Our Team
Meet Our Team
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Read Jeremi Syron's Bio
Jeremi grew up along the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River just 25 miles east of the Flying B Ranch. As a native of the area, he has been guiding hunting and river rafting trips in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness since the late ’90s.
In addition to his field experience, Jeremi holds a B.S. in Environmental Field Biology and has spent several seasons as a biologist doing habitat work for the Nez Perce Tribe. Jeremi’s attitude reflects his work ethic and motivation in the field and has earned him the utmost respect among his peers.
Jeremi’s knowledge as an outdoor enthusiast and guide is unmatched. He’s almost as well-known for his sense of humor and upbeat personality. You can’t guarantee the weather, but you can plan on a lot of laughs when you venture out in the field with him.
Jeremi’s range of responsibilities at the ranch has expanded over the years. This has allowed him to build an in-depth understanding of all aspects of the operation from the paperwork to the groundwork. His dedication to the “B” shows in everything he does. We’re excited to have him at the helm—he’s a hands-on manager who works alongside our team whenever they need an extra set of hands. In addition to leading our crew, he is a primary big game guide, wingshooting guide, and fishing guide as well.
Jeremi and his wife are proud parents to two adventurous young daughters. Outside of work, they spend their days enjoying the outdoors both on land and on water. Their home upriver also houses an ever-expanding roster of animals including his 4 in home GSP's that you are likely to see him working in the field. He recently added a flushing Jagdterrier to his team as well as having one retired walker hound in his home. His daughters carried on his love of horses and mules and enjoy riding their horses at home. He enjoys hunting and fishing in his little free time in season, and always looks forward to Summer river trips, taking his family on extended day river adventures. Both daughters are very involved in sports and 4H, showing a variety of animals. Both girls have a passion for hunting, the youngest of which shot her first turkey. His oldest has harvested 2 whitetails, multiple turkeys, and got her first salmon and black bear this year.
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Read Michele Gilbert's Bio
“Who wouldn’t want to work here,” were her exact thoughts as she drove down Lawyer Creek Road for the first time. Michele joined the FBR in 2023 when she moved to Kamiah with her husband. She has a passion for customer service and attention to detail. Michele brings a wide range of experience to the lodge and hopes to continue the legacy of great customer service, memorable experiences and developing a dedicated Flying B Team. She is a huge fan of the “lodge” dogs!
Although she spent 20+ years in Arizona, Michele grew up not too far away in Pullman, Washington. She attended Washington State University and is a die-hard Coug. She proudly spends her free time coaching the local high school track and cross-country teams. She loves trail running and is always looking for her next big race. Michele is a proud mom and wife.
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Read Rich Coe's Bio
Rich has a well-earned reputation as one of the most skilled and knowledgeable fishing guides on the Clearwater River. He grew up in Boise and has been a hunting and fishing fanatic since childhood.
Rich began bird hunting at age 12. The following year, he began fly-fishing on the Boise River and on Silver Creek in the Sun Valley area.
Rich moved to Bozeman, Montana in 1992 to attend Montana State University. He started his career as a guide at age 20, guiding fly-fishermen on the Roaring Eagle River and other notable waters in Colorado. He guided for several years around the Bozeman area—specifically, the Yellowstone and Madison Rivers—before moving back to Idaho.
Rich joined the Flying B Ranch team in 1997 and has been a fishing and hunting guide on land and water ever since. In addition to guiding fishing trips, he has trained bird dogs and guided wingshooters for years. Our return guests often request him.
Rich lives along the Clearwater River outside of Kooskia with his daughter Madison and his team of bird dogs.
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Read Karen L. Syron's Bio
Karen grew up in Coeur d'Alene, in the Northern Idaho panhandle. Since childhood, she has always felt most at home in the outdoors.
After finishing high school, Karen studied journalism and wildlife biology at the University of Montana. She missed her Idaho home, though, and graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife Resources from the University of Idaho.
