Rutledge was wonderfully quotable. Here are a few memorable examples of what anyone who reads his work can expect:
“Establishing oneself in a dog’s confidence is the foundation of training.” –Hunter’s Choice
“Every puppy begins by conceiving his master to be a god; it is that master’s business never to do anything to make that dog change his mind.” –Hunter’s Choice
Rutledge, on the steps of the stately home at Hampton, with a turkey gobbler.
“If a turkey ever runs away from you, there is no more chance to get him than a homely girl has of making Hollywood.” –Old Plantation Days
“If one hunter tells another in cold blood that he has succeeded in stalking a wild turkey, the latter has the right to ask the imaginer of such things where he buys the stuff that brings on so prodigious a dream.” –Plantation Game Trails
“Fruitless hunts are by no means a modern invention.” –Those Were the Days
“Hunting is like a game of chess; you can play it a million times, yet never play any two games all the way through in exactly the same way.” –Days Off in Dixie
“An incurable turkey hunter must either discipline his wife to his vagaries, or else suffer a good many domestic shocks.” –Those Were the Days
“Deer hunting is just as much a matter of speculation as marriage.” –Days Off in Dixie
“Hunting confers a certain constant alertness, and develops a certain ruggedness of character that, in these days of too much civilization, is refreshing; moreover, it allies us to the pioneer past. In a deep sense, this great land of ours was won for us by hunters.” –An American Hunter
“Familiarity with nature never breeds contempt to a contemplative mind and heart. The more one learns, the more he expects surprises, and the more he develops awareness of the inscrutable.” –The Woods and Wild Things I Remember
“In a sense, every sportsman has pioneer blood in him, and the frontiers are always beckoning and calling him on to adventure. Take your pharmacy away, and give me a morning in the mountains.” –An American Hunter
“The closer one lives to nature, the less he is affected by the chances and changes of life.” –An American Hunter
“America is a better place because of her hunters; and when I recall that there are some ten million of these, I take confidence from the thought that if she is ever attacked, there will be one army ready to defend her.” –Hunter’s Choice
We’ll Do It Tomorrow is reviewed & endorsed by Jim Casada of Sporting Classics who said, “This is relaxed literature on the outdoors in the vein of Babcock, Rutledge and Ruark in his ‘Old Man’ pieces.” Buy Now
