144
LIFESTYLE Now picture yourself, your friends and your family living in comfort and safety while enjoying direct access to the “hard to get to” West. This is no longer just a dream. Lifestyles in the remote backcountry of the West have entered a new level of comfort with the benefits of today’s off-grid ranches. The True Western Hunt Has Evolved Growing up as an outfitter in the West, owning and running backcountry camps from the Wilderness Areas of Colorado to the remote National Parks of Alaska, no matter how hard we worked to provide creature comforts for our guests and ourselves, those goals historically fell far short of real comfort. To a “true” hunter, leaving a warm bed, pulling on socks from a warm floor, and relishing the creature comforts of a warm toilet seat were pleasures one enjoyed after hunting season ended. We addicted types—both men and women—have packed light for the overnight bivi, only to have bad weather slip in and add more to our “true” western hunt than we originally bargained for. Now, as a western ranch broker with M4 Ranch Group, I’ve been fortunate enough to discover that there are real western hunting experiences that allow for the comforts of life for the family and friends of the aggressive hunter. Even if you aren’t just this side of nuts when it comes to curling up under the brows of a pine tree while snow stacks up on your never-warm-enough sleeping bag, you can still find yourself at daylight on a ridge where the perfect bull meandered the day before. I have recently had the privilege of spending some quality time on just such remote western ranches. The kind of place where you fall asleep to the bugling bulls. The kind of place where you wake up just before sun-up, have a hot shower, drink a hot cup of coffee, throw on your newly washed hunting clothes, eat a hot breakfast, grab your rifle and quietly slip out the door ready to hunt, stepping directly into elk country. Sustainable Roughing It As the demands upon us grow and our time seems to become more and more limited, as big game tags in quality areas become more and more difficult to attain, and as the West has continued to shrink, these rare, large backcountry ranches not only provide a place to recreate and hunt in comfort, but also a place to escape the increasing bonds of society. A place to build a legacy. A place to find refuge for family and friends. A place where white noise is not the norm. The terms living in the backwoods or living in the outback have taken on a very different meaning in the world of new technologies. For those who have taken advantage, the days of roughing it are long gone. More and more remote ranches are being built and greatly improved with today’s technology, providing the comforts and safety of any home in any city while being miles and miles from the nearest street light. For example, we recently listed just such a world-class, remote Colorado Ranch: Red Hawk Ranch, located in the peaks just above Crested Butte, Colorado. Like many out-of-the-way western ranches, this one was built with the ultimate in creature comforts constructed at every level. And it sits right in the migratory path of the famed Gunnison Elk Herd, home to some of the West’s biggest mule deer bucks. Modern Energy for Secluded Living Electricity has become a worry-free part of these off-grid ranches. The newly increased productivity of solar panels, innovations of the new inverters, and advancements in modern monitoring systems have greatly added to the exceptional storage capacity of today’s lithium-ion and salt water batteries and even the new Tesla Powerwall. Providing reliable, truly deliverable, on-demand electricity to a remote, full-size ranch house is an easily attainable goal. Think of the single innovation of the LED light bulb; this one tool has changed the backcountry ranch house’s power demand challenges forever. The historically tested and true fuel sources of wood and propane provide consistent, reliable heat, allowing the backcountry ranch house to sit comfortably at the tree line even during the coldest mountain nights. Many of these western ranches have road systems that provide summer access to fill buried propane fuel tanks, providing the luxury of on-demand hot water, the cooling needs of a propane refrigerator, and thermostatically controlled forced-air backup heat. One of the remote hunting ranches we worked on recently had an off-grid wood stove heating system with digital controls and forced air vents built in. Three-foot logs in the stove, coupled with the forced air fan that was powered by the electricity gathered from the sun by solar panels and stored tandem batteries, easily delivered on-demand heat to the top-of-the-world, five-bedroom, four-bath hunting lodge. Technology Transforms the Backcountry Experience On many of these more remote western ranches, the biggest problem is driving through elk to hunt elk! We are even seeing owners take advantage of the new electric hunting vehicles. When you live in elk country, the last thing you want to do is scare your wildlife neighbors on your way to the distant hunting spot. Many of us yearn for the quiet of the backcountry, the solitude of the private mountain basin, or the unencumbered views of distant peaks—even running at times from the onslaught of new and everchanging technology. We can now safely move to and from our favorite backcountry spots in silence or we can call out to whoever, whenever, from our tiny satellite phones. We can find our trails and blinds in the worst snowstorm with GIS technology. We can talk, move and live safely in the wild through the innovations of the current modern world, all while enjoying what nature has provided. Bottom line: Today’s technology is building a better, safer and more accessible remote backcountry ranch. If you’re looking for comfortable, remote living that can deliver the big game and recreational opportunities you love, give us a call at M4 Ranch Group. ° Have a great hunt, DAN MURPHY, M4 RANCH GROUP LAND.COM • LEGENDARY LIVING 145
- Page 1 and 2:
FALL 2017 LAND.COM
- Page 8 and 9:
CONTENTS FALL 2017 ON THE INSIDE CO
- Page 10 and 11:
CONTENTS PORTFOLIO COUNTY/CITY ACRE
- Page 12 and 13:
CONTENTS PORTFOLIO COUNTY/CITY ACRE
- Page 14 and 15:
CONTENTS PORTFOLIO COUNTY/CITY ACRE
- Page 16 and 17:
A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Savor the
- Page 18 and 19:
CONTRIBUTORS THE OUTBOUND COLLECTIV
- Page 20 and 21:
Southeastern Wildlife Exposition 20
- Page 22 and 23:
Fresh Off The Grid FreshOffTheGrid.
