Friday morning
Tomorrow’s Halloween. And for a deer hunter, that date isn’t about candy — it’s the starting gun.
This is the week everything we’ve talked about since July finally arrives. So this one’s got the rut kicking off, a moon trick that tells you when the fish will bite, and a straight question about whether you’re actually ready for a hard day. Let’s go.
— Dwayne
THE RUT REPORT
November 2nd. Every year.
The rut’s here, and we’re headed to Illinois
I know we talked rut last week. We’re talking rut again this week, and we’re going to keep talking rut, because Halloween weekend is when I disappear into the woods and don’t come out for a while.
Here’s what’s happening right now. The bachelor groups are broken up. The bucks know what’s coming — you can see it in them. The cold air’s rolling in, the moon’s right, and every mature deer in the county is about to lose his mind. It’s time.
Me and Kelly are leaving for Illinois.
I bought her a hunt out there because I wanted her to experience the rut in the Midwest for herself — it’s a different animal than back home. And I’ll tell you something that’s held true my whole life: I’ve killed more good bucks in Illinois on November 2nd than any other single day of the year. I don’t know exactly why that date keeps paying me, but it does, year after year, and I’m not about to argue with it. So that’s where we’ll be, and I’m praying she gets to see what I’ve seen out there.
Then the second we’re back, I’m right back in these West Virginia woods, because the week around Veterans Day here is pure magic. Some of the best hunting of the whole season.
And here’s my promise to you for the next few weeks. I’m going to show you things on this newsletter I flat can’t show on social media — that’s the whole reason you’re here. Real hunts. Real kills. Field-dressing a deer, the parts the TV shows cut away from. Whatever y’all want to see, tell me and I’ll film it. This won’t be that fake, over-produced TV crap. This is going to be real hunting, the way it actually happens.
So tell me what you want to see. And buckle up.
ON THE WATER
Fish the majors
The moon windows when fish want to eat
Let me give you something this week that’s helped me for years. Majors.
Here’s the simple version. There are two majors a day — the times when the moon is either directly overhead or directly underfoot. That’s when the gravitational pull is at its strongest, and for whatever reason, that’s when fish want to feed. I’ve followed it for years and it works.
And it’s never been easier to know when they are. There are solar-lunar charts everywhere now, apps for it, AI will spit the times right out for you. So you’ve got no excuse not to know.
Now, it’s not the only thing that matters. There are always other factors. On a river, for instance, I do way better when the water’s coming up than coming down — and when it’s dropping, especially on musky, man, it gets tough. So the majors aren’t magic. But they stack the deck.
Here’s how I actually use it. If I can fish all day, it doesn’t much matter, I’m just out there. But when I’ve got things to do and I can only grab a window? I check the majors. If the major’s hitting two to four in the afternoon, then I knock my chores out in the morning and I’m on the water by two. Simple as that.
Don’t just take my word for it. Study the moon phases — good fishermen have known this for generations. I was lucky enough to catch onto it young, and it’s put a lot of fish in my boat.
CARRY REPORT
Are you actually ready?
An honest question about being prepared
Everybody’s talking lately about being ready — 30 days of supplies, the grid going down, all of it. And look, you should always be prepared. So let me ask you straight: if it happened tomorrow, are you?
I’ll be honest, I’m lucky. I live out in the country. I’ve got a well — knock the grid out and I just need enough power to pump it, and if that fails I can pull from the creek and filter it. I’ve got plenty of wood for heat and more deer than I can count, and I can my venison so it keeps damn near forever. If the grid went down and everybody started panicking, I could wait it out as long as I had to.
But I know a lot of you are in the cities, and I’m not knocking that one bit — it’s just a tougher spot to be in. You’re more at the mercy of things you don’t control. So have a plan. Relatives in the country, a stockpile of food and water, something. You hope you never need it. I’d just hate to be the one who needed it and didn’t have it.
And on the gun side, hear me on this, because people get it backwards. You don’t need to hoard guns. You can only shoot one at a time. I’ve got a couple ARs, a shotgun, a few hunting rifles — and the thing that actually matters isn’t owning more of them. It’s having ammo for the ones you own, and being proficient with them. Ammo’s what gets scarce. Guns in the safe with no rounds are just paperweights.
That’s all. Just something to think about. Making you think a little is what this newsletter’s for.
BOOTS ON THE GROUND
This week we honor U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Alexander G. Povilaitis, 47, of Dawsonville, Georgia.
Staff Sgt. Povilaitis served with the 570th Sapper Company, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Brigade. He was killed in action on May 31, 2012, in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces struck his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
Think about what a sapper does. They go first — clearing the roads of the very bombs meant to kill the men coming behind them, so that everyone else can pass safely. At 47 years old, he was still out there on point, taking the danger onto himself so others wouldn’t have to.
He left behind his wife, Kimberly, and their two sons, Alexander Blaine and Danny.
Staff Sergeant Povilaitis — you went first so others could follow. We see you. We will not forget you.
THE LAST LAUGH
My wife asked why I spend so much on hunting gear every fall.
I told her it’s cheaper than therapy.
She said, “You sit alone in a tree in the freezing cold for twelve hours talking to yourself.”
I said, “And it’s working.”
Wear the brand
Full Rut hats and shirts — $25 at fullrutnation.com
NEXT WEEK
I’ll be reporting in from Illinois. If that November 2nd magic holds, you’ll be the first to see it.
What do you want me to film this rut? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.
See you Friday.
— Dwayne