Instructors

LARRY KEYES Owner & Manager

Larry earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in outdoor education and exercise/health science. He has developed and conducted a wide variety of outdoor education programs for three universities, two colleges and several outdoor educational companies for over 40 years. He owned and operated Bear Tracker Outfitters, the Wilderness Medical & Survival Academy and now Bridger Institute, which conducts comprehensive programs on a wide variety of outdoor subjects. He has lectured at a number of Wilderness Medicine and Search & Rescue conferences around the country. Larry has used his expertise in horse packing, animal tracking, hunting, trapping, wilderness survival, and wilderness medicine to conduct outfitter/guides schools in several western states for the past 30 years.

JOEL STEVENSON Instructor

Joel was born and bred in the Pacific Northwest. His father grew up fly fishing in the Uintah Mountains of Utah and taught Joel the joy of stalking trout in the small streams on the flanks of Mount Hood. Joel chased salmon, steelhead and trout all around Oregon. During his college years in Utah Joel guided around the Wasatch Front and then managed a fishing resort in south central Utah for six years. Joel has called northwest Montana home for the last twenty years and keeps busy in the waters around Glacier Park. Joel is regularly on trips to southwest Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, B.C. and Alberta.

JOE HYDE Instructor

Joe has been packing with horses and mules in the Rocky Mountains for over 60 years. He has covered thousands of miles in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana’s wilderness areas. Few people have more experience in the backcountry than Joe. He was a professional farrier and has managed a thousand acre cattle ranches in Pinedale of Wyoming for over 20 years. Joe has always been an avid hunter and guide and has taken more elk out of the Rocky Mountains than anyone else that I know. While managing the ranch in Pinedale, Joe has had the opportunity of taking famous people from politicians to move stars on pack trips in the Wind River Mountains.

RON NAIL Instructor

Ron has been a avid bowhunter for over 40 years. To give something back to the sport he became certified as a bowhunter education instructor, by the Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks 20 years ago. Ron is an official measurer for the Pope & Young Club and a life member of the Montana Bowhunters Association. His areas of expertise are measuring big game, bowhunting, game calling and brain tanning (Native American way of tanning animal hides). Ron owns and operates Cottonwood Ridge Brain Tanning.

DJ LANE Instructor

DJ started his guiding and outfitting career in 1994 and has experience that spans over 20 years. He has been a guide/Outfitter in Idaho and a licensed guide in Montana.
His career has taken him into the Selway Wilderness, the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho and Montana's Bitterroot/Sapphire ranges and Bob Marshall Wilderness as a hunting guide, packer, wrangler and fly-fishing guide. As an avid bowhunter, he specializes in hunting and bugling Elk. He has had the opportunity and privilege of working with some of the legends in the industry including Smoke Elser, Steve Copenhaver and Steve Hawkins to mention a few. When not in the woods hunting or guiding, you may find him co-hosting on the Big Sky Outdoors TV show.

SHAUN SORENSEN Instructor

Shaun is a professional horse trainer and farrier. He trains performance horses from driving mules to riding draft horses. He trains riders from beginners to completive reiners. Shaun conducts horse assessments, assists with vet care and is involved with the Flathead county 4-H programs as leader and judge. Shaun owns and operates his own horse boarding facility in Columbia Falls, Montana.

SCOTT SMITH Instructor

Scott has been a professional taxidermist for over 40 years. He graduated from the American Institute of Taxidermy in 1979 and has made his living at taxidermy since that time. Scott is a master taxidermist and emphasizes that good mounts start at the time that the animal is harvested. Scott teaches the skills and techniques of trophy care and guides students with hands on experience to skin and cape animals in the field for professional mounts. Scott has spent much of his life teaching and practicing principals of wildlife conservation.

MATT REDDING Instructor

Matt is an avid fly fisherman, snowboarder, and enjoys the wild places of Montana and the Northern Rockies. He earned a B.S. in Parks and Recreation Management from Utah State University with an emphasis in Outdoor Education/Recreation. He worked in Glacier National Park in the backcountry department for eight years before starting a video production company. Since 2014, he has produced an outdoor TV show entitled Big Sky Outdoors that showcases fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities around the Inland Northwest.

GLEN GRAY Instructor

Glen Gray has a B.S. in forest management and is certified in silviculture and ecology through post-graduate work on his M.S. degree. He has 33 years of forest management experience with the Montana DNRC, 25 of which he served as the manager of the Swan River State Forest. In addition, Glen has guided whitetail and lion hunts for the last ten years in both Montana and Idaho and is considered one of the top houndsman in the state. Glens area of expertise includes: lion & bear hunting with dogs, wild edible plants & berries and woodsmanship.

IDOS GLACIER CHAPTER Instructors

Staff for our Wilderness Cooking Class are the founding members of the Glacier Chapter of the International Dutch Oven Society. Each of these individuals has vast experience cooking for outfitters, wilderness camps, hunting camps and wilderness guide schools. Their knowledge and experience create a rich learning environment for Wilderness Cook School students.

MONTANA FUR HARVESTERS Instructors

Staff for the Animal Trapping class are founding members of the Montana Fur Harvesters Association. These trappers have many years of experience trapping all furbearers in most Rocky Mountain states. Their vast experience with traps and snares and their knowledge of furbearers creates an ideal learning situation.