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Bill Heavey's Deer Diary: Welcome to the Bachelor Party
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October 12, 2007
Bill Heavey's Deer Diary: Welcome to the Bachelor Party
By Bill Heavey
The second group, which came a week later, was four small guys chowing down on a carpet of swamp chestnut oak acorns. When full, they plopped themselves down right where they’d fed. I watched two lick each others’ faces and necks for nearly half an hour. Then, satisfied that they looked their best, they clicked antlers a couple of times in a friendly sort of way.
My heart leaped. It was only late September, but the wheels had started moving. It wouldn’t be long before they’d be fighting for real. I resolved to bring antlers and do some light rattling next time. But since then I’ve been tethered to my desk like a resentful Rottweiler. The strain is starting to show. Yesterday I called a manufacturer to chase down details about a new boot they’re marketing. I said I was a hardcore deer hunter.
“I hear that all the time,” the marketing guy said, as if somehow annoyed by the term. “What exactly does ‘hardcore’ mean?”
“I’ll tell you what it means,” I said. “It means that deer are the last thing I think about before I go to sleep at night and the first thing I think about when I open my eyes in the morning. That help any?”
“Oh,” he said. “I see.”
Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. But I’ll tell you this: The longer I sit here at my computer, the less I care about my career prospects.
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i'm tring to find an article by you dated january 2007 about your dads dog?
I picture in my head these two men sitting. In my head Mr. Heavey sits with the same look of quiet frustration I experience after a hunt -and sometimes life in general- while I go over what I did wrong and how I'll put it on paper. I picture Mr.Petzal sitting opposite Mr.Heavey, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his glasses tipped up on the top of his fingers.This is a persistent image that makes it's way in front of my mind's eye every time I crack open the mail box and see that new copy of F&S. Thought I'd share it.
thanks for the kind words, kevin (and everybody else). knowing you've touched somebody's heart is about as good as it gets for a writer.at the moment i'm moving boxes with a hand truck from the house i'm renting to the house across the street, which the bank and i bought. i have to do this because at the moment i'm paying rent AND a mortgage. meanwhile, deer are getting frisky. we're due for a 10-degree temp drop and rain later this week. hope to be up in a tree for that at least.
Mr. Heavey,I concur with the folks that are happy that you are blogging. I also wish that this blog had a spell-check:)I can't imagine F&S being silly enough to rid themselves of you, as this would result in the demise of their magazine. Mr. Petzal can't keep things going all by himself:) GO HUNTING!!!!I copied a response that I made on a blog of Mr. Petzal's a while back regarding you in the event that these sentiments were not able to be forwarded on to you previously. Now as before, I find your writing entertaining and at times important. Hopefully, I'll have some deer hunting adventures to share on this blog. This season as the last four, have been pleasantly hindered by my family and sometimes my paying job.Mr. Petzal,As a reader, I feel a certain bond with you Mr. Petzal, because you are a consummate smarty-pants. Don't change:)As for Mr. Heavey, I could already relate to him; because as much as I would like to think myself a capable outdoorsman, I too am a royal goof. Mr. Heavey really connected with me though when he wrote "Path to Enlightenment". Like Mr. Heavey, I'm an "older Dad" and we have two little boys, 3yrs. old and 9 months old. They surely descended from the heavens like Mr. Heavey's Emma; and just like Emma, they have ruined, complicated, and enriched my life beyond all measure. I was going to try and get a letter written to F&S to hopefully be forwarded on to Mr. Heavey regarding how much I was touched by "Path to Enlightenment" as a father and as a hunter. Before I did that, I did a Google search to hopefully find other past articles of Mr. Heavey's to enjoy. I came across a copy of Lilyfish. A heart-breaking yet beautiful story. My eyes are actually watering as I think of Mr. Heavey's words right now. The story left me stunned, upset, more appreciative of my children, and at a loss of worthwhile words to try and communicate to Mr. Heavey; that by having the priviledge to read about his Lily, a whole complexity of undertones had been added to all of his writings for me. Anyway, others wrote good letters to the editor of F&S commending Mr. Heavey and "Path to Enlightenment". Mine wouldn't have been any better. I'd appreciate it though, if you would possibly find a way to forward my comments to Mr. Heavey. I'd like for him to know that there is another bumbling outdoor Dad out there that enjoys his writing and is sometimes moved by it.Posted by: Kevin | July 07, 2006 at 09:49 AMTo Kevin: I'll see if it can be done. One writes a piece like Lilyfish only once in a lifteime, and at a fearful cost.Posted by: Dave Petzal | July 09, 2006 at 03:20 PMMr. Petzal,Thank you!Sincerely,KevinPosted by: Kevin | July 10, 2006 at 11:48 AM
Mr. Heavey, I've been waiting for this for far too long.
It's about time you had a blog. Work is for suckers. It would be kind of ironic for F&S to fire you because you went hunting. Your stories are always some of the best. Renegotiate your contract to include hunting time!
I sure hope that passing up small bucks and shooting does takes on like catch and release. It did happen once, why not in another sport?
Enjoyed the article. It has me motivated to go out and sit for a while. Excellent!
