Bill Heavey

Bill Heavey started writing for Field & Stream in the 1990s and slowly faked his way into an editor-at-large title. He has written four books about the outdoors, including If You Didn’t Bring Jerky, What Did I Just Eat?

Highlights

• Has written the magazine’s back-page column for 20 years

• Is basically the resident doofus for_Field & Stream_

Education

Heavey went to a boys’ prep school in Bethesda, Maryland, and graduated from George Washington University with a degree in English literature.

Experience

Field & Stream is staffed with superbly skilled outdoorsmen and women, people who can shoot the eyes out of a running chipmunk at 300 yards or tie a fly out of their pocket lint and some tinfoil and go catch a tarpon on it. Heavey is not one of them. He lives by the watchwords, “Enthusiasm trumps skill” and “Hunting and fishing are too much fun to leave to the experts.”

Heavey was once approached by a fan with no job, no health insurance, a bad limp, and no teeth. Upon meeting Heavey, the man said, “Bill, sometimes I read your stuff, and I just feel so sorry for you.”

F&S Lightning Round

Favorite Place to Fish for Bass: CubaFavorite Place to Fish and Catch Nothing: MongoliaFavorite Game Animal: Whitetail deerSkill That He Seems Incapable of Learning: Fly fishing

Notable Work

• The Real Secret to Being a Mentor in the Outdoors

  Field & Stream

• Anywhere or Bust: A Texas Turkey Hunting Adventure

  Field & Stream

• The Bass Punk

  Field & Stream