- Page 24:
JOHN CRAWFORD, VISUAL POLLUTION Nec
- Page 27 and 28:
If you keep abreast of wine develop
- Page 29 and 30:
(the U. S. is now the world’s lar
- Page 31 and 32:
there is a healthier way to enjoy w
- Page 38 and 39:
Mason & Morse Ranch Company ROBB VA
- Page 40 and 41:
PROFILE Land Lifestyle Van Pelt has
- Page 42 and 43:
PROFILE THE BIRTH OF MASON & MORSE
- Page 45 and 46:
acre Rock Creek Lake provides uniqu
- Page 47 and 48:
LAND.COM • LEGENDARY LIVING 5
- Page 49 and 50:
RANCHLAND.COM | SALES@RANCHLAND.COM
- Page 56:
Enduring investments have timeless
- Page 59 and 60:
8,500 DEEDED ACRES. FENCED & CROSS-
- Page 61 and 62:
FARM & RANCH PROPERTIES NW BEND DEV
- Page 63 and 64:
FARM & RANCH PROPERTIES RANCHO SAN
- Page 65 and 66:
FARM & RANCH PROPERTIES ELK RIVER R
- Page 67 and 68:
FARM & RANCH PROPERTIES THE LANDING
- Page 70:
1 Catamount Ranch’s Best View STE
- Page 84 and 85:
OWNING LAND or most of us, life has
- Page 86 and 87:
76 ON THE INSIDE COVER
- Page 88 and 89:
78
- Page 94 and 95:
(707) 455-4444 | INFO@CAOUTDOORPROP
- Page 96 and 97:
Game Harvest In the classic, The Ol
- Page 100 and 101:
Cross Mountain Ranch 56,050± Acres
- Page 102 and 103:
Double R Ranch 5,815± Acres in Jac
- Page 104 and 105: Price Reduced Big Blue Ranch 3,542
- Page 106 and 107: EXCURSION with beautiful autumn lea
- Page 108 and 109: EXCURSION ACADIA MAINE National Par
- Page 110 and 111: EXCURSION Photograph Lassen Peak WO
- Page 112 and 113: 102
- Page 114 and 115: 104
- Page 116 and 117: 106
- Page 118 and 119: 108
- Page 120 and 121: OWNING LAND RANCH MANAGEMENT WRITTE
- Page 122 and 123: PIEDRA VALLEY RANCH PAGOSA SPRINGS,
- Page 124 and 125: WATER CANYON RANCH GUTHRIE, TEXAS R
- Page 126 and 127: 116 LAS PILETAS RANCH
- Page 128 and 129: RANCHO EL TORO 12,221± ACRES IN SA
- Page 130 and 131: ROCKY ELK RANCH 7,361± ACRES | NEW
- Page 132 and 133: WALLACE DRAW 1,439± ACRES | HULETT
- Page 134 and 135: Thunder Ranch State-of-the-art trai
- Page 136 and 137: Location! Location! Location! 247±
- Page 138 and 139: Wild Horse Mountain Ranch Missoula,
- Page 140 and 141: Winter Range Deer Lodge, Montana $3
- Page 142 and 143: www.CraterLakeRealtyInc.com Linda L
- Page 144 and 145: 134
- Page 146 and 147: 136
- Page 148 and 149: 138 WWW.MYCOLOHOME.COM
- Page 150 and 151: TimThompsonPremierRealtors.com 148
- Page 152 and 153: TimThompsonPremierRealtors.com 148
- Page 156 and 157: R ANCHES | R ANCH COMMUNITIES | LUX
- Page 158 and 159: 148
- Page 160 and 161: Dave Harrigan Dave@HarriganLand.com
- Page 162 and 163: RUSTY K RANCH 35± ACRES • JEFFER
- Page 164 and 165: WWW.NMRANCHPROPERTIES.COM PO BOX 98
- Page 166 and 167: www.PfisterLandCo.com 877.805.9165
- Page 169 and 170: 5927 BROADWAY SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78
- Page 171 and 172: anchline.com NEW MEXICO, TEXAS & CO
- Page 173 and 174: LIFESTYLE WRITTEN BY DANIEL M. CHRI
- Page 175 and 176: LIFESTYLE set up and are fairly ine
- Page 177 and 178: FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT LANDANDC
- Page 179 and 180: mossyoak properties.com Julie Mansf
- Page 181 and 182: UNDER CONTRACT BAY VIEW RANCH - SON
- Page 183 and 184: 50 Years of Guiding you Home www.Fr
- Page 185 and 186: ChaseBrothersProperties.com 844-WYO
- Page 187 and 188: developing a lifetime of memories A
- Page 190: WINN RANCH l u x u r y l a k e t r
- Page 193 and 194: SALZMAN FARM & RANCH 42,131± Acres
- Page 195 and 196: BRYAN ANDERSON & ROGER JACOBS, BROK
- Page 197 and 198: OUTDOORSMAN’S PARADISE 9 ACRES $
- Page 199 and 200: ALCOVA LAKE VIEWS 40± ACRES • $6
- Page 201 and 202: 7,856± Acres Sonoma County, Califo
- Page 203 and 204: LAND.COM • LEGENDARY LIVING 193
- Page 205 and 206:
Fence Creek Ranch 26,446 Total Acre
- Page 207 and 208:
WWW.BEAVERHEADHOMEANDRANCH.COM VIEW
- Page 209 and 210:
LAND AUCTIONS & LAND FOR SALE 09 22
- Page 211 and 212:
THE MAGAZINE FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE LA