By DENNIS HIGMAN
Valley People
Robert Hennefer, 58, is a third-generation Carey rancher, but unlike his grandparents and parents who managed to make a living off the land by having a little of everything—pigs, chickens, milk cows, hay and beef cattle—the key to Robert's longevity is diversification.
"These days you've either got to get bigger and specialize, or you've got to diversify," he says.
Hennefer's grandparents originally came from England and moved to Carey from Henefer, Utah, named for his family but for some reason, he notes, has only one "n". They homesteaded at Lava Lake and later bought 80 acres three miles south of Carey.
Hennefer, a plain spoken, direct man with seven children and eight grandchildren, owns 240 acres, including the original family farm passed on from his grandparents and parents. He still lives in a remodeled version of the house his grandparents built there.
"In the winter, my dad used to drive a sleigh into Carey to sell his milk, but obviously, those days are long gone. I still grow hay and barley and run some cows like my parents did, but the pack outfit I started in 1977 is what raised my family and put bread on the table. It still does."
Hennefer, a licensed outfitter, owns Little Wood River Outfitters, which offers extended hunting trips in the fall to the headwaters of the Little Wood River (Unit 49), which lies roughly between Carey and Mackay. In the summer, he conducts fishing expeditions to the same area with Silver Creek Outfitters in Ketchum. His outfitting business requires pack and riding animals, and at last count, Hennefer owned 50 to 60 mules and horses.
"We cater mostly to non-residents, and most of them come from the East Coast," he notes. "I go back there to the big hunting and fishing shows to generate business, and once people make a trip with us out here, we get a lot of repeat business. I'm biased, of course, but I think that's because this is not only a great place to hunt and fish, but one of the most beautiful places in the world to do it."
To bridge the gap between farming, hunting and fishing seasons, Robert drove Sun Valley sleighs from the lodge out to Trail Creek Cabin for dinner and back for 21 winters.
"Actually, that was a great job," he recalls. "We had six sleighs, and in the holiday seasons carried 250 to 300 people every night. They really had a good time—a lot of them said it was the highlight of their trip to Sun Valley."
He also furnished the sleighs and teams for the Warm Springs sleigh rides in the 1980s, which took people on tours on what was then the Warm Springs Golf Course.
Ironically, Hennefer, a graduate of Carey High School, started his career on the opposite side of the country in Washington, D.C., working for the FBI in its Fingerprint Divison for two years.
"A recruiter came to the high school—my dad had been killed in a farming accident—and I didn't get along with my stepfather," he says matter-of-factly. "I needed to get away. The job sounded interesting, so I took it."
But when his mother separated and considered selling the family farm, Hennefer came back to Carey to stay.
"It really wasn't a hard choice. My heart was always here, and I liked the way of life and the people. Still do."
In 1976, he married his wife, Terri, and they had seven children together.
Making a living as an outfitter in Idaho has never been easy. According to Hennefer, most hunters are older now so there are fewer of them, and elk tags were cut by one-third last year because, among other reasons, he adamantly asserts, of depredation by wolves.
But in November 2006, Hennefer was dealt the most devastating blow of his life when his wife, Terri, a nurse at Blaine Manor in Hailey, was paralyzed in an automobile accident and died of complications 10 months later in a Boise hospital.
"That's when you find out how important family is, a strong religious belief, and what it means to be part of a small community like Carey where people really care about you," he says emotionally. "We still had three kids at home. The others were married and off on their own, but everybody was there when we needed them the most—family, the Mormon Church, friends and neighbors."
When he's not running the outfitting business or working on the farm, Hennefer can be found cooking at various community events.
"July 8 is the Carey Community Barbeque. July 24 is our Pioneer Celebration, and the first week in August, we have the Blaine County Fair. Everybody's welcome to come and see a different part of Blaine County and I guarantee you the food will be great!"
