Tom Keer

Contributing Writer

Tom Keer is a contributing writer for Field & Stream. He is a freelance with enough rejection letters to wallpaper the inside of an outhouse. He’ll do just that when he retires. His first Outdoor Life piece appeared in 1997, and he landed in Field & Stream a few years later. He grew up in between all the Connecticut River Valley firearm companies: Colt, Parker, Marlin, Hi-Standard, Winchester, and Mossberg. If Mr. Beaumont paid him more money for bailing hay, he’d have quite a gun collection. Keer is married and lives on Cape Cod with his wife and string of performance English setters. His kids are on their own, so he just fishes and hunts a few miles from where the Pilgrims landed.

Highlights

Over the decades he’s published 3,500 pieces across 100 titles. He’s been fortunate to win a bunch of writing awards from POMA, OWAA and NEOWA.
He’s written one book, A Flyfisher’s Guide to the New England Coast.
Currently, he’s the Shotgun Editor for Guns magazine; the shotshell editor for American-Waterfowler; the Upland Editor for Strung magazine; and an Editor-at-Large for Tail.
He spent several years as the guest editor of USA Today Hunt/Fish and as the editor for Skydance. He’s been a Senior Editor for Sporting Classics, a Field Editor for Fly Fisherman, a Contributing Editor for Fly Rod & Reel, and the Destinations Editor for Covey Rise.

Experience

After college, Keer worked for a large Boston advertising and public relations agency. He got bored working on campaigns for frozen French fries, running shoes, and sterling-silver flatware, so he quit to work in the fishing and shooting industry. He worked for Orvis for a decade and a half, and his last position was running the national and international wholesale network, including box stores. In 2005, he founded his own marketing and public relations company called The Keer Group, which focuses on the fish/hunt markets. He gets up well before sunrise and writes every day.

Education

Keer graduated from Boston College with a double major in English and German.

F&S Lightning Round

Favorite Food: Steak
Favorite Fishing Grounds: Targeting striped bass on the flats
Favorite Critter to Hunt: Running his setters in the grouse and woodcock woods