During her college years, Karen went somewhere new every summer. She worked in a variety of field research jobs for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game as well as the National Park Service.
Karen’s love of the outdoors and serving others brought her to the Flying B Ranch in 2006. She began managing our lodge and guest services in 2007 and continued doing so until she started a family in 2012. Over the years she has worked in nearly every area of the ranch including working in the backcountry and in HR and bookkeeping. She now works from home as our Marketing Manager, and helps out wherever she is needed. You may see her at a convention, driving a shuttle, or helping in the office. An avid hunter herself, Karen has been very actively involved with jump starting our Annual Ladies of Upland hunts and all efforts to welcome women into both big game and bird hunting. She was recently featured on the Orvis Hunting and Fishing Podcast with Reid Bryant, and in the 40th Anniversary Fall issue of Sporting Classics in a wingshooting photo essay at FBR by Ron Spomer, and highlighted by Orvis as a female professional in the hunting outfitting industry for International Women's Day 2023.
Karen feels very blessed to call the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River her home. She spends her time with her family doing everything that being a mother entails such as helping in her daughters' classrooms, being a 4H leader, and a volunteer coach for the girls' youth basketball and softball teams. She is an avid rifle and bow hunter as well as enjoying fishing, rafting, and gardening. Karen also received her Idaho EMS license in 2022 and is a volunteer for the Lowell QRU Ambulance. This rural, non-profit volunteer ambulance unit is the rural EMS service for all of our hunting areas up the Lochsa and Selway Rivers.
Karen and her family enjoy living on their farm, which is home to 4 working GSP's, a Jagdterrier, and one old retired Walker hound. Her girls enjoy riding their horses, as well as raising goats, pigs, and rabbits. Karen is an AKC registered breeder for German Shorthaired Pointers and has whelped 2 litters at home. If you wingshoot with us, you are likely to hunt with one of the puppies she whelped: Fin, Fannie, Sugar, & DD. Karen now enjoys watching her own daughters as they grow in the outdoors, taking to hunting and fishing themselves, harvesting whitetails, bear, turkey, salmon, and steelhead of their own.
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Read Michele Bovey's Bio
Michele has been a part of the Flying B team since 2005. She brings to our team the extensive knowledge that comes from her B.S. in Wildlife Resources and the dedication that comes from being a hard-working farmer’s daughter. Her background and her passion for wildlife and conservation make her a valuable member of our staff.
Currently, Michele wears a lot of hats at the ranch. In most recent years she supervised our dog kennels and bird processing operations. She has now transitioned into being our Farm Manager, a location she began working at over a decade ago. Michele grew up the daughter of working farmers and is a natural fit for running our farming operations. On top of that, she drives one of our shuttles (she might just be the smiling employee who picks you up) and occasionally fills in at our lodge answering questions.
Michele and her husband Levi have two beautiful daughters named Laney and Sophie and make their home up on the Camas Prairie.
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Read Ryan Nelson's Bio
Our Head Chef Ryan Nelson was born and raised in the small Southeastern Idaho town of Soda Springs. Growing up, his aspirations of becoming a golf pro brought him to Boise, where he could learn the game and played more.
During his time in Boise, he realized that he loved fly-fishing more than golf. He’d fished many streams throughout Idaho and eventually resolved to make his home as close to the Clearwater River as possible. His passion for chasing those “B-Run” steelhead 6-7 months of the year became a reality when he joined the Flying B team.
Ryan has been in the restaurant business since the age of 16. He has worked with a variety of talented chefs over the years and learned a plethora of recipes that exceed our guests’ expectations. He prepares specialty wild game cuisine, including many amazing meals with upland birds. He often gets requests for our backcountry camps. Ryan also likes wine and always has the perfect bottle selected for the evening dinner.
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Read Todd Showalter's Bio
Todd was born in Seattle but moved to Alaska as a young child. He grew up in love with the outdoors and actively involved in Boy Scouts. His family introduced him to outdoor adventure by taking him to Nome, AK to watch the end of the Iditarod and even camping in -30 degrees above the arctic circle.
