season well! Any pics? Chuck

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## tocws2002 (Sep 19, 2022)

Nature Man said:


> Congrats on starting out the season well! Any pics? Chuck

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## tocws2002 (Sep 19, 2022)

Wildthings said:


> Great start to the season Jason!! We have a doe hunt scheduled in early November this year. Hopefully it'll turn out as successful as your son's hunt!



Thanks, will you be hunting in Texas? If so, what part? Private or public land? I was on a landfill last month just outside of Houston and bumped a really nice buck and have seen quite a few does there...wish I could get permission to hunt that area. 

-jason


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## Wildthings (Sep 19, 2022)

tocws2002 said:


> Thanks, will you be hunting in Texas? If so, what part? Private or public land? I was on a landfill last month just outside of Houston and bumped a really nice buck and have seen quite a few does there...wish I could get permission to hunt that area.
> 
> -jason


TPWD has a "Draw" system that we enter every year. Dozens of places to apply for along with tens of thousands other applyers. We are hunting a public private place..hehe Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Located in the suburbs of Austin. They have an overpopulation problem there

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## tocws2002 (Sep 20, 2022)

Wildthings said:


> TPWD has a "Draw" system that we enter every year. Dozens of places to apply for along with tens of thousands other applyers. We are hunting a public private place..hehe Barton Creek Habitat Preserve. Located in the suburbs of Austin. They have an overpopulation problem there



Good luck, hope you all are successful!

-jason

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## tocws2002 (Nov 15, 2022)

Deer #10 with the Pappy Lewis knife is in the books. Once again, my oldest son shows me how it's done! Rifle season opened up this past weekend so we planned on hunting Saturday, especially since the rut is in full swing and the temps were dropping drastically. I grabbed my bow and he grabbed the ole Henry single shot 243. We got in our respective stands about 6:30 am and settled in trying to stay warm and dry as the freezing rain started to come down. Fast forward to about 8:00 am, I've not seen anything yet, but the freezing rain starts to let up. I send a text to my son to see how he is fairing, knowing he may take a while to text back because he's probably cold and doesn't want to take his gloves off. A few minutes later I get a notification from one of my cell cameras indicating activity in the area my son is hunting, which he named "The Arena". Yep, the same area where he shot his doe in September. About the time I login into the app and open up the picture I hear a gunshot coming from The Arena. Seeing the picture in the app (shown below) I get excited and receive a call shortly afterwards that he's got a buck down! He said he first saw the buck at about 70 yards, but had no shot and went out of sight. Luckily, the buck circled around and came back within about 20 or so yards, and he took the shot. The buck ran about 50 yards before expiring as my son watched him go down. There would be no tracking necessary. I hunted for another 30 minutes while he went to the house to warm up. Grabbed the deer cart and headed to the recover the deer. Put his Case knife and my Pappy Lewis knife to work field dressing it and got it back to the house to process.

The buck would have been a decent 8 pointer, that was either a bully or a bruiser as he had broken both G3s and one brow tine, so only had 5 "visible points".

The really cool thing about this hunt and deer is that it was exactly 6 years to the day (November 12, 2016 and 2022) that my son took his first (and only other) antlered deer....an 8 pointer!

All in all, another great hunt and memories!

Thanks again Pappy!

-jason


"Before Picture"
Trail Cam pic received moments before hearing the gunshot






"After Picture"

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## Nature Man (Nov 15, 2022)

Congrats! Awesome that you can hunt together! Great memories! Chuck

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## Wildthings (Nov 16, 2022)

I love a great story and that is one!

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## ripjack13 (Nov 17, 2022)

One of these days I need to get out and do some deer hunts....

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