The Great Western Ranch

This project was truly a labor of love. After spending several days on this ranch, we couldn’t help but develop a strong connection to the land, its creatures and the history that is the Great Western Ranch. Thank you for taking the time to view this video that we are very proud to present!

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Vast beyond imagination. As far as the eye can see. The Great Western Ranch.

Four hundred fifty-seven square miles of magnificent New Mexico land. Raw. Wild. Original.

Sandstone bluffs carved by wind and water, twisted rock spires reaching skyward, flat-topped mesas,
deep vast arroyos, ancient volcanoes long silent, playa lakes and rich pastures of native grass. This is the land of the Anasazi and the Spanish conquistadors, of homesteaders and speculators, of sheepherders and ranchers.

The Great Western Ranch encompasses over 176,000 deeded acres and nearly 116,000 acres of leased state and federal land. A place unto itself, the ranch is so immense and varied that it defies easy definition. To the hunter, the Great Western is a pristine, natural game preserve, home to elk, mule deer and antelope, cougar, bear and all manner of smaller creatures and birds. To the rancher, the Great Western, a place of rich grasses, numerous pastures, livestock wells and various water resources – a true, four-season ranch where cattle graze year round. To the archeologist and the historian, the Great Western is a place where for hundreds of years, people have come and gone, leaving behind traces of their lives in the ruins and rock art preserved on the ranch.

From Interstate 40, Highway 117 runs south and west traversing through the magnificent volcanic formations of El Malpais (mal-pie-ees) National Monument and National Conservation Area leading to the main entrance of the ranch. Great Western is located 143 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and eighty miles south of Grants. The Ramah (ray-mah) Navajo Reservation and El Malpais is contiguous to the ranch. From east to west, the ranch spans 53 miles and 26 miles North to South and the western boundary is just over a mile from the Arizona state line.

Hunting on the Great Western is not merely good. It is superb. Perhaps the best New Mexico has to offer.
The ranch is home to a resident herd of 1,500 (fifteen hundred) to 2,000 elk, as well as large numbers of antelope and mule deer. Rich vegetation, essential water resources, food plots and diverse terrain, provide excellent habitat. Expert wildlife management contributes to the overall health and size of the elk population.

The largest bull harvested on the ranch measured an astounding 427 inches. Bulls of 340 to 360, are common.

What makes for great hunting also makes for excellent ranching.

The pastures and rangeland are well watered and support a significant and viable livestock operation. Seasonal pastures allow for year-round grazing while natural corridors enable cowboys to drive cattle easily from one The ranch is fully equipped with barns, utility buildings, stock pens and well-built, recently renovated housing for staff. Large pens and five state- certified shipping scales facilitate the gathering and transfer of cattle. A historic adobe lodge provides comfortable accommodations for up to 26 hunters at a time.

For centuries, men have hunted the wild animals that range these lands. On the ranch, in its secret places, are carvings upon the rock, more than 1,000 years old, that tell of deer, snakes, lizards and creatures pursued by stick- figure men. The land is today, as it was then, rich in natural resources, vast Stewardship of a place such as this is a rare privilege.

The ancients came to this place here, drawn by its abundance. They left their marks in the sandstone – postcards from the past, promises to the future, that this land, if respected, will reward those who are fortunate to walk upon it. This “Land of Enchantment”

Wild. Untamed. Timeless.
Great Western Ranch. A True American Original.