Note to Editors: This column is adapted from the Kansas Profile radio series. Every Wednesday, a different Kansan, Kansas community or Kansas-based company is profiled as a regular feature of the K-State Research and Extension News lineup. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm.

By Ron Wilson, director, Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

Let’s go huntin.’ Here’s a checklist of the things we need. A good huntin’ dog: Check.  Some pheasants to shoot at: Check. A good place to get a hearty meal: Check and check. Today in Kansas Profile, we’ll meet a young man who is involved with not one, not two, but all three of these elements that make up hunting enterprises.

Meet Jess Cupp, a young man in rural Kansas who is involved with all these aspects of hunting. Jess’ parents are Jay and Debbie Cupp. Jay has worked in the mining industry all over the western U.S. Jess grew up in Colorado and Wyoming where he did a lot of hunting. He and his dad would visit family in Iowa and go bird hunting.

After graduation, Jess entered the business world in Texas. There he met and married his wife Denee, who is originally from southern California. In 2001, his folks Jay and Debbie bought a place near Ness City, Kansas where they began raising pheasants as game birds for sale to hunting preserves. Using their initials, they named their enterprise J & D Game Birds. Jess came home to help whenever he could.

Jess says, “When I got out here, I realized I really enjoyed being in the country. We felt this would be the best place to raise our kids, so a year ago we moved here.” He and Denee now have two children, ages 4 and 7. Before making this move, the smallest city where Denee had lived was Fort Worth, Texas, so it was a significant change.

Jess also produces purebred German Shorthair pointers which he starts as hunting dogs.  Since he and Denee have the same initials as his parents, they call this business J & D Game Dogs. Many dogs are sold locally, but he has also shipped dogs as far away as Florida and Massachusetts.

In 2007, Jess and Denee had the opportunity to buy a small restaurant in Ness City. They purchased the restaurant on the day after Christmas, remodeled it, and reopened it on Valentine’s Day 2008. The place is named Good Eats – not exactly an imaginative name for a restaurant.

Jess says, “We just want people to enjoy our good food.”

I thought the food was terrific. Jess also operates a catering business, which served nearly 600 people at the Ness County Fair last year.

So now he is involved with several dimensions of the hunting industry. He helps his parents who raise nearly 20,000 pheasants every year, sells quality hunting dogs, and operates the Good Eats restaurant in Ness City.

Their restaurant’s building, by the way, is located next door to a skyscraper. No, not one of those skyscrapers like in downtown Fort Worth. It is next to a historic stone building known as the Skyscraper of the Plains.

The Skyscraper of the Plains is a beautiful four story bank building that was constructed in the 1890s. Originally the Ness County Bank, it was a finalist for the eight wonders of Kansas architecture, due to its classic construction and ornate stone work. The building is an absolute work of art.

Today, the Skyscraper of the Plains houses a business known as the Prairie Mercantile and is used for special events and meetings. Jess says, “It is really handy for our catering business, because the building is right next door.” All this is a great fit with this rural region.

Jess says, “I was raised in the country, and when my folks came here, I fell in love with it.” Their restaurant is in the town of Ness City, population 1,485 people, but they actually live out in the country near the town of Bazine, population 298. Now, that’s rural.

Let’s go huntin.’ Thanks to Jess and Denee and Jay and Debbie Cupp, we can find good huntin’ dogs, birds to shoot, and a good place to get a hearty meal. We commend them for making a difference with their entrepreneurship and initiative. But in a larger sense, Jess and Denee were hunting for something else: A great place to raise their children.

On that score, rural Kansas is right on target.

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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by: Ron Wilson
rwilson@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research & Extension News

The Huck Boyd Institute is at 785-532-7690 or rwilson@ksu.edu.