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The Gamekeeper's Journal
Matt Whindle
Last week of February 2009
My involvement with Blixt & Co and Lazy Triple Creek began with a phone call I received from a friend, Greame Deighton who is the Headkeeper on a great shoot in Canada. He told me about the new developments at Lazy Triple Creek and that his friend Lars was taking the shooting rights. My gamekeeping experience has taken me to some unusual shoots around the world over the last 20 odd years and Greame thought this opportunity ‘had my name written all over it”.
I was on a ski lift in France when the first call came from Greame and 4 days later and after couple of enthusiastic conversations with Lars I was leaving London for a very cold and snowy Jackson Hole. The next evening, I was delivered by taxi at 10 pm to a cabin in the forest covered in 4 feet of snow whose inhabitants at that moment had four feet and barked a lot. Lars and Jen were away in Texas promoting Lazy Triple Creek until the following evening. They told me to make myself at home and let the dogs out in the morning. Quite trusting really, seeing as we had never actually met!
My first day in Jackson Hole, 7am , take the dogs (now my 2 new best buddies) out for a walk. It’s at least -25 degrees and it’s reminding me of the 10 cold winters I spent gamekeeping in the Czech Republic, until I saw a cow and calf Moose 50 yards away, this was a first for me and I’m starting to think this place could be fun. I had the whole day to myself to explore Jackson Hole. It was my first time in the Western State's and I had a great morning looking around town and an afternoon on the mountain snowboarding. I was very impressed by the place. My hosts for the week, Lars and Jen returned home that evening and we were very soon enjoying dinner and chatting about shooting and people and places we both knew, the shooting world can be very small.
My first visit to Lazy Triple Creek was an experience. We met Steve and Dev at the lodge and after discussing the best way to see the ranch went it's covered in 4 feet of snow we all set off in the Snowcat. I was very impressed from the start, this land with it's deep valleys, high trees and beautiful views was just made for driven shooting. It is a gamekeepers dream.
The rest of the week was spent planning all the varied aspects that go into making a great shoot. Anyone who has run their own shoot will know there are endless things to think about to make those few shoot days work and have 8 happy guns at the end of the day.
The week flew by and at the end of it I'd had a great time, met some great people and was sold on the place. The only problem was the message I'd received when I'd landed in the U.S. a week earlier from a shoot owner in West Sussex asking if I was interested in becoming his Head Keeper. I had trained on this estate 23 years ago under a fantastic Headkeeper working for the present owners father 'Lord Benson'. I spent 4 years as Underkeeper on the estate and have very fond memories of the place, it's the prettiest estate I've ever worked on. In the end Lazy Triple Creek and the possiblities that may come with Blixt&Co and Lars and Jen seemed the right choice for me.
End of April 2009
Lars invited me to come over to the 'Southern States side by side championships' in N.Carolina and help him on the Blixt & Co stand. It was a fun 3 days and for a me having left a cold damp England the 90 degree weather was nice. I got to meet Leonard Logsdail , Guy Biggin and the Griffin and Howe team and the Holland and Holland guys from New York (best not mention how many jugs of Margaritas we had at the Mexican Resturant). The trip gave me an unexpected chance to have lunch with Count Arco (my old employer from the Czech Republic). He has an office in Charlotte and just by chance was in town for the day. He was impressed with what we're doing at Lazy Triple Creek, I hope to see him on the ranch sometime.
Mid May 2009
I came back to Lazy Triple Creek to really learn my way around the estate, plant the game cover crops which is the most important factors to the season being a success. The estate manager Steve has taken on the work of preparing and seeding the 240 acres of fields that are planted with Corn,Sunflower and Wheat. The luck was on our side and a spell of hot dry weather warmed up the soil nicely but a strong west wind made us worry about the soil drying out to much. We had a couple of minor mechanical break downs with the drill but within 7 days from start to finish Steve had prepared and drilled all of the crop exactly as I had marked them out. Luck was again on our side, and the day after we finished seeding it rained. Within a week of finishing the seeding all of the crops were up and it was raining again.
I met with Dean, one of our bird suppliers and was very interested to see how game farms work in the U.S. everyone does things a little different all over the world. I think both of us will learn something new by working together.
Lars, Jen and I organised a clay shoot and BBQ in early June to give me a chance to meet the beaters, loaders and pickers up and let them know what are plans are for the Fall. It was a fun day and I'm looking forward to working with these guys in the season.
In the last week before I had to return to the UK all of the guys from the ranch helped me set up the pheasant release pens.
The of preparation work has set us up for what is going to be a very exciting and interesting shooting season and I can't wait to get back to Lazy Triple Creek.
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