The 12,000± acres offer a true cattleman and sportsman’s paradise with turnkey cattle and hunting operations
Story from Icon Global
Available for the first time in over a century, the historic Flying M Ranch is situated on 12,000± acres two hours northwest of DFW near Archer City, TX. This highly improved short grass prairie country is home to a premier income producing working cattle and sporting ranch. The property is a cattleman and sportsman’s paradise with turnkey cattle and hunting operations.
The blend of open, native pastureland and multiple water options provide an abundance of good grassland making it perfect for grazing, recreational activities, and peaceful tranquility. The main lodge overlooks a 20-acre well stocked lake and offers luxurious accommodations including 6 bedrooms and a full commercial kitchen.
The entire perimeter of the ranch is fenced and the interior is cross fenced in to multiple pastures with lanes which allows for the ease of cattle movement from all pastures of the ranch to the headquarters if so desired. This unique property was updated and managed with an extreme attention to detail and is truly a ranch for all seasons.
Location:
The Flying M Ranch is located in Archer County, 2 hours from the DFW metroplex, 40 minutes from Wichita Falls and 2 hours from Abilene. The main entrance is on Sam Cowan Road, 5 miles south of Archer City, TX but the expansive ranch also has frontage on Andrews Road, Calvin Road, and Prideaux Road.
Archer City, TX
Many know of Archer City because it is the hometown of Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award winning author, Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove). Movies based on his novels, The Last Picture Show and Texasville, were filmed on the streets of Archer City.
History:
The Flying M Ranch, formally known as the Sam Cowan Ranch and the McKinney Ranch, was originally established in 1902 by Sam Cowan Sr., an early Archer County settler and cattleman. The ranch has been passed down through five generations of family. In 2003, The McKinney Cattle Company was recognized by the Texas Family Land Heritage program that honors families who have owned and operated a continuous agricultural operation for 100 years or more.
Revenue Sources:
Wind: 44 turbines, recently re-powered with new blades and upgraded turbines, are currently leased to EDF. Wind rights will convey with the ranch and provides an immediate steady income stream to the next owner of this legacy ranch.
Hunting: The Flying M ranch offers extensive hunting revenue possibilities. Outfitters in this region stay busy hunting the impressive number of trophy deer, quail, duck, turkey, and hogs that roam this ranch. Taking advantage of the well-appointed lodging offers the new owner the opportunity to continue the history of successful corporate and guided hunts with this turnkey hunting operation. The Flying M is designated as an “Anchor” ranch by the Texas Tech Quail-Tech Alliance.
Cattle Operation: The Flying M Ranch and cowboys are BQA certified and are dedicated to raising the best high-quality commercial Angus feeder and breeder cattle. The base herd, approximately 900+ head, is angus bred cattle with known registered herd genetics from Schaff Angus Valley, Pullen, and Gardiner ranches as well as Flying M Ranch raised Fancy Heifers. The average cow age is about 5-7 years. Calving cycle is Sept-Nov. to take advantage of fall feeder markets. Spring round up is in March and summer weaning in early June. The ranch has a reputation herd that is marketed to repeat buyers through Superior Livestock Auctions and Integrity Beef. The Flying M bull battery meets or beats the production EPD’s in the top 20% of their breed, and Flying M cattle routinely score USDA Choice and Prime quality grades. The Flying M follows a long standing health program and medical protocol that is compliant with the Integrity Beef Alliance and VAC 45 standards. The herd is Bangs, BVD and PI negative.
Recognition & Accolades
2018 Fort Worth Stock Show –3rd Place Heifer Contest
2018 Fort Worth Stock Show – 1st Place Herdsman Award to foreman
2019 San Antonio & Houston Stock Show Carcass Contest – 16 17 steers graded USDA Choice
2 and 1 steer graded USDA Prime.
Pasture & Habitat Management
This native grass ranch has been managed under the advisory of the Nobel Institute, Allan Savory, and Dr. Ron Sosebee, Texas Tech Rangeland Sciences.
The primary grasses are native Bluestem, Buffalo grass, Blue Grama, Sideoats Grama, and other prairie grasses. There are 300 acres around the headquarters that are devoted to Jiggs Bermudagrass for hay production and cattle backgrounding.
The owners have restored this country back into extremely productive grass and forbs country for the benefit of cattle and wildlife. Forage resources are in excellent condition on the ranch . Flying M has conducted multiple projects on an annual basis to enhance range and wildlife conditions. An extensive weed spraying program combined with prescribed burns, were conducted annually from 2009-2019 to improve grass production for cattle and forbs production for wildlife.
Multiple prescribed burns totaling over 20,000 acres were conducted under professional supervision. Large scale weed spraying covered over 19,000 acres. Wildlife friendly spray plans were designed and implemented to protect areas important to deer, quail, and turkeys. This vegetation and grass management protocol has resulted in a very productive balance for cattle and wildlife while increasing grass productivity.
