The Magazine of the American Landowner is an essential guide for investors, landowners, and those interested in buying or selling land. The award-winning quarterly is known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, The Land Report 100.
Issue link: http://landreport.epubxp.com/i/98309
100 The LandReport Wyoming's Flitner Family Over the last century, this family has grown its holdings from a quarter-section to 300,000 acres. Text by Nancy Myers F our generations of Flitners have called their Wyoming ranch home, beginning with David Flitner's father, who homesteaded 160 acres more than a century ago. Today the Hideout Lodge & Guest Ranch is the centerpiece of a ranching enterprise that was grown one parcel at a time. David and Paula Flitner are still on the scene, but they have passed the baton to David's son, Greg, and his family, who manage the Flitner. Paula's nephew Peter De Cabooter and wife Marijn manage the Hideout. In addition to recreational permits and private lands, the Hideout shares close to 300,000 acres of private, BLM, and National Forest permits with the Flitner. "It's a ranch managed by two families: one with more hospitality experience that comes from the European and American corporate world, and one with experience in ranch management," says De Cabooter, who uprooted his own brood from Brussels to relocate to Wyoming. Located at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains just east of Yellowstone, the Hideout started as a working guest ranch and evolved into a hub of upscale horsemanship featuring horses bred and raised for the challenging terrain. "This area has a rarely seen diversity of scenery within a relatively short distance," says De Cabooter. "Elevations range from 4,200 feet in the valley to the highest peak at 13,200 feet. So we 64 TheLandReport | WINTER 20 12 have red rock like you'd find in Sedona or Scottsdale or Utah, we have pine forests, we have the desert in the valley, wide-open meadows, and a wide range of colors and backdrops. It's like guests can ride in another country every day of the week." The diversity of topography and scenery lends itself to the Hideout's Western photography clinics. De Cabooter often hosts smaller sessions during the winter months. "We find out what kind of horses and backdrops they want and we organize it all for them," he says. "We get up early in the morning and prepare the horses, so it's a lot of preparation. They [each] shoot between 8,000 and 15,000 shots that week. We speak four languages, so we get more overseas photographers." The Hideout prides itself on eco-friendly practices, including rotational grazing and low-stress stockmanship, and offers plenty of pursuits for non-riders, including fly-fishing. De Cabooter works with Wyoming Game and Fish to keep the property's Trapper Creek pristine. Despite the vastness of the property, the Hideout limits guest numbers to approximately 25 at a time. "With more guests, you lose that personal touch," De Cabooter says. "A lot of the ranches are going to 40, 60, or 80 people, but it completely changes the dynamic of the experience. We can really give them the attention a traveler used to get in the old days." LANDREPORT.COM