For cattle producers, feral swine aren’t just another wildlife species to be ignored or even tolerated. These wild pigs cut into profit margins, destroy land and threaten the livelihoods and buying power of landowners and consumers.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Farmers are the poorest millionaires you’ll ever know”? Millionaire status is not based on the amount of money someone has sitting in the bank but rather their overall net worth.

“Elk and other big game can be a positive or a negative for a ranch, depending largely on how they impact the bottom line. If a ranch is able to derive sufficient income through hunting, ecotourism or from government programs – such as the USDA Grasslands Conservation Reserve Program – then wildlife can be a benefit.”

“A family of teachers.”
That’s how Jill Flynn refers to her brood, who together own and operate Hidden Hollow Hideaway Cattle & Guest Ranch in the hills just outside Townsend, Montana, overlooking the Missouri River. Perhaps no one is more representative of that designation than Jill’s late husband, Kelly.

Since the dawn of time, mankind turned, and continues to turn, live animals into protein to feed the world. Whether it be by raising livestock or hunting wildlife, the job gets done and people get fed – and in some cases, these two paths cross.