Dean, Kevin                                       * Home  

1965(Vestal Central HS)            Oct 2001 "NY State Conservationist"

From “Nature Journals” by Natalie Walsh as published in the “New York State Conservationist”, October 2001.

article sent to Vestal65 by Craig Ingraham

Dean, 53, an angler and hunter, began keeping journals in 1978 as a way to record information that would help him with his favorite pastime. Easrly entries have data on water temperatures, the rate of flow, water clarity, how many trout, salmon or “brownies” were caught, and what was used as bait.

While these precise notations are prized by fellow fishermen, they didn’t tell much about the author. With time, however, the little four-by-six inch memo books started to reflect his personality. He described large loads of beech, hickory and oak nuts that make it “feel like you’re walking on marbles” and captured the excitement of being in the woods turkey hunting. “On my right a bird keeps gobbling. I think I’ll have a closer look; walking down the path I spook a turkey and it runs through the woods but the other one keeps gobbling. He’s in the field; I crawl on my belly around the other side of a mound. There he is. The same jake I saw earlier with four hens! What a sight and every time he gobbles another turkey in the woods in back of me cuts loose with a gobble then another in the woods to my left. This is unbelievable,” the entry reads.

A favorite stomping ground is Mill Creek in Wevertown; a place he calls “an old friend.” His journal entry from April 1984 reads: “Stream conidtions were perfect; warm, sunny, 70 degrees, water temperature 58 degrees and a fair stone fly hatch. Brown and some yellow. This stream has fantastic hatches all year long, a classic free stone stream.” His catch that day? “My usual self, 0. Tyler (his son), 3. Small brookies on a worm. I teased him about using a worm but he caught fish and I didn’t. And I’m proud to say he released his fish unharmed.”

“This is the best part of being a Dad; we had a full day, just the two of us. This is the best legacy I can leave him. The inner peace, the beauty, and the smell of the spring breeze on a beautiful trout stream, totally alone. I hope he’ll always remember these days. I know I will.”

  Commentator:  McCoy            , n/a                     , Richard                                 6/13/2000

Kevin lives somewhere near Albany, NY, but I'm not sure where.

  Commentator:  McCoy            , n/a                     , Richard                                  6/7/2000

According to Dick McCoy, Kevin and Gene Cavaliere went hunting together frequently. In one hunting expedition the subject of Kris Vail came up. The

conversation prompted Gene to get hold of his former sweetheart then living in AZ.

Kris and Gene were married some time later.

  Commentator:  McLean           , n/a                     , Rich                                     9/10/2000

 Kevin H. Dean is carried in the Vestal Alumni Directory 2000 as graduating in 1966. He is owner of K.D.Lynn Co in Rexford NY. He is married to Lynn and

has 1 child, Tyler.

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