To get your point across a bit better. State the facts that too many does - brings late fawns. Which if the carrying capacity of the surrounding environment cannot hold - could bring starvation, which could bring herd losses; or disease in mass.Also this would help with meat hunters as they would probably be more apt to pass when looking at that 4 or 6 pt as a meat harvest versus a trophy harvest.I also think it is the most ethical thing to do - to always try to take the biggest, most mature deer in the area you are hunting; regardless of sex. This should be every hunter's practice, regardless of the area of the country they hunt.Note: I did not put an age on the deer taken. Just to take the most mature deer in the area you are hunting.Good article though.
Deadlines are a year-round burden. Deer season only lasts a few months. Just a thought.
The only time I enjoy my desk is when I get to read stuff like this.
Post a Comment
i'm tring to find an article by you dated january 2007 about your dads dog?
I picture in my head these two men sitting. In my head Mr. Heavey sits with the same look of quiet frustration I experience after a hunt -and sometimes life in general- while I go over what I did wrong and how I'll put it on paper. I picture Mr.Petzal sitting opposite Mr.Heavey, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his glasses tipped up on the top of his fingers.This is a persistent image that makes it's way in front of my mind's eye every time I crack open the mail box and see that new copy of F&S. Thought I'd share it.
thanks for the kind words, kevin (and everybody else). knowing you've touched somebody's heart is about as good as it gets for a writer.at the moment i'm moving boxes with a hand truck from the house i'm renting to the house across the street, which the bank and i bought. i have to do this because at the moment i'm paying rent AND a mortgage. meanwhile, deer are getting frisky. we're due for a 10-degree temp drop and rain later this week. hope to be up in a tree for that at least.
Mr. Heavey,I concur with the folks that are happy that you are blogging. I also wish that this blog had a spell-check:)I can't imagine F&S being silly enough to rid themselves of you, as this would result in the demise of their magazine. Mr. Petzal can't keep things going all by himself:) GO HUNTING!!!!I copied a response that I made on a blog of Mr. Petzal's a while back regarding you in the event that these sentiments were not able to be forwarded on to you previously. Now as before, I find your writing entertaining and at times important. Hopefully, I'll have some deer hunting adventures to share on this blog. This season as the last four, have been pleasantly hindered by my family and sometimes my paying job.Mr. Petzal,As a reader, I feel a certain bond with you Mr. Petzal, because you are a consummate smarty-pants. Don't change:)As for Mr. Heavey, I could already relate to him; because as much as I would like to think myself a capable outdoorsman, I too am a royal goof. Mr. Heavey really connected with me though when he wrote "Path to Enlightenment". Like Mr. Heavey, I'm an "older Dad" and we have two little boys, 3yrs. old and 9 months old. They surely descended from the heavens like Mr. Heavey's Emma; and just like Emma, they have ruined, complicated, and enriched my life beyond all measure. I was going to try and get a letter written to F&S to hopefully be forwarded on to Mr. Heavey regarding how much I was touched by "Path to Enlightenment" as a father and as a hunter. Before I did that, I did a Google search to hopefully find other past articles of Mr. Heavey's to enjoy. I came across a copy of Lilyfish. A heart-breaking yet beautiful story. My eyes are actually watering as I think of Mr. Heavey's words right now. The story left me stunned, upset, more appreciative of my children, and at a loss of worthwhile words to try and communicate to Mr. Heavey; that by having the priviledge to read about his Lily, a whole complexity of undertones had been added to all of his writings for me. Anyway, others wrote good letters to the editor of F&S commending Mr. Heavey and "Path to Enlightenment". Mine wouldn't have been any better. I'd appreciate it though, if you would possibly find a way to forward my comments to Mr. Heavey. I'd like for him to know that there is another bumbling outdoor Dad out there that enjoys his writing and is sometimes moved by it.Posted by: Kevin | July 07, 2006 at 09:49 AMTo Kevin: I'll see if it can be done. One writes a piece like Lilyfish only once in a lifteime, and at a fearful cost.Posted by: Dave Petzal | July 09, 2006 at 03:20 PMMr. Petzal,Thank you!Sincerely,KevinPosted by: Kevin | July 10, 2006 at 11:48 AM
Mr. Heavey, I've been waiting for this for far too long.
It's about time you had a blog. Work is for suckers. It would be kind of ironic for F&S to fire you because you went hunting. Your stories are always some of the best. Renegotiate your contract to include hunting time!
I sure hope that passing up small bucks and shooting does takes on like catch and release. It did happen once, why not in another sport?
Enjoyed the article. It has me motivated to go out and sit for a while. Excellent!
To get your point across a bit better. State the facts that too many does - brings late fawns. Which if the carrying capacity of the surrounding environment cannot hold - could bring starvation, which could bring herd losses; or disease in mass.Also this would help with meat hunters as they would probably be more apt to pass when looking at that 4 or 6 pt as a meat harvest versus a trophy harvest.I also think it is the most ethical thing to do - to always try to take the biggest, most mature deer in the area you are hunting; regardless of sex. This should be every hunter's practice, regardless of the area of the country they hunt.Note: I did not put an age on the deer taken. Just to take the most mature deer in the area you are hunting.Good article though.
Deadlines are a year-round burden. Deer season only lasts a few months. Just a thought.
The only time I enjoy my desk is when I get to read stuff like this.
Post a Comment