Over the years he spent a Summer working on a fishing boat in Bristol Bay and regularly fished the famous Kenai River, even clam digging in Ninilchik. During these same years he began working in restaurants and taking cooking classes in high school. In 1999 Todd moved to Seattle to attend culinary school at the Art Institute of Seattle. He then began cooking professionally at Seattle Pacific University, eventually becoming their Executive Chef. It was in Seattle that he met his wife Nora. They moved to Boise, Idaho where he went to work for HP. From there he and his wife moved to the Clearwater Valley and he found the Flying B Ranch.
He and his beautiful wife now have two little boys and have found a home here in Kamiah. They enjoy gardening at home and getting out as a family to explore the mountains and rivers in the area.
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Read Cedar Fisher's Bio
Cedar Fisher just completed his first season as a wingshooting guide for us and his abilities and strong work ethic earned him a full time spot on our team. He prides himself on exceptional dog work and we look forward to having him on board to help with dog training and general ranch work in the off season as well.
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Read Ian Privette's Bio
Ian has been a valuable addition to the Flying B Ranch team thanks to his passion for working dogs, swinging flies and guiding guests towards plentiful birds and hefty fish.
Ian grew up in Springfield, IL. However, some of his most memorable early hunting experiences took place in North Carolina, where he hunted quail with his father and uncle. After receiving a master’s degree in guitar jazz performance from Southern Illinois University in 2008, he decided to venture out west and become a guide.
Ian began his Orvis-endorsed guide career in Montana, where he fished for native west slope cutthroat and bull trout on the South Fork of the Flathead River. During this time, he spent his winters in North Carolina’s low country, where he guided upland quail hunters at Wintergreen Hunting Preserve and chased red fish on the tidal flats. In 2013, he decided to brave his first western winter and started guiding for Flying B Ranch.
Ian is now overseeing the dog kennels and bird processing operations as well as the grounds keeping around the property. He remains one of our full time employes, guiding guests both on wingshooting and fishing adventures. Ian spends much of his time writing about and photographing his hunting and fishing experiences. His writing and photography has been featured by Wildlife in North Carolina Magazine, Montana Outdoors and Montana Fly Fishing Magazine. You can find these and other works (including many original recipes for wild game) on his blog: www.migrantwaters.blogspot.com.
Ian’s other hobbies include obsessive shed horn hunting, tying flies, stocking his freezer with wild game and chasing carp wherever he can find them. He and his wife Janna live in Kamiah with their two Brittanys: hunting dog Gus and petting dog Max, as well as a pair of young GSP's Rio and Rigby.
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Read Chad Weber's Bio
Chad has been a full time and seasonal part of our team since he came to us nearly a decade ago. His strong work ethic, his passion for taking kids hunting and his strong dog training skills make him a versatile guide.
Chad grew up in central Kansas. Following in his father’s footsteps as an avid outdoorsman, he started hunting and fishing when he was a boy. Even from a young age, he knew that he’d make his passion for the outdoors his livelihood someday.
Chasing pheasants, quail, deer, turkey and waterfowl is a passion and welcome challenge for Chad. He has guided for a diverse range of upland bird and big game species, working for numerous outfitters in Kansas, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Although he loves to hunt birds and big game, Chad feels that guiding someone and creating life-long memories are even more enjoyable. His hunting team includes several GSP's that he has personally trained. Guests often tell us that Chad is one of the best guides they have ever hunted with. He is extremely easy going and personable; someone that makes fast friends. Guests more than once have described him as a "mountain goat" after chasing chuckars around the canyon with him. Chad and his son Talon enjoy camping, fishing, hunting, and riding ATV's.
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Read BJ Walle's Bio
B.J. moved West in June of 97 at the urging of his parents: "go west young man!" He went to be a whitewater river guide on the mighty Salmon River for a summer. The peace found in the steep canyon walls led him on a decade long career of leading family-based 5-7 day wilderness adventures on the Salmon and Snake rivers.
