 Meet the Staff
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Ranch Manager, John Ziegman
As manager of the Buffalo Creek Ranch, I
welcome you to one of the most beautiful places on earth. Trying to explain or capture this ranch on a website is impossible; it can only be experienced. Nearly every visiting guest has said or written about this ranch's unbelievable majesty in the lodge journal. It may sound odd, but I've even had guests tell me that being here has been a life-changing experience. Sharing this ranch with our few and special guests is my passion. I know your visit will be unforgettable, and I'd like to promise you that I'll do everything in my power to make that a reality.
John first discovered the North Park area when he landed a Park Ranger job in the Gould State Forest as a recent graduate from CSU in outdoor recreational management. When the fit between John and governmental work ethics got uncomfortable, he drifted into ranching in the Rand area on the Brown family ranch. From Verl Brown, he learned much of what he does today: how to calve in the spring and raise hay in the summer and many things in between. The long hours and the nurturing connection between the rancher and the land and its wildlife was a perfect fit A hunting client of Verl's, Richard MacLeod, bought a ranch in the area. When a manager was needed, John fit the bill. This has grown into the relationship they have to this day. Both manager and owner are committed to preserving this part of the earth for the good of the wildlife and personal enjoyment with a willingness to share it with others.
Larry Davis: (pictured on right) cattle manager and award winning rancher. We are proud to have this gentleman and his family join our team. He has grown up in the ranching tradition, and for those of you who don't know, that means, endless hard work, using your brains to try and squeeze a buck out baling wire, and helping your neighbor even if it means you've been up all night calving. As a sideline to running his own ranching operations, Larry has worked through the years as a bucking horse rider (he claims the horses almost always won), farrier, and horse trainer extraordinaire. He is joined on the ranch by his lovely wife and high school sweetheart, Rhonda (a cow woman herself).
Their daughter Diana (straight A student and athlete) currently attends the
University of Montana. Out in the world, is their son, John, an international politics student and model. Larry has won national recognition for his ranching conservation practices, and we're excited to have him on board in our quest to continually improve our program of excellence in land/ranching/wildlife stewardship. In his "spare time", Larry enjoys elk and deer hunting, leather and rope work (crafting cowboy needs mostly), and well. . . working for "fun" (training more horses).
Llew Mattern (pictured on right) is our ace in the hole ranch hand. He mostly works with Mark over on the Headwaters Ranch, helping with the seemingly endless ranch chores an operation of this magnitude provides. He rides cattle, fixes fence, and generally makes himself indispensable. As steady as the rain in Washington, you can set your watch by this guy. He's a quiet-spoken ranch man, father and grandfather, retired UPS driver from Steamboat Springs, and perhaps one of the gentlest, kindest men you'll ever meet.
Paul Schleppy (pictured on left) Paul is a skilled outdoorsman, with hunting fever coursing through his veins. A recent graduate of fly guiding school and a veteran hunting guide, Paul can be found anywhere on this ranch. Tying up an old fence, working on machinery, building something, guiding fishermen, or hunters, or working in our Orvis Fly shop in Walden. I guess we could call him Mr. Versatility.