By BEN KLEINE

Staff writer

Why would a man from New York fly over 1,000 miles to Kansas?

Why would he spend $400 on a hunting license?

Why would he wake up at 5 a.m. before any light has touched the sky?

Why would he sit in a tree, rifle ready, watchful for any prey that would wander into his scope, and not fire his weapon once?

Men, largely from the East Coast, come to Rocky Hett’s land north of Marion to hunt massive deer.

“That’s what we’re out here for is for trophy white tale,” Tom Iazzetti of Tuxedo, N.Y. said.

This past week was Tom Iazetti’s first trip to Hett’s land and he had bagged a 10-point buck by Friday. The Iazettis were some of Hett’s first hunting clients. Hett’s relationship with the New York family started when he was in the cigar business. Ron and Ron Jr. have hunted on Hett’s land since the 1980s.

Tom’s brothers A.J., Ronnie, and Don were still bow hunting in one of the 14 tree stands on Hett’s property Friday, making a last day effort to catch a bigger buck than they had shot during previous trips.

The Iazettis have hunted all over the country — A.J. shot a 13-point buck in Texas — but Tom said Kansas is special.

“It’s one of the best hunting territories in the country,” Tom Iazetti said.

The reason the Iazettis and clients from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Iowa pay to hunt on Hett’s land is because Hett works to provide the best hunting conditions that he can. He puts out corn, a deer’s favorite food, and buries salt in front of tree stands.

“I’m out here every day,” Hett said. “It’s just like ‘Field of Dreams,’ if you build it they will come.”

He studies the movement of deer on his land to put his clients in the best positions. He knows when the deer are in heat and are willing to put themselves out in the open.

“During rut is when you can catch a big buck doing something stupid,” Iazetti said.

“It’s like a man looking for a nude beach,” Hett said.

Putting his clients in the best position does not always work out. Clients from Pennsylvania hunted with Hett a week before Thanksgiving. One of the hunters left his rifle and his stand for a minute. He returned to find a buck underneath the tree.

“He didn’t eat supper that night,” Hett said, describing the man’s disgust with himself.

Hett himself is an avid hunter. He learned to hunt with his grandfather and is teaching his 9-year-old grandson to hunt. Hett is gradually guiding him from target practice with a BB gun to actual hunts.

“It’s in our blood I guess,” Hett said. “About all of us country boys, there were always guns around. They were taught not to touch the guns. Respect the gun.”

However, Hett has not shot a deer in at least 10 years. It is part of being an ethical hunter. Hett will not kill a buck that is smaller than his last. Hett has videotaped one deer from a distance that is so large that Hett would retire from hunting if he hit the buck with a clean shot.

“If you shot every little one, you wouldn’t get any big ones,” Hett said.

The bigger the deer become the more they develop blinding speed, a talent for eluding danger, and intelligence.

“There’s a reason they’ve gotten that big,” Iazetti said. “They’re good at surviving. They’re going to wade through the brush and they’ll run a country mile.”

Being an ethical hunter also means killing one deer and giving the meat away.

“You don’t shoot over your limit,” Hett said. “We don’t break any game laws and you respect other people’s property.”

Getting a clean shot is also an important part of ethical hunting.

“You don’t take a running shot,” Iazetti said. “If I see a big buck, I won’t shoot unless I can see a clean shot.”

The penalty for not following these rules is never being invited back to Hett’s land.

“The guys that come that are good hunters, I always ask them back,” Hett said. “We were brought up to respect wildlife.”

Like Hett, the Iazettis hunted with their father and often hunt with one another. While bagging the big buck is the goal, the family communion is just as enjoyable. Tom Iazetti said he was thinking about taking his son hunting on Hett’s land.

Hunting as a family tradition is being transferred to other clients as well. Last year, a client from New Jersey took his son hunting. The teenager shot his first deer in Kansas.

“That kid, he’ll remember that the rest of his life,” Hett said.

Hett has known the Iazettis, two of whom work in excavation and the other works selling medical supplies, for over 25 years and says they cannot resist ribbing each other at every opportunity.

Hett makes every effort to impress for his clients. His wife, Shirley, and his daughter, Wendy, make sure to have home cooked meals — including fried chicken and steak dinners — waiting for them when they come back in the evening.

As long as the experience continues to be worth it for his clients, Hett will continue to invite the travelers to his land and his home.

“I’ve met lots of wonderful people,” he said. “This is my job, only in America.”