Wildlife and Hunting:
This ranch is loaded with game, and the diversity of the terrain and pastures offers paramount hunting opportunities. Strategically situated around the ranch are twenty 2-3-person custom hunting blinds, all insulated with thermo pane windows. There are 15 solar powered, 1 ton, Outback Wildlife feeders, automatic quail feeders, and several sanctuary feed plots implemented and located for optimal wildlife management. You can deer hunt in mesquite flats or rattle up bucks in the hardwood draws in the morning, and then run bird dogs in the afternoon. The Flying M Ranch is a true sportsman’s paradise.
Water
Owners have spent several years and close to a million dollars cleaning up the lakes and building new tanks on Flying M Ranch. With 95 tanks consisting of 123 surface acres of water on the ranch, every single pasture is heavily watered with deep reliable water and six pastures have freeze proof Ritchie Cattle Waterers as well as six more at Headquarters pens. Both Onion Creek and the West Fork of the Trinity River flow through the ranch and there are numerous other creek bottoms lined with hardwoods that exist on the ranch.
Headquarters Lodge
Flying M is set up and ready for families, companies, hunters and even and their dogs. Custom designed and built by the owners in 2014, the main Headquarters Lodge was constructed out of Texas Red Cedar by Steve Ostrander that was hand milled on site. The cabinetry and furnishings were done by Dwayne Broussard Woodwork & Designs out of Patterson, LA. The cabinets and the main dining room table were constructed out of Pecan trees that were harvested in Louisiana and brought to Texas after hurricane Katrina.
The headquarters lodge has 6 bedrooms and sleeps 14-16 comfortably with 3 baths. It features a professionally designed commercial kitchen complete with a 48-inch range, all stainless appliances, an indoor Green Egg grill and multiple refrigerators. This kitchen is set up to cook for large groups of guests, hunters, or cowboys. The lodge boasts sweeping full length screened porches facing south and east, a wooden staircase that was modeled after an old-fashioned railroad loading chute, as well as an upstairs lounge, game room, and an upper sitting porch which offers exceptional views and covered cocktail locations. Attached to the lodge is a well-appointed ranch office and shop with plenty of storage, a full-size freezer, and gun safe.
Additional Improvements:
Additional improvements on the ranch include numerous miles of new fencing and upgraded roads, two livestock handling systems, cattle corrals and pens designed by Dr. Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin is a well-known and renowned designer of humane and efficient livestock handling facilities and was named in Time Magazine’s top 100 list of the most influential people in the world in 2010. Dr Grandin’s livestock handling systems on the Flying M Ranch were designed to make handling cattle more efficient and to help reduce stress and injuries to cattle and the cowboys.
There is also an 8,000 square foot (525 ton capacity) hay barn, plus a fenced stack lot, 25 ton overhead feed silos that is epoxy coated inside, six 25’ x 100’ pasture cattle shade canopies, a deer cleaning facility with walk in cooler, underground storm shelters, a 300 yard shooting range and skeet throwing facility, and multiple garages all designed with the highest attention to detail. Across from the cattle pens is a snake proof dog kennel, runs and yard. The dog kennel features an indoor whelping/storage room with heat and AC and is fully integrated with Lamco dog feeders (electric and on timers) a 3,000-gallon water cistern and a septic system.
Other Improvements/Equipment to Convey:
Contact broker for complete list. Highlights include:
- Excellent all-weather access roads
- All fencing is all American steel with high quality Sheffield heavy gauge wire.
- 20 (2-3 person) hunting blinds, insulated with thermos pane windows
- 15 Outback Wildlife feeders
- RV parking area for 5 hook-ups. Complete with water, septic and 30 AMP electric service
- RV area pavilion, covered dining and fire pit area
- 6, 25’ x 100’ cattle pasture shade canopies
- 40-50 mineral feeders with fly mops
- 14 – 8 ton mobile creep feeders
- 2014 1 ton Dodge w/ 1 ton trip hopper
- 2008 ½ ton Toyota TRD w/Outback blower feeder
- 1957 Farmall model 350 tractor
- 12 passenger parade wagon
- 1991 GMC Suburban (high racked safari wagon)
- 2017 John Deere 6135E Cab tractor w/loader, 3-tine bale spear and fixed pallet fork
- 8 x 30 Gooseneck flatbed- tandem dual (Snyder) w/electric jack
- 24’ Gooseneck Easley stock trailer- tandem
- 6 x 22 cattle panel single axle trailer
- Big Joe forklift M-22
- Truax 12’ no-till drill OTG7518
- Kilabrew 10-15 lb capacity grain cart
- Meridian bulk seed tender w/motorized Auger – 180 bushel capacity (Honda engine)
- Land Pride Aerator 25 series 10‘ AR2510
- Land Pride 10’ heavy duty mower
- H & S 10-wheel rake CR10
- 2009 Hesston Mower conditioner AB3315
- 2015 John Deere baler 0569E
- Kabota 2-door RTV, w/ AC and electric lift in bed
To see the IG Digital Brochure click here: https://issuu.com/icon66/docs/ig_brochure_2019_-_issuu?fr=sMzRiOTMzMjkw
For more information on the Flying M Ranch or to contact a broker, visit http://www.icon.global/
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