Saws, Axes, Hatchets, Big knives or Tomahawks.
Saw: these are great for butchering game - ribs, sternum, pelvis, other bones. Battoning a knife will work, and axes make a mess of things. You greatly benifit from having these for moose, but butchering trees may be different. The reality is that I havent used these in the bush for butchering dead standing for a fire, cover or sleep platforms. My immediae assesment however is that they seem like more work than the alternative. The nice thing about saws is that they are extremly light as compared to alteratives and so easy to keep sharp; they may fall apart due to poor construction; but this is true of both axes and knives too. The blade can also snap. Some guys really stand by folding saws, and i can see their use with a robust buld.
Felling Axes: heavy. You need a horse, or atv to use these reguarly in the bush.
Hatchets: again, heavy to carry on a march. The extra heft may help when butching bigger trees and these can also be used for skinning by using the blunt back to tamp the hide off.
Big Knives: Something that tries to do everything, does nothing well, but does do everying. The hudsons bay company made a knife for the boys outdooors which was demanded and made useful. Great for battonning wood, or game. Poor for chopping wood often - but im sure you can get used to an efficent aproach. Poor for butchering, or putting an edge back on due their often heavy girth. Every pound needs to be useful. A large knife can function both as an axe and a butcher tool for game so likely a good choice, though i have never given it a good chance.
Tomahawks: these are my go too. Light. Mine is self made from a cercular saw. They can butcher most trees quickly. A few good whacks on one side and one good whack on the other, or a chew around can make a big dead standing into fine wood to last a couple hours. Paired with a small, light, 1095 useful knife and a tomahawk is all you need for all tasks. Im not sure why guys prefer the folding saw over the tomahawk for bush work.
If you really needed a saw, and maybe you want to do it anyway, skill saw one into the spine of your knife.
Lets be real, a regular knife is useless in the common bush today - unless you are constantly cutting meat from hunting, in the bush, or cutting scalps - which is a rare situation. A tomahawk would be the one tool i would take as it can be removed from the handle for butchering and returned to the handle for chopping bone or wood and will never fail due to poor construction as their really isnt one - just a shaft shoved into a hole to get the job done.
In a long term, hard use situation, I would not want a hatchent, axe, saw or the tomahawk shown above. Saws blades always break and you need a special tool to sharpen them. Axe or hatchet heads come loose and you need other tools to service them, the tomahawk shown above needs a drill tool to make holes in a new handle, which may be done by making a project of it.
The tools I would opt for would be a taditional tomahawk or big full tang knife, which is what history also shows was most often used.
At the end of the day, we use what we have.
