PIERCETON — Jeffrey Miller may be an IT geek, but when he’s not at work, he’s an outdoorsman.

Miller is senior network engineer for CTB Inc., Milford, and has spent 19 years with information technology systems. He spends a lot of his time with computers. But when he leaves the office, his attention is drawn outdoors.

He purchased 3.5 acres of property in the Pierceton area as it contained a big old bank barn. “I always wanted horses,” he said and the huge barn fit that need. “When I was younger I wanted to be a horse trainer,” he said and he has enjoyed trail riding and getting out in the woods. The family even used to go camping and take the horses along and ride trails.

But now he is having less of a desire for the horses, even though his 11-year-old daughter rides and is involved in 4-H Horse and Pony Club. They still have two horses, a pony and a filly, born in July.

Yet his desire to be outdoors hasn’t dwindled. “I like outdoor activities. I spend more time outdoors than indoors.” Miller said he and his wife, Pamela, love to go motorcycle riding and often take weekends to go riding.

“My absolute main passion is snowmobiling. Winter is my favorite time of the year — as long as there’s snow,” Miller said. He owns a couple of snowmobiles and along with a neighbor spends most winter weekends snowmobiling in Michigan. He even has snowmobiled in Idaho where his brother-in-law is a trail groomer. Going four-wheeling is another enjoyment.

A new outdoor interest is on the horizon. He will be going with a fellow co-worker in the near future to go salmon fly fishing in Michigan. “I’m really interested in doing it,” he said.

So when he’s not four-wheeling, snowmobiling, and soon adding salmon fly fishing, he’s mowing the yard, fixing fences, cleaning the barn, gardening and even landscaping.

But the biggest part of his time is keeping up with his 11-year-old daughter.

Miller grew up in Etna Green but spent a lot of time in Nappanee. He spent six years in Idaho before returning to the area known as Community Center and even living in Bourbon for a time. He graduated from Triton High School.

While you would think being an IT engineer he went to college straight out of high school. That wasn’t the case for Miller. He wasn’t sure what career path he wanted, so he went into the workforce. He worked in a variety of factories. Then it was construction.

One day he heard an advertisement to learn about Microsoft training. So he took the training and went back to school to become a certified Microsoft engineer. Slowly he broke into the IT world.

Eventually he took part in a Microsoft Certified Training Track, a Microsoft specific training course, where he received his certification. The rest of his training came from “on the job experience, self study, and while I was at Zimmer, I took college courses. I almost have an associate degree.

“My first position was a Notre Dame application tester,” Miller said. From there he held IT positions in at four different companies. He recently found himself at CTB.

It should be noted his wife works in Notre Dame’s Office of Information Technology.