3,610 Acres in Ekalaka, MT - $2,750,000

This ranch is not only incredibly beautiful loaded with wildlife but it has the production and care most ranch buyers dream of. It stands on some of the best dirt, grass quality and management base I have witnessed in years. After one sees the care and attention to details that matter, I am confident they will become emotionally charged over this ranch. Feel free to call me to talk more about this ranch.

Chris Jeffrey

406-697-3526

Features

Incredibly beautiful, loaded with wildlife, excellent production and land stewardship.

Improvements include a 2007 Log Home with garage and deck, barn with stalls, hay barn, corral and round pen.

For the first time in over a 100 years this ranch is being offered to the public.

The ranch is ideally located right up against the Chalk Buttes themselves and borders thousands of acres of Custer National Forest, offering an optimum combination of recreational and production value.

Excellent soils, grass quality and management.

Water comes from reservoirs, wells, and pipelines for strategic watering areas.

This land has become a wildlife corridor due to being posted no hunting since the 1980s.

Significant geographical features include Chalk Buttes and views of Finger Buttes etc can be seen in the distance. Nearby Hells Creek with Paleolithic bones from prehistoric species which form the entrance exhibit to the Smithsonian in Washington DC .

SELLER WILL CONSIDER OWNER FINANCING.

With the purchase of the ranch an additional cabin and 318 acres are available,

Production

Currently used for grazing and ranching with no crops in production. Its been 40-50 years since crops have been grown on this ranch. Grass hay is sometimes put up for winter.

Acreage Breakdown

1,550 Deeded (1,868 total minus 318 offered separately)

1,759 BLM

301 Forest Service Permit #30076

3,610 TOTAL

Broker Note: We are utilizing acreages from an appraisal, Montana Cadastral, County GIS and FSA. As is common, a discrepancy may exist concerning the exact acreages amounts for the subject property among the various public records researched.

Lease Notes

Buffalo Allotment #10651, 201 AUMs

Collins Allotment #670, 217 AUMs

Marshall Allotment #10377, 10 AUMs

U.S. Forest Service Grazing Permit, Kortum Allotment, Permit #30076, 33 Head

Improvements

2007 Log Home, 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, office, 3,000 Square Feet, large deck (816 SF) and garage (896 SF), forced air heat (propane)

1929 Old Style Home, 1 Bedroom, 1 Bath, 572 Square Feet, Gas Heat, Concrete Foundation, Metal Roof, Stucco Exterior Wall Finish

2007 20 x 28, concrete pad (for garage and garage entry)

Barn with large stalls

Hay barn

Corrals with water tank feeding 2 pastures and corral.

Heated water tank feeding hill pasture and barn corral

Barn and corrals at main house

Roundpen

Iconic windmill near stockage with gathering corrals and chutes for branding and gathering cattle to ship on and off property located close to Chalk Buttes Road.

Topography

Terrain consists of a variety of rolling plains grazing with Buffalo creek on the Carey Ranch BLM allotment and reservoirs and extensive pipelines to water tanks strategically placed throughout the grazing property. Also there is forest grazing up into beautiful valleys next to the Chalk Buttes, one of the best kept secrets in Montana for history and beauty. Trenk Pass has a famous robbers roost cabin and Wild Turkeys abound in this region.

Water

Livestock water is provided from three wells. Each well has its own livestock water pipeline system. There is one well in Section 32 in the NESESW that provides water to the building improvements and one livestock tank. Another well in Section 5 in the SESWNW provides water to 4 livestock tanks that run in a southwesterly direction to near the center of Section 8. The other well is located in Section 33 in the SENWNW, it provides water to 6 livestock tanks, this runs southwest to the first tank then in a southwesterly direction to the remaining 5 tanks (see livestock pipeline map). There are 2 larger reservoirs that usually hold water and 3 small dams that have some limited water in wetter years. There are seven known water rights associated with the property based on the DNRC water right query system. These are water rights numbered 39E 30151452, 39E 30151448, 39E 30151452, 39E 173480, 39E 173482, 39E 173482, 39E 173483, 39E 173484. All of the claims indicate a stock use purpose, some of the rights are from wells, with the others mainly being dams.

Fences

Mix of 3 to 5 strand barbed wire, with most of the fences being 4 strand. Fences are mainly on steel posts with some portions being a combination of wood and steel. Overall, the fences are in high fair to average condition.

Owner Notes

A high end property with significant improvements situated in an area of ranching (grasslands/grazing) with recreational (hunting, hiking, riding and conservation) appeal. The land has been preserved by the Marshall Family for almost 40 years making it a conservationist or hunters dream property.

Log house built from local logs, furnished with many handmade wood items including large spectacular dining room table and matching hand made chairs. 2 car garage.

Deck perfect for grilling with a view! Many a friend and family gathering including anniversaries have been enjoyed on this deck especially on 4th of July.

Horseback riding: daughter was an avid endurance rider, there are several endurance rides located from 90 to 150 miles from the ranch and the Chalk Buttes and extensive pastures are a perfect place to train and enjoy natural beauty of the Buttes while you ride. For over 50 years, most cattle gathering was done exclusively by horseback. Careful attention was paid to driving only near fences and preserving the land for grazing. Owners never used ATVs for gathering.

