Rankin, TX 79755(Upton County)

Along High Lonesome Draw, the dip in elevation causes the plant community to change drastically from the surrounding landscape. Along the draw, grasses such as sideoats grama, silver bluestem and vine mesquite carpet the space between the mesquite trees.

Numerous shallow basins playa lakes are scattered throughout the ranch. In the basins, bermuda grass covers the ground. Around the rim as the elevation rises, perennial broomweed provides food and cover for the big coveys of scaled quail you'll find on the ranch.

On the southeast corner of the ranch, 912 acres of farmland are currently in milo production. The farmland has a pair of enter pivot irrigation systems which water about 125 acres each. Currently, the farm lease ranges from $12,000 to $36,000 annually based on the year's crop yield.

For cattle production, the area has a typical stocking rate of 75-100 acres per animal unit.

Wildlife

Besides huge coveys of scaled quail found all over the ranch, whitetail deer, coyotes, bobcats, javelinas, bobwhite quail, and an occasional mule deer roam across High Lonesome Ranch.

The ranch's potential for being a premier quail ranch is documented by renowned quail biologist, Dr. Dale Rollins of the Texas Cooperative Extension. "...having hunted the adjacent ranch immediately south I have been awestruck at the potential for blue quail hunting based on hunts during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons," explains Rollins. "I rate its High Lonesome Ranch potential for blue quail hunting as good to excellent. It would be interesting to see just how many blue quail this ranch would support with some supplemental feeding. We flushed five nice coveys of quail during mid-afternoon along the interface of the rangeland with the cropland along the southeast side of the property. This suggests that a feeding program might return nice dividends in quail."

Game cameras located on the property show whitetail bucks in the 140-inch range, and scouting the High Lonesome Draw reveals numerous fresh rubs and active scrapes in addition to well- traveled trails.

In years with ample rainfall, a few coveys of bobwhite quail find adequate habitat in the High Lonesome Draw.

Javelinas roam in the creosote bush flats, as well as predators like bobcats and coyotes. In addition, a small prairie dog town lies in one of the basins on the northwestern corner of the ranch.

Natural Resources

High Lonesome Ranch lies in a vast oil-production area. Accordingly, 58 oil-production units are scattered throughout the ranch, as well as two caliche pits which the oil companies mine for base rock. No mineral rights are conveyed with this property.

With the proliferation of wind energy in western Texas, the High Lonesome Ranch currently has a wind development contract in place, but no wind farms are currently under construction. Upon construction of a wind farm, half of the wind rights will be conveyed to the new owner.

No running or standing water in the form of stock ponds is on the ranch.

Structures/Fences/Improvements

The headquarters has a set of cattle working/shipping pens that are in great shape, as well as an old farm house that is in disheveled condition and a 16 x 28 bunkhouse that is in need of repair.

The perimeter fencing on the ranch is in good shape, but some of the cross fences are in need of repair. Cattle guards also span the ranch roads in numerous places.

With approximately 39 miles of ranch roads, the majority of the ranch is accessible by vehicle.

A Little Piece of History

In the northwest corner of the ranch, you'll see a couple of curious features on the aerial maps: a facsimile of a two-strip airplane runway, a target in the shape of crosshairs, and a rectangle. These features are World War II-era relics that served as mock targets for bomber trainees from the Midland Army Airfield.