Warning to anyone applying for a job with Flatwillow Farm and Twin Creek Ranch in Central Montana (Helena: insurance)

[magoomafoo]

Just getting a warning out to anybody who happens to apply with these two places. They both are owned by an extremely arrogant, narrow minded Californian. This man has an obscene net worth. He and his henchman make the Wilkes Bros./NBar look like angels. Around 100,000 acres between the ranch and farm and ONLY Californians are allowed to hunt. Employees and children cannot. Not even to feed their families. He uses his money/consultants/attornies to muscle, bully and intimidate employees. He purposely baits deer by dumping grain in front of his 15 plush, $6000 hunting blinds. He photographs every buck on the property to "keep track" of them (Californian logic). The farm came with a small herd of bison. He is going to kill the bull simply to hang the head on the wall in his hunting lodge (this man cannot even gut a deer out, pays to have it done). He doesn't need the meat nor will he use it. He is the most unethical monster I have yet to witness. He has zero regard for Montana land or wildlife. He fires any employee who he thinks will rat him out. When he does this, that employee and their entire family is targeted with accusations of fraud or embezzlement. They have NEVER proven fraud or embezzlement on any employee. When they do accuse that employee, their attorneys, consultants and investigators illegally break into that employees home, taking computers and all paperwork. They say it's legal because the employees all live in homes on and owned by him. Thus didn't happen to us but we've just witnessed it happen to an employee. More than once, payroll checks and payments to vendors have bounced. He is, at this very moment, turned in for wage theft and current payroll has not been made. Employees are paid salary (bad deal in ag field) and expected to work 12-14 he days while getting paid for 8. In addition to being expected to work obscene hours with no compensation, employees have to be at his beck and call to do things like flush pheasants for him and his Californian buddies to shoot and then you will have to retrieve the pheasants so the Californians don't have to walk. I have photos of his baiting deer and proof that if he shoots and wounds a buck that he doesn't think is big enough, he threatens employees to kill it and out their tags on it. He further threatens them to keep them from turning him in. He doesn't carry crop insurance so you will put your sweat, blood and hard work into the farm only to have a huge hail storm destroy the crops and he doesn't care as long as there is enough crops to keep deer and game birds on the farm. I'm only putting this on here so no one else makes the same mistake we did by moving here to work. We haven't left yet (within the month) but we are. It's time these wealthy Californians were taught a lesson. After we are gone, he is on his own to run the place with his henchman.

[grampaTom]

Well, I hate to hear that. I stayed at Twin Creek Ranch and did some fly fishing about 5 years ago.
Is he a new owner since then?
Everything seemed OK back then. All the wranglers and guides seemed happy anyway.

[NDak15]

So is this guy from Wahington? Or back East? But on a serious note, the guy sounds like a real POS.

[historyfan]

Game violations and unethical hunting activities are easily reported to the anonymous tip line, here is the info:

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks :: TIP-MONT Poaching FAQ

In Montana wildlife violations are not dealt with by a slap on the wrist, but rather stiff fines & loss of hunting privileges and sometimes firearms are confiscated.

I can not speak to your employment salary/overtime issues, because ag workers are exempt from some labor laws.

Now, passing a bad check is a big deal. If you are given a bad check in Montana, take it to the local County Attorney. That office will prosecute and recover the amount times 3 and levy a fine on the bad check writer.

I do know ranch owners do not always allow employees & employees' families to hunt or otherwise recreate on the ranch. Many times this is due to liability issues. In the case of hunting, the outfitting side of ranch might be a big part of annual cash flow.

[chiluvr1228]

If you use paragraphs in the future, your post would be a lot easier to read. Anyhow thanks for warning people.

[Electrician4you]

How do people know this is true? If you have proof you can go to the Montana Fish/Game office, District attorney etc. And truthfully you sound like a disgruntled employee.

[ericsvibe]

I would like to second the opinion on the hunting privileges. My father worked for the same farm for over 40 years. At first they allowed employees to hunt, but only on the closing weekend after the owner and his family got their pick. Growing up, every year we would hunt that last weekend. We would always come away with a buck, but we hunted for meat as well as sport.


Then in the mid 90's, an employee accidentally shot his hunting partner. The farm was sued, and lost $365,000.00 in a settlement. Luckily, the guy didn't die. That was the end of the last weekend hunting. From that point on, only the owner and his family could hunt.


To the disgruntled employee, the owner can do what he wants on his property. He doesn't have to let anyone hunt if he doesn't want. You can feel free to purchase your own ranch if you want. The Bison are livestock, he owns them. As long as he follows state law, he can butcher it however he sees fit. Baiting deer is illegal, so you have every right to turn him in on that. However, baiting is a tricky subject. I know people who plant and acre of corn, just to attract deer. They don't even farm corn, but as long as it is grown in furrows, it appears to be agriculture.


The state of MT takes labor law violation seriously, and will investigate any employer for violations. There have been several employers prosecuted lately, just in the Helena area. There is a hotline to report suspected violations.

[Senah]

I would echo what everyone else is saying. If you have proof, report the guy. MT FWP is taking out of state resident game violations seriously this year. That should take care of your problem.

Arizonan fined for possessing too many game birds | Outdoors | billingsgazette.com

In terms of the fat cats being lazy with their bird hunting, well, welcome to the 21st century. And crop insurance is a whole other ballgame that a lot of people think is welfare anyhow. So, you are going to see those issues up for debate, but certainly on the legal issues reporting him is going to be a lot more effective than venting on a message board.

[magoomafoo]

The Taylor's ran the pheasant and deer hunting business before this guy bought it a few years ago. He makes the Wilkes bros/N-bar look like angels.

[Geo Roam]

*******s exist in the world today? Whodathunkit?