Hunt Information

Guide Bios

The dog handler/guides at Ringneck Ranch are atypical in that we borrow them from a variety of professions. Local farmers and ranchers, bankers and businessmen, with some commercial and military pilots added to the mix comprise our guide staff. Most have been certified by Kansas Wildlife and Parks as Commercial Hunting Guides. All share a love and interest for the hunting dog companions that are one of the most significant elements of our upland gamebird hunting experience. At Ringneck Ranch, we train a variety of breeds that are mostly offspring from our own canine staff. By using our seasoned dogs as mentors the new pups become skilled veterans normally within their first season. Seems almost like cheating!

Keith Houghton, with his wife Debra, owns and operates Ringneck Ranch. Keith, who is a self-professed migrant airplane driver, attributes the development of the hunting service business at the ranch to his flying career ups and downs (sorry!) through mergers & acquisitions at Ozark, TWA & American Airlines. If you and your fellow hunters wind up with the boss as your guide, you will enjoy the Houghton’s housedogs’ infrequent chance to demonstrate their skills and enthusiasm in the field.

Dan Watson has helped us at Ringneck Ranch from its beginning in 1983. Dan and his wife, Nancy, live and farm in a wonderful hunting area, seven miles south of the ranch. Dan is renowned for his ability to tell a 2-minute story in 10 minutes. His family shudders at the thought of his naming a new puppy (Moose, Smart & Maybe?), but we all fondly remember these wonderful dogs, and look forward to the next set of names!

Don Montgomery was the second addition to our dog handling staff in the mid 80’s. Don’s education was in business and he was a banker in Tipton for 16 years. He and his wife, Virginia, a high school science teacher and administrator, established Blue Hill Gamebirds, a hatchery that distributes high quality pheasant chicks throughout the mid-US. Don uses the big red dogs (Viszlas) and a wonderful English Pointer, Gracie.

Virgil Jeardoe is an asset to Ringneck Ranch and the Tipton community with the contribution of his many skills, talents and gregarious personality. He manages the infrastructure of the city of Tipton, plus he has worn the hats of fire chief, EMT, ambulance driver and 4-H leader. Virgil’s farm is one of the few wonderful rural places where you can still see one of just about every creature. All of the Jeardoe family, including wife Tanya, have helped us provide the other services at the ranch over the years. Virgil used to follow the hounds at night, but now is confined to his high energy Brittanys on weekends.

Fred Smith, whose great-grandparents were early frontier settlers of Tipton, took an opportunity in 1991 to buy the local grocery store, moving his family back home from suburban Chicago where he retired from the police force after fifteen years. Fred's artistic abilities and schooling are personified in the silk-screen business where he always has a long list of projects. His wife, Vali, runs the grocery store. Fred loves to write and founded the local newspaper, of which he is the editor. Fred, his family and his dogs live on their cattle ranch, where they raise a small herd of Simmental cows. He has four children: his two oldest daughters, Sarah and Theresia, are college graduates; his oldest son, Jacob, is at K-State; and his youngest son, Joey, is in high school. Fred loves his Brittanys, but "Moon" and "Skeeter", the wirehairs, are still anchors of the pack. Fred, an outdoorsman, has been guiding at the ranch for over thirteen years.

Craig Gasper is a neighbor that farms a couple of miles up the creek. A computer science grad, he is bringing a new level of technology to production agriculture in this part of Kansas. Craig is a bachelor and avid K-State Football fan, who sneaks to Manhattan on some Saturdays and is known to do "a little hunting of his own!"

Terry Fiala is an avowed Okie & dedicated deer chaser. Terry, who has been a manufacturing plant manager for several years, now is immersed in the dogs and hunting that is his passion. He is developing a family property for its wildlife potential utilizing some new techniques to enhance quail populations.

Adam Siegfried is our newest and youngest dog handler at the ranch. He's a Nebraskan that has worked for Keith's sister at Heartland Cattle Company in McCook since he was younger that we can legally admit here. We expect him and his new liver brittany, "Ivan", back annually. He says that Nebraska football is only 800 days from recovery.

Steve Struyk, a MD-80 Captain with Keith, is a flight standards check airman that is charged with the responsibility of evaluating pilot performance. A bird chaser and Brittany lover, Steve, wife Lin, and their family live in St. Louis and have been regular visitors at the ranch for several years. Steve and Lin are self-professed "parrot-heads"! The days he helps each season allow the rest of us an opportunity to regain our sense of humor. Steve and his son, also a First Officer, have jumped headfirst in starting to build a RV-8 home-built acrobatic aircraft.

Guide Staff Archive