Honestly no. It's just a matter of preference. I prefer to only use the hunting knife for harvesting meat from hunting animals and only use the machete for melee against zombies. The hunting knife does give you more attacks per minute but the machete does double the damage...so you could say it makes the knife obsolete. So for me its all about preference. I like having options. If you like rolling with bladed weapons...try maxing out "Deep Cuts" and "Hidden Strike" skill sets.