Working The Trapline — Dutton Ranch; A James Bond .22 Rifle; Dogmen Of Fennario

Dutton Ranch, the latest spin-off from Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone, will premier on May 15. The show focuses on the post-Yellowstone ranch life of fan-favorite characters Beth and Rip. Spoiler: It ain’t peaceful.

Dig the caper:

“As Beth and Rip fight to build a future together — far from the ghosts of Yellowstone — they collide with brutal new realities and a ruthless rival ranch that will stop at nothing to protect its empire. In South Texas, blood runs deeper, forgiveness is fleeting, and the cost of survival might just be your soul.”

A couple of years ago, Lady Marilyn and I made an epic trek to Las Vegas for a Ryan Bingham/Corb Lund concert. The trip coincided with Cowboy Christmas, a rendezvous of Western culture vendors that takes over the massive Las Vegas convention center. Yellowstone had a big footprint, offering all kinds of merch. I was struck by the line of women who queued up to get their picture taken with a cardboard cutout of Rip Wheeler. Now, you could write this off as just another example of American Weirdness, but my fieldwork impulses drive deeper.

The appeal of Rip Wheeler seems to me to be a very straightforward manifestation of the aphorism found in Cormac McCarthy, from the lips of the wise Doña Alfonsa:

“…if women were drawn to rash men it was only that in their secret hearts they knew that a man who would not kill for them was of no use at all.” 

Killing for his woman is not a problem for Rip. It’s as natural as sippin’ the morning coffee on the porch. Rip is a dark, damaged, and violent man — but he is a protector, and that is everything. Clearly, the appeal is strong. Very strong. Legionnaire Titus Pullo understood this dynamic. If you know, you know…

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Hawken Horse’s Fringes of Freedom comes out May 22. Eminent historian of early America Brady Crytzer interviewed our friend for the Journal of the American Revolution Podcast. You can listen here.

This week our guest is Musician Andrew Scott Wills of the band “Hawken Horse.” Through his love of history and music, Nashville’s Andrew Scott Wills has brought the Revolutionary frontier back to the 21st century.

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This ain’t my kinda thing — but apparently it is. My SoCal roots showed when I ran across it, cuz I said aloud “That’s bitchin’.”

It’s billed as a “precision competition rig at its finest” from Tactical Imports, but all I see is a survival .22 — if you figure to spend $2,000 on a survival .22. Which I don’t. But still…

It’s a Volquartsen with lightweight carbon barrel, open sights, forward blow compensator in a Modshot chassis. James Bond stuff. Like I said, not my usual thing, but for some reason it tripped my trigger (sorry).

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The Almighty Algorithm kicked up an exploration of Fennario phenomenon in the land of the Long Hunters:

Have you heard about the “massacre at LBL”? A tragic, and terrifying event that is said to have unfolded in the 1980s deep in the woods of a national recreation area in Kentucky, near the Tennessee border. The event kicked off a long-standing tradition of werewolf encounters within the parks borders that still take place to this day.

But is there any truth to it? Shannon LeGro and Aaron Deese journey to the hunting grounds of Land Between the Lakes in search of evidence, and, possibly their own encounter with the beasts said to roam the area.

All of which makes me think a Werewolves-and-Long Hunters horror story might be a lot of fun… In the timbers of Fennario…

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You don’t need no cryptid to make a horror story. From NY Post:

The remains of a missing South African hotel boss have been found inside a swollen, 15-foot crocodile after it was airlifted in a daring operation. Gabriel Batista, 59, is believed to have been snapped up in the croc-infested Komati River when he was swept away in raging floodwaters last week. Rescue crews spent days tracking the suspected man-eater before killing it in a desperate attempt to recover the businessman’s remains.

When authorities eventually sliced open the croc’s grotesquely swollen belly, they discovered two severed arms, half a rib cage, and chunks of flesh. A ring believed to belong to the victim was found on one of the fingers, according to officials. Shockingly, at least six pairs of shoes — none of which belonged to Batista — were also discovered in the animal’s stomach.

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Jack Carr’s “outlaw justice”  yarn The Fourth Option (with M.P. Woodward) lands on May 12. Terminal Vengeance sez:

“A RIVETING MIX OF A CEREBRAL INVESTIGATIVE STORY AND A BRUTAL ‘STRANGER COMES TO TOWN’ THRILLER.”

Works for me.

As always with Carr, the gear is a character all its own. There’s a full gear guide, because of course there is. The protagonist reportedly wields a distinctive fighting knife: The Regiment Blade. Its capability is obvious from its shape — it turns punchy into stabby. Draw stroke is much like that for a pistol. This is a pure fighting/self-defense knife, a perfect accessory for the well-dressed urban vigilante.

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From Cowboys & Indians Magazine:

Oscar-winning actor and C&I cover star Matthew McConaughey is set for a lead role in The Brigands of Rattlecreek, an indie western that will be pitched to buyers later this month at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

South Korea-born filmmaker Park Chan-Wook  — who, perhaps not coincidentally, is jury chairman at Cannes this year — will direct the project, which was written by Bone Tomahawk scripter S. Craig Zahler.

I am very much interested in anything Zahler touches. He’s a Robert E. Howard fan and delivers on the pulpy goodness himself.

According to various sources, the action is triggered when a frontier town is terrorized by a gang of outlaws who use the cover of a torrential thunderstorm to rob and brutalize its residents. In the aftermath of the attack, a sheriff and a doctor join forces to hunt — and, presumably, eliminate with extreme prejudice — the men responsible.