Walking from the log house down to the shop and barns to begin your day you are taken aback with the view of the Chalk Buttes and the different faces it displays in changing light of the rising and setting sun.

The scenic beauty seen from far out in the ranch looking back at the buttes, or from the main log house deck and windows and from the top of the buttes never releases you from its spell. The far-off mountain range includes the finger mountain range, etc. that often waver and change as the air cools and heats offering very odd mirages making it hard to know when it shows you the real mountain range.

Water resources have been strategically developed to enable grazing in the drought years, yet careful practice of not over-grazing has been in place to preserve the high protein natural grasses. Steers gain weight and cows have abundant milk to raise their calves in this well preserved grazing land.

Water comes from reservoirs, wells, and pipelines to strategic water troughs far out into the prairie

There is an established homesite with a log home featuring beautiful views of the buttes and prairie and far off mountain ranges.

The ranch Borders Custer National Forest on the whole north side . On the south side, there is the prairie grazing land with expansive views.

Exceptional production and wildlife viewing for hunting and conservation.

Significant geographical features include Chalk Buttes and views of Finger Buttes etc can be seen in the distance. Nearby Hells Creek with Paleolithic bones from prehistoric species which form the entrance exhibit to the Smithsonian in Washington DC . The local museum in Ekalaka boasts many dinosaur bones and exhibits and hosts the famous Dino-Shindig each July featuring famous paleontologist lecturers and even a local dinosaur dig that kids and adults can participate in.

Nearby Bison ranch owned by author Mary Stang and her husband Doug.

Zoning and Mineral Rights

There are no zoning ordinances in this area. The property is classified as agricultural land.

There is no mineral report for this property and owner will be conveying all gas, oil and mineral rights that they own, with no representation or warranting by owner or owners broker as to what the owner owns.

Taxes

Approximately $1,460/year

History

Fighting Butte is the butte to the north of Chalk Buttes and in the valley between Fighting Butte and its side butte, Lone Woman, is where the three Indian tribes came together to plan Custers Last Stand. There is also an old cook shed that served as a famous outlaw hideout according to legend. There are old buffalo trails up the buttes behind the house and the cabin that lead to a large buffalo wallow on top of the buttes. There are several areas where teepee rings can be found on the ranch. Right from the main log house there are many trails to explore up and along the buttes and a beautiful loop taking you from the house up the buttes across the top to the East coming down on a trail above the cabin. We have hiked these trails for years as a family and even cross country skied and snow shoed across the top of the buttes.

Wildlife

This land has become a wildlife corridor due to being posted no hunting since the 1980s. There are bald eagle nests and golden eagles can often be seen soaring over and through the buttes, on the north side of the Chalk Buttes is a Golden Eagle breeding ground. Wildlife spotted on the ranch include very large mule deer bucks, and abundant white tail and mule deer, antelope, coyotes, grouse, mountain lions, occasional Elk, occasional wolves , a rare black bear siting in the buttes and one extremely off-course white mountain goat billy was spotted over 20 years ago. For bird watchers there are rare prairie falcons studied out on the Kidd Place, many nuthatches, red-tailed hawks, common flickers, and of course the signature meadow lark that signals when spring has arrived. Wild Turkeys abound in the canyons surrounding the buttes.

Geography

Significant geographical features include the Chalk Buttes which is a part of the Custer National Forest that was recently designated as Wilderness to the immediate north of the ranch. (meaning the National Forest Service will never develop the land , no campgrounds or bathrooms to be built, just keeping the history and natural beauty intact for the hearty hikers or horseback riders).

Vegetation

The farmland and CRP was replanted with native grasses including crested wheatgrass, etc (see below)

The lands used for hay production consist mostly of domestic plants such as alfalfa, crested wheatgrass, pubescent wheatgrass and intermediate wheatgrass.

In other areas the vegetation varies from native species including western wheatgrass, blue bunch wheatgrass, blue gram, buffalo grass, little bluestem, green needle grass, needle and thread grass, prairie sanded, thread leaf sedge, big sagebrush, glove mallow, prickly pear, and scurf pea species.

Climate

Southeastern Montana has a climate typical of the semi-arid Great Plains Region, marked by sunshine, low relative humidity, moderate winds, low precipitation and wide seasonal variations of temperature. Summer has hot days with abundant sunshine tempered by cool evenings. The winters are moderately cold but as a rule are not prolonged and are broken frequently by long periods of mild weather. The highest rainfall is recorded in April, May and June where this area receives approximately 75% of its total rainfall. The average annual precipitation is 14-16 inches, per Natural Conservation Resources 1960-1990. The normal frost-free period is 140 days.

Agriculture is the principal industry in the region. Native hay and alfalfa were the first crops grown under irrigation in the area which were used as winter feed. Since the earliest settlement livestock has been a major industry in the area with beef cattle leading all other livestock. A Bison ranch is also in the region. Currently hay covers the largest acreage on tilled acres in the county. Most ranches in the area are diversified with cattle and hay in additional to small grains including wheat, barley and oats. Crops on irrigated land also include corn, sugar beets and dry beans.