Local Businessmen Buy Famed Hunting Ranch
By Carrie Rengers, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.
Jan. 13–A group of Wichita businessmen finalized a multimillion dollar deal Friday to buy Flint Oak ranch in Elk County.
The top-ranked facility south of Fall River has a worldwide reputation to go with its 10,000 acres of hunting, fishing and meeting space.
“It’s a phenomenal facility,” said George Laham, who is one of six investors in the deal. “It’s one of the most beautiful properties in the
state.”
Ray Walton founded the ranch with his wife, Winona, in 1979, but he never intended for it to be a business.
“It’s kind of embarrassing,” Walton said. “It’s just one thing led to another…. Lo and behold, it became a business.”
The Waltons decided to sell because they’re in their 70s, but they wouldn’t retire without making sure the ranch was in the right hands.
“It was important to sell to somebody who could really take it and go with it… and maybe even improve it,” Walton said. “And that’s exactly who bought it.”
Laham’s partners are Tom Devlin, Bob Geist, Herb Krumsick, Steve Barrett and Chris Jarvis, who will be president and managing partner. Exact details of the transaction were not disclosed.
“The nucleus of the people are members of the place,” Walton said of the new owners.
The ranch has a lodge with 40 hotel rooms, a restaurant, meeting rooms, pool and pro shop. There are also small lodges and bunkhouses on the property.
There are two world-class international sporting clays courses that have bronze statues depicting the target birds at each station. The extensive grounds allow for an array of hunting, and guided trophy bass fishing will be added this year.
The ranch has 430 members and 90 employees.
“We don’t plan on making any immediate changes to the ranch,” Laham said.
“We’ll take a look and see if there are areas that the members feel need improvements, and we’ll make those decisions.”
Laham said that in addition to one of the most incredible pieces of property in the state, the Waltons also had unbeatable customer service.
“They have built a reputation,” he said. “There’s just not that many hunting ranches of this caliber in the country.”
The Waltons formerly owned the Penny Power circular. A couple of years before they sold it, they bought 699 acres east of Wichita as a recreation area for themselves.
“I invited some friends to come over and hunt, and we thought that was kind of fun, so we got a few more friends involved,” Walton said. “We had more friends than we had land initially.”
So they bought more acreage.
“We just went on and developed it into a hunting preserve,” he said. “So many places do not have a true hunting environment…. We try to make it as natural as possible.”
Walton said his wife “was a little more enthusiastic about selling it than me.”
“Are you going to walk off this place, or are we going to carry you off in a box?” she asked.
He preferred the former.
“It was just the most wonderful 25 years that I’ve had in my life,” he said.
Reach Carrie Rengers at 316-268-6340 or crengers@wichitaeagle.com [mailto:crengers@wichitaeagle.com].
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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