Elk Song Ranch

• Great hunting, home to 1500+ wild, free-ranging elk, including trophy bulls up to 380” and over-the-counter tags
• Only 4 miles from La Grande, Oregon, with hotels, restaurants, hospital; 2.5 hour drive from the Boise, Idaho Airport
• Over 12 miles of flowing streams on the property perfect for fly-fishing
• Significant timber resource: 2.5 million board feet of timber, with a current recovery rate of 1 million board feet per year.
• Two livable cabins on the property, one with power and running water.
• Mirr Ranch Group worked cooperatively with Jones Lang LaSalle, the listing broker on the property.

Elk Song Ranch is one of the finest fair chase elk hunting properties available for sale in the American West today. Located only four miles west of La Grande, Oregon in the Blue Mountains, Elk Song is home to a herd of 1,000 to 1,500 wild, free-ranging elk. The terrain of the ranch is diverse with approximately 5,000 acres of timberland. The current timber resource has extraordinary investment potential for the longer-term owner, as the most recent timber cruise estimated a recovery rate of 200 board feet per timbered acre, or 1,000,000+/- board feet per year. The property also offers 12 miles of flowing streams, large gently rolling open meadows, dense thickets, and deep canyons.

Mirr Ranch Group worked cooperatively with Jones Lang LaSalle, the listing broker on the property.

Land Overview

Elk Song Ranch is 7,198+/- deeded acres. The terrain of the ranch is diverse with approximately 5,000 acres of timber land, 12 miles of flowing streams, large gently rolling open meadows, dense thickets and deep canyons. The elevation varies from 3,500 to 5,000 feet. Elk Song is situated behind a locked gate at the end of the county road and its boundaries are surrounded by private property. The area to the west and south of the ranch consists of hundreds of square miles of private land and national forest without significant population or paved roads.

Locale

The entrance to the ranch lies only four miles west of La Grande Oregon. La Grande offers all the amenities of a modern, thriving small community, including a university (Eastern Oregon), hospital, new hotels, great restaurants, and a Wal-Mart supercenter. The La Grande/Union County Airport (2,717 Feet Elevation, runway = 5600’ x 100’) can accommodate larger jet aircraft. Boise, Idaho, with nonstop commercial service to most large cities, is only 2.5 hours (all via interstate) southeast of the property.

Improvements

The property is perimeter fenced and cross fenced. There is a a network of grassy logging roads that accommodate ATVs throughout the ranch. Main roads allow 4wd vehicle access to most areas.

There are two cabins on the property. The main cabin has been lived in year-round and has power and running water. It also has a log barn. The second cabin is “off grid” with power supplied by 12 volt battery to pump water, gas lights and gas refrigerator.

Climate

Elk song ranch enjoys a typical intermountain four-season climate. Winter, while relatively long is rarely very cold, with daytime temperatures usually in the mid-20s to low 30s. Nights are only slightly colder, with only a few days each year when the temperature falls below zero. Snow cover usually exists from mid-December to late March, with the lower elevations green and flowered in early spring while the upper regions of the ranch are still under deep snow. Annual precipitation is about 16-18 inches.

Spring, Summer, and Autumn at Elk Song are idyllic. Spring and summer literally bloom in a sea of green grass and wildflowers. Most days are in the mid-70s, with clear blue skies and warm sunshine. The rare “hot” days see the thermometer in the low 90s, but even then the temperature plummets at sundown and will be below 60 by midnight.

Mirr Ranch Group worked cooperatively with Jones Lang LaSalle, the listing broker on the property.

For the past 14 years, the ranch has been painstakingly managed for the benefit of its wildlife and natural resources. The most impressive features of the ranch are its namesake: the wild, free-ranging elk.

Recreation

• Beyond the extraordinary elk hunting, Elk song offers a variety of excellent sport and recreation opportunities. Several lookout points, only a short walk from the main house, offer incredible views.
• The daily movement of the vast elk herds out of the timber and onto the meadows in the evening and back to the timber in the morning is a sight few have experienced.
• The sounds that inspired the name Elk Song are extraordinary. Throughout the spring and summer months, the voices of the large herds of cows and calves resemble hump-backed whales.
• The rut in September on Elk Song is one of the grand spectacles in the natural world. In June one can experience the result of that rut when an estimated 1,000 elk calves are born on Elk Song.
• In addition to the wildlife and hunting experience, the winter-sports enthusiast will find almost endless miles of wild, quiet, and totally private terrain for cross country skiing, or snowshoeing, whether it be in the wide-open meadows, through the timber, or along the streams.

Hunting

• Trophy quality is excellent: 330” to 350” bulls are common, and bulls up to 380” have been harvested on the property.
• On average, 1,000 to 1,500 elk reside on the ranch from March to December, and it is normal to see several hundred per day. The largest count in one day was over 3,500. It is also common to see 50 or more branch antlered bulls in a day.
• Hunting success over the last 14 years is over 95%. The ranch receives up to 5 rifle elk landowner permits per year. Archery elk tags are unlimited, and available over-the-counter.
• In addition to the elk, the ranch is home to many other game birds and animals including bear, turkey, deer, grouse, doves, and quail.
• Deer, bear, and turkey hunting are also excellent, with readily available unlimited tags for all three.
• The property also holds huntable populations of blue and ruffed grouse.
• Black bears are abundant and especially visible in the fall.
• Elk Song is in essence a 7,000-acre private sanctuary and virtual wilderness in an area referred to as the Serengeti by Oregon Game Biologists due to its immense game populations.

Fishing

• There are over 12 miles of flowing streams on the property.
• While fishing has not been the focus at Elk Song, there is limited fishing for wild, native rainbow trout.

Mirr Ranch Group worked cooperatively with Jones Lang LaSalle, the listing broker on the property.

Ranch Operations

Significant timber harvest occurred from 1990 to 1998, when Elk Song yielded about 20 million board feet of timber. Areas within the ranch are known for some of the highest timber yields in Eastern Oregon. The timber resource is recovering rapidly and currently, there are more than 2.5 million board feet of harvestable timber. The current timber resource has extraordinary investment potential for the longer-term owner, as the most recent timber cruise estimated a recovery rate of 200 board feet per timbered acre, or 1,000,000+/- board feet per year. The timber consists of Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, white fir, western larch, lodgepole pine, and spruce.

Summer grazing is very high quality. The abundant and diverse grasses, combined with readily available water throughout the ranch allow it to accommodate 350 to 400 pairs for five months. There are 9 stock ponds and numerous live springs and streams. The generous annual precipitation allows the diverse grasses to often grow waist-high.

Investment Value

Elk Song Ranch represents a rare opportunity to own one of the great ranches in the world and one of the finest wildlife resources in existence.

Mirr Ranch Group worked cooperatively with Jones Lang LaSalle, the listing broker on the property.