THE RUT REPORT Issue #10
Friday morning
We're about a week out now.
I can feel it, and if you hunt, you can too. The mornings have that edge, the season's right there, and everything we've talked about all summer is about to matter. So this week we get practical — the right gun for the women in your life, a scent trick that actually works, and one of the best fishing stretches of the whole year happening right now.
Let's get after it.
— Dwayne
CARRY REPORT
For the ladies (and guys too!)
The right carry gun for the women in your life
This week's carry is especially for the ladies — though fellas, this one's for you too, because it's probably about somebody you love.
Here's the truth nobody says out loud. It does you no good to carry a weapon you can't actually use.
So my recommendation for a lot of women is something simple. A little revolver. You can put it anywhere — a purse, a pocket, I've got one right here in mine. No slide to rack, nothing to fumble. You point it and you pull.
Now some guy's going to pipe up, "you've got no range on a little snub-nose." Doesn't matter. Remember what I told you — most gunfights happen at three to seven yards, and if a woman is attacked, it's going to be close. Right on top of her. You want something she can pull, put in the attacker's ribs, and just start pulling the trigger. No jam to clear. No misfire to think about. Finger on the trigger, pull, it goes off. Somebody puts that in my ribs from two feet and pulls, I'm done. Simple as that.
Easy to clean, easy to load, dependable, hides anywhere. This one's actually Kelly's — well, one of them. She's got three. One in her truck, one in the bedroom, one she keeps in her hunting pack. Sometimes I'll sneak one into my pocket if I don't feel like carrying my semi-auto.
Here's the whole point. People lose sight of what self-defense actually is. It's not about the fanciest gun with every gadget bolted on. It's about defending yourself and living to be with your family another day. You can own the newest thing on the market with a silencer and all that junk, but if you can't use it, what good is it?
Simple is best. Put something in her hand she'll actually reach for.
THE RUT REPORT
You can't beat a deer's nose
The scent trick that beats anything in the store
Let me give you something this week that's killed me a ton of deer. Big bucks, does, all of it.
And it starts with a hard truth. Everybody's out to sell you a gimmick. The whole hunting industry wants your money, and this week's gimmick is scent control. So hear me on this — you are not going to beat a deer's nose. I don't care what you spray on yourself. I don't care what the bottle promises. I've tried every one of them, and they're all gimmicks. The wind is your best bet, period.
Here's what I actually do, and it costs almost nothing.
Go to Walmart or Lowe's and get a plastic tote. Wash all your hunting clothes in a scent-free soap — they sell it anywhere, or use baking soda, anything with no smell. Now here's the part that makes it work. Go to your hunting spot and grab what's already there. Pine needles if you've got pines. Leaves. A little dirt. The actual stuff your deer live in. Throw it in the tote with your clothes and shut the lid. That's where they live until you hunt.
And do not put those clothes on until you're at your spot.
Don't wear them driving around. Don't be lazy, spill your coffee on them, stop for gas, ride your side-by-side in and get fuel and exhaust all over you — I did all of that for years. Dress at the truck. Your clothes come out smelling like dirt and leaves, like they should, like something that deer is already used to. And that might buy you the two or three seconds you need to kill a big one.
I posted about this on Facebook and folks came at me — "well, I run the Ozonics." I'm not saying Ozonics doesn't work. But those things hum, and it's one more thing to haul up the tree, and I hunt mobile. I'm in a climber, moving around, chasing them. I don't have time for all that.
A tote, some dirt, and scent-free soap. That's the best thing I've found in all my years, and it's about free.
Matter of fact, this is the tote I'm using this season. I need to get my clothes in it — I'm about a week out.
ON THE WATER
The best month on the river
The fishing's on fire right now
Folks, the fishing is flat on fire in southern West Virginia right now.
September and October are my two favorite months to chase smallmouth, and here's why. The water's still warm — right around 75 degrees on the New River — but the levels have dropped, and low water stacks the fish up tight. They're feeding hard on shad, packing it in before it cools off.
So go. Throw a shad-colored swimbait or a fluke, hit topwater in the morning and again in the evening, and just enjoy yourself out there. This is one of the best stretches of the whole year to be on the water.
Get out there while it's this good. And you'll thank ole Full Rut.
BOOTS ON THE GROUND
This week I want to honor the Army Apache helicopter pilots.
I don't say this lightly. Those pilots saved my hide more than once over there in Desert Storm. When you're on the ground and things have gone sideways, there is no sound in this world like an Apache coming over the ridge. They showed up when it counted, again and again, and a lot of us came home because they did.
So to those pilots, and to every one who's flown that bird into harm's way for the rest of us — thank you. I owe you more than a line in a newsletter, but it's a start.
We see you. We remember.
Wear the brand
Full Rut hats and shirts — $25 at fullrutnation.com
NEXT WEEK
Season's here. We get into trigger control, more from the woods, and whatever's been walking past those Ohio cameras.
Getting after it this weekend? Hit reply and tell me — a hunt, a catch, a big one that got away. I read every one.
See you Friday.
— Dwayne