This website serves Farmers and Ranchers in the Kansas AgriTourism Industry.For family outings, go to http://www.travelks.comWelcome to Kansas AgriTourism!This website has been developed specifically for Kansas farmers and ranchers involved in AgriTourism, rural properties where the traveler has an opportunity to experience farm and country life far from the hustle of the city.The site is a project of the Kansas Agritourism Advisory Council, working in cooperation with:the Kansas Agriculture Marketing Division and the Travel and Tourism Division of the Department of Commerceand with financial assistance from Frontier Farm Credit.We invite you to explore this website to find a variety of articles and resources that will help you succeed in agritourism.If you have any questions, please contact the Department of Commerce, Travel and Tourism Division, and ask for the Agritourism Liaison.
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 This Month's Featured Destination:
Spearpoint RanchGood Research Results in Steady GrowthWhen Steve Wirth decided to offer pheasant hunting on his farm, the first thing he did was research what others were doing. He worked on a couple of farms that offered hunting. He talked with a lot of guides. And he studied a lot of magazine articles and websites until he figured he was ready. In the fall of 2001, Steve and Laura Wirth opened the Spearpoint Ranch for hunting. Steve bought the ranch in Barnard, Kansas in 1990, and named it after the brand his father had developed, the Bar Lazy V, which looks like a spearpoint. He married Laura in 1996. They have about 4,500 acres, and raise cattle, wheat, beans and milo. They did have a nice home on the property to live in—that is, until they decided to go into the hunting business.
“Oh yeah, that’s a promise I had to make to Laura,” Steve said. “That was part of the deal. But I think she’s real happy with the way things are working out.” The first year, they attracted about 20 hunters. Today, that has grown to more than 200 hunters each year. The ranch has about 1,560 acres in two controlled areas, and the rest of the ranch is used for native hunting.
“A lot of hunters still try to steer clear of the CSA hunting, in spite of its advantages,” Steve explained. “Many have had some pretty bad experiences on CSA’s. Sometimes there’s not enough game. Sometimes the birds are so tame they won’t lift off the ground. The worst stories are those where the guide has actually taken them off the licensed CSA property, and the poor hunters find themselves confronted by a game warden.”
Steve buys his birds from Larry Tonne, Special T Hunting, another hunting ranch in nearby Beloit, Kansas. (See the accompanying story in this month’s Kansas AgriTourism News-“Bred to be Wild.”) “I know these birds have native genetics, they’re healthy, and they’ve been raised in huge flight pens so they’ll definitely be strong flyers—good sport for our guests.” In addition to word of mouth, Steve is a member of the Kansas Sport Hunting Association, and has gotten several groups from their email notification service, called "Pay to Play.” He also advertises in a couple of magazines—“mostly to maintain a presence”—and he’ll attend sport shows in Kansas City and St. Louis this year. “Everything points to our website, and from there, they’ll usually call us,” he said. Steve said he got some great pointers from the Kansas Department of Commerce, who reviewed his website and offered ways to improve the site’s search engine rankings. “We did what they suggested, and that really made a difference.”
Those who like to hunt know that a great hunting experience actually involves much more than just hunting. The total experience is about the camaraderie, good dogs, great food, and the hunt itself. A somewhat unique feature of the Spearpoint Ranch is that they only accept one hunting party at a time. “Our guests tell us they appreciate this. There’s a more comfortable camaraderie when everyone in the lodge is in the same group. And I guess they don’t have as much worry about where they leave their stuff, what they say, and all that,” Steve said. “It’s worked out for us, because we get about 98% return visits, and the groups continue to grow. We also get spin-off groups when guests bring another group of friends back the following year.” The typical group is about 6 hunters, and they have some groups as large as 12.
Steve is usually the guide with his groups and handles the dogs, although on large groups he’ll bring in a second guide to assist him. The guides focus on handling the dogs and keeping the hunt safe, and do not carry guns themselves.
After a long day of hunting, the dinner is always a fantastic feast. Laura likes to see the folks enjoy their day, and brings to the table mountains of steaks or pork chops, baked potatoes, salad, vegetables, and homemade pies and desserts. “Pecan pie,” Steve says. “That’s what it’s all about!”
Learning and Growing “Keith told us what we needed to do, and showed us how to run the hunting business. He was a lot of help in telling us what we needed to do to the house to convert it to a good hunting lodge,” Steve said. “He also shared some of the mistakes he had made, and that helped me avoid doing the same.” The Wirth’s added some bedrooms and toilet facilities to the house, and converted the garage to a break room. The biggest mistake that Keith warned them about was trying to grow too fast. The Wirth’s learned to add one thing at a time and to grow with the business.
“At some point, I’d like to add a European hunting experience, just for the convenience of our guests,” he said. “If they are booked in on a really rainy weekend, the birds just won’t get up. Or if they do, they are flying pretty low and that can be dangerous. If I had a tower, we could keep the birds dry, and release them high so they’d be flying fast and hard as they crossed the fields.” For more information: Kansas AgriTourism News- http://www.kansasagritourism.news/newsltr/newsletter_home.htm |
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At that point, Steve and Laura decided to convert their home into a hunting lodge, and to move themselves and their two boys, Dalton and Garrett, into a used mobile home they bought and placed on the property. 
A home for themselves will come later.
CSA Hunting
This compares to the hunting season for native hunting, also regulated by the Kansas Wildlife and Parks, which permits hunting only from the 1st Saturday in November to January 31, with a bag limit of 4 birds. Out-of-state hunters can also purchase a CSA hunting permit for $17, as compared to the standard $72 non-resident permit for native hunting.
“To keep from getting burned, the hunters rely on word of mouth to find the legitimate CSA hunting experience,” he said. “At Spearpoint, I buy healthy birds with native genetics, and we really give the hunters the experience they are looking for.”
The Hunting Experience 
Steve is pretty proud of his dogs too. He has German Shorthairs and one English Pointer. “I like pointing dogs. The dogs see a bird and point it for the hunters. The hunters have time to get ready—including time to see where the other hunters are located. It’s safer for everyone,” he said. “Much better than having the dogs just flush up the birds and everyone start firing.”
The food, as expected, is just plain awesome. Laura, who is also a hunter, knows what the folks expect. They raise their own beef, so there are plenty of steaks and pot roasts. A typical day starts with blueberry pancakes, biscuits and gravy, or perhaps breakfast casseroles. Lunch will be hot, homemade soups or chili and hot sandwiches, such as French dips, meatballs, or cheeseburgers.
“I really enjoy meeting the people,” Laura said. “The people we meet are some of the nicest you’ll ever come across. I always feel like I’m cooking for family, and they really make me feel appreciated. We don’t meet hunters that don’t have a good appetite.”
They have a very small pro shop, with shirts and hats with their name on it, and they also sell shells and safety glasses. In the future, Steve plans to add more hunting wear and accessories. 