Building a junk yard into a bird-hunting paradise, Miller’s dream becomes a reality
From the early age of around 8 years old, Noah Miller had a dream to run his own hunting guide service. With the help of his parents Scott and Sally Miller of Utah and two other partners -- Shane Erdmann of North Dakota and Mat Schauer of South Dakota -- at only 27 years old, he’s realized that dream in Wyoming with his guide service and lodge, Mountain View Mallards.
Miller said he learned most of what he knows about hunting from his father, who took him out on his first bird hunt at around age 3. He started guiding when he was 19 years old and moved to Minnesota, where he was a guide for three years. In his third year, he seized an opportunity to hunt with a group of friends on a guided hunt in Wyoming.
“I was basically a client on that hunt,” explained Miller. “We went on a hunt with a guy (Nick Kafcas) that ran an outfit in Wyoming. Next thing you know, we got to talking and I ended up guiding for him, and then the next thing you know I ended up buying out his business.”
When Kafcas ran the business, he didn’t own his own land. He rented out an Airbnb for a few months during the hunting season, using it as a base of operation for his guiding services. Though Miller did the same in the beginning, with the help of his parents land was purchased in the Lovell area four years later, and a custom lodge was built on the property to accommodate his guide service clientele during hunting season. At that time, Miller moved onto the property full-time.
“What I bought from Nick was basically the name (Western Waterfowlers),” explained Miller. “It turned out there was a business in Colorado with a similar name called Western Waterfowl Outfitters. Since the name is so similar, we didn’t even end up using the name. So, I bought a name that was basically no name. I used it at first, but once I built my own clientele base I changed it. My base was basically built from all my years of guiding all over the country.”
Miller described the property, at the time of purchase, as “basically a junk yard.” He spent the first few years converting it into the bird-hunting paradise it is today. The property is 120 acres and now includes a 4,000 square foot lodge that sleeps 12, has a full kitchen, walk-in pantry, three bathrooms and a huge deck overlooking a recently built pond and an enormous great room for gatherings.
“All there was here was an old corral and a pile of old barn wood and rusted junk 30 feet tall when we bought the property,” Miller said.
In addition to the 120 acres, additional acreage beyond the property is leased from local farmers to provide even more hunting opportunities for guests.
Mountain View Mallards is located south of Lane 13 between Highway 32 and Road 11 near Lovell.
“We hunt all over,” Miller said. “We have leased ground that we have permission to hunt on from east of Lovell all the way to Cody. We also lease all the way down to Worland, and we’re working on stuff a little further north, like near Clark. It’s all private land that we have permission to hunt.”
The business is primarily a guided hunting service and lodge, but since hunting is limited to a season that only runs a few months, the lodge rents out in the off season to non-hunters. The five-star lodge is included in the price of a guided hunt, along with three meals, cleaning services and field dressing game birds.
“Everything is provided, including three meals a day,” said Miller. “You can book a private group of six people or book the whole lodge for 12. We get a lot of 12 groups and a lot of six. I’d say it’s 50/50. We have a cook prepare every meal. The hunters get up in the morning and go out hunting early.”
The property has two ponds that were custom built to attract waterfowl. One is right next to the lodge. Miller runs day-to-day operations, including the guided hunts, with the help of four hired guides and his two Labrador retrievers Jax and Duke. His parents run the Airbnb part of the business, and his other partners help with the guide service bookings.
“We’re concentrating on going bigger and better every year,” said Miller.
Miller started the business with his father, adding his other partners who have extensive experience running guide services. One partner formerly employed Miller as a guide.
Miller is originally from Utah, guiding in Utah, Minnesota and other locations before he came to Wyoming. He’s not related to any of the other Millers in the area.
The hunts include an experienced guide in every six-person group. With a couple of hunting groups out at a time, the remaining three guides are busy scouting for hunting opportunities on some of the leased properties for the next day’s hunt. He said some of the clients bring their own trained dogs, which is critical in the sport of bird hunting. He also offers his own fully trained dogs that help retrieve birds during hunts. He said most hunters bring their own hunting rifles, but the business rents rifles and has ammunition available.
During times that he’s not booked, he occasionally allows small local groups to hunt on his leased properties for free.
“I’m trying to be a nice person,” he said. “I want to be helpful and give back to the community. I’m willing to offer my time and advice when I can. If I have a free day, I try to take out a group of local people. This last season I took out a guy and his son and his son’s friend. We had a good time.”
Miller said he does not stock the property with game. He trains his own dogs. The business employs guides, a cook and a cleaning person. Guest hunters purchase an appropriate license for the hunt and patronize the businesses in town while they are here. Most of Miller’s clients are from other parts of Wyoming or from out of state. The scheduled hunts focus primarily on waterfowl and pheasants.
In the past year, Miller had 80 hunting groups use his services. He said he’s guided more than 200 since the business began. The lodge is regularly booked as an Airbnb in the off season.
Miller has grand plans for the future that include adding other locations in Montana and Idaho. He said he would also like to add landscaping around the lodge. Ultimately, his dream is to build a business that is the best in the country, and it looks like he’s well on his way with a business that has gained momentum every year for the six years since its inception. Most of Miller’s clients discover the business through word of mouth, Facebook, Instagram and the company website www.mountainviewmallards.com.