He filled his winter months visiting family and friends in central Kansas. There, he worked for various outfitters, guiding for pheasant, quail, ducks, geese, turkey, and deer. But, the melting of the snow would find him returning to Idaho.
He found his way to the "B" in the fall of 2003 to work in the Wingshooting department. The diversity of the shooting experience has kept him here since. From the seasoned shooter to the novice, he is constantly seeking to see the experience through their eyes, and to continually improve that experience. Customers enjoy watching the videos that he takes of them in the field over a cocktail later that evening at the bar. BJ is one of our lead instructors for our Orvis Endorsed Flying B Ranch Wingshooting Guide School and has decades of experience to share.
When he is not following bird dogs, B.J. makes his home with his three sons just minutes from the entrance of the "B.". He enjoys teaching them life lessons while raising bird dogs, chickens and their ever-increasing herd of cattle. As they mature, he is gearing up for the busy job of chasing them and their growing list of pursuits.
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Read Andrew Sealy's Bio
The Flying B team is excited about the addition of Andrew Sealy to our management team. Coming from Newnan, Georgia, he is the only guide on staff sporting a homegrown Southern drawl which makes his voice a stand out among the evening retelling of the day’s hunts in our FBR lounge. Andrew is a full time guide for all big game hunting activities the Flying B has to offer. Although just in his 20’s, Andrew already has nearly two decades of big game hunting experience.
Growing up in Georgia, Andrew’s father is the one that introduced him to what has become his biggest passion. He began deer hunting with his father, older brother, and older sister, and took his first deer at a ripe age of 7 years old. Although he is the professional guide now, he admits that his sister was the best rifle shooter in the family, and it’s that kind of honesty that landed him a spot on our team.
Before settling into the hunter’s dream of North Central Idaho, Andrew first attended the Royal Tine Guide and Packer School in May of 2020 when he knew that he wanted to be a professional hunting guide. Upon completion of that course, he immediately went to work in North Central Colorado guiding elk and moose hunts in the Routt National Forest. Wanting to expand his guiding expertise beyond just big game, he signed up for our Orvis Flying B Ranch Wingshooting Guide School in 2021 and that is how we came to know him. Being completely green to Wingshooting at the time, Andrew learned a lot that week. He was not the most experienced Wingshooting guide to attend the course, but his genuine desire to learn and improve in every opportunity of every day was impressive to our managers who hunted with him. His integrity and work ethic is what kept his name on our minds.
Andrew returned to guiding turkey and whitetail hunts in Northeast Nebraska before reconnecting with us in 2022 when we put out a post looking for a big game guide. He came to us in June and caught the tail end of black bear season before spending the majority of the Summer in the backcountry packing our backcountry cutthroat trout camp. His experience guiding in the mountains and his ability to pack stock in camp as well as guiding hunters, helped him to quickly adapt to our big game operations. His first archery elk guide season with us he got to pack a bull out of camp and has since continued to expand his knowledge into guiding mountain lion hunts and the occasional Wingshooting guests as well. Andrew’s positive energy and eagerness to step in and help anywhere he is needed has already made him a versatile and valuable part of our team and we look forward to working with him for many years to come. Guests find that he is one of the most good-hearted people you will ever meet, and his sense of humor makes even the worst weather days enjoyable when you’re in the mountains. When an experience like big game hunting relies on a guide’s commitment to doing the really hard work, there is nobody else you would rather have out there than Andrew. He gives his best efforts every day into meeting the unique interests and goals of his hunters and exceeds in providing unforgettable hunt experiences for all of his guests, no matter the adventure.
Although Andrew is exceedingly hard working and often working behind the scenes at FBR when not guiding, he does enjoy his days off in this region of Idaho which is a big game hunter’s paradise. He is an avid turkey hunter who has landed in an area bustling with Merriam turkeys. You may also find Andrew on the golf course or cheering on his Georgia Bulldogs, as he is an avid college football fan as well.