Good Friday morning
It's here.
Saturday, in a lot of the country, archery season opens. After all these months of scouting and hanging cameras and dreaming about it, the waiting's finally over. So this week we've got everything you need walking in — a carry debate I'm going to settle, the moon phase that could put a big buck in front of you opening weekend, and a fishing trick that'll keep the hooks out of your hands.
Let's go.
— Dwayne
CARRY REPORT
One in the chamber
The oldest debate in carrying, settled
Let's talk about the one everybody argues about. Should you carry with one in the chamber or not.
I know to some of y'all that sounds crazy. It sounded crazy to me once too. But I'm going to tell you straight — carry it hot. One in the chamber. Here's why.
When you have to defend yourself, it happens fast. Faster than you can imagine sitting here reading this. So picture it. Somebody's coming, you draw, you're excited, your heart's slamming — and you forgot you've got to rack it first. You pull the trigger and nothing happens. That half-second is your life. And even when you do rack it under that kind of stress, that's one more thing that can go wrong, one more chance for a malfunction at the worst possible moment.
You want your weapon ready. So the only thing between you and the shot is the decision to take it.
Now, the safety. If you practice your draw — really practice it — your trigger finger learns to ride right along the frame, indexed, off the trigger, every single time. That's your safety. Then when you're on the threat, telling them to get back, making space, doing everything right, and they keep coming anyway? Your finger drops in and you're ready. No fumbling.
If you're still nervous about it, I hear you, and here's my honest answer. A Glock doesn't have a thumb safety — it's got that little tab on the trigger, and that's your safety. If that genuinely worries you, then carry a revolver. Heavier trigger pull, less chance of an accidental discharge, because let's be honest, that's the real fear. That's fine. There's no shame in it.
But here's the truth under all of it. Practice with your weapon. Get comfortable with it. Get proficient. Do that and the worry goes away, because you know your gun.
I've handled weapons my whole life. Have I seen accidents? Absolutely. Have I ever been in one? Knock on wood, no. And that's not luck. That's reps.
THE RUT REPORT
Opening day, and the magic moon
Why this opening weekend could be special
Saturday it opens in a lot of areas, and I'll be honest with you — I usually don't get too worked up about opening day anymore. I've had a lot of them.
But this year's different. I've got a bunch of good bucks on camera, and something's lining up that you need to know about.
Here's a thing I've learned as I've gotten older. When a full moon falls early in the season — while the bucks are still bunched up in their bachelor groups — that moon is magic. You've got a real chance of catching that big one you've been dreaming about moving in daylight. The day of, the day before, the day after. All of it good.
So study your moon phases. Don't sleep on this one. That full moon could hand you the buck of the year wandering around in the daylight, and you want to be in the tree when he does.
Now I'll be straight with you about my week. I was going to be out there Saturday morning, but it didn't work out — I've got to go say goodbye to a friend. A funeral. So Saturday I'll be somewhere else, thinking about him.
But Sunday? Sunday you can bet I'll be in that stand. And I'll share it with y'all soon.
Here's what I want you to hear, though, whether you're chasing a giant or not. Just get out there. Get in the woods. If the weather's good where you are, go sit and take it all in — the quiet, the first light, the whole thing you've waited on all year long. There's something magical about that first day that's got nothing to do with what you kill.
Go be in it.
ON THE WATER
The nose bucket
How to haul big baits without a trip to the ER
This week let me show you how I keep all my baits together when I'm musky fishing.
If you throw for musky, pike, walleye — anything big — you already know the problem. Big baits, big hooks, and a tackle box that turns into a booby trap. This is the best fix I've found.
An old minnow bucket.
And I can't take the credit — my buddy Matt Whitt showed me this, and a lot of you already do it. You cut little slits inside the bucket, run the hooks down into them, and they hang there neat along the sides. Everything visible, everything separated, nothing tangled.
That's one of the Musky Busters my buddy William Plumley makes — one of my favorite glide baits, check him out — and it slides right back down in there. Now you've still got to be careful, obviously. Don't go grabbing it by the sides or you'll get a hook in you. But it beats the alternative, which is a box full of giant trebles I'd end up at the hospital getting cut out of me.
I keep everything in there. My gripper I never use, some line, an Alabama rig for musky. I set the whole bucket in the back seat, drive to the water, drop it in the boat, and it rides right there. Everything together, nothing loose.
One more thing for the walleye guys. Inatec Innovations makes this little jerkbait — I jerk it and it floats back up. Haven't stuck a musky on it yet, though I've had a ton of follows. But walleye? They flat love it. Rubber tail, hard body. And I'm not talking little ones. I'm talking 30-inch walleye. Big boys.
Simple gear, kept smart. Now go use it.
BOOTS ON THE GROUND
This week, as the woods open back up and a lot of us head to the stand, I want to remember the ones who don't get another opening day.
The veterans who gave everything, and never came home to sit in the quiet of a fall morning again. Somewhere this weekend there's a man climbing into a stand with an empty seat beside him where his buddy used to be. If that's you, we're thinking about you.
Take the first light for the ones who can't.
We see you. We remember.
Wear the brand
Full Rut hats and shirts — $25 at fullrutnation.com
NEXT WEEK
I'll have my opening weekend to share, more from the water, and we keep the Carry Report rolling.
Getting out this weekend? Hit reply and tell me what you see out there. I read every one — and good luck Saturday.
See you Friday.
— Dwayne