Monument, OR 97864(Grant County)

Historically the property has been run as a ranch with excellent graze. It runs from an elevation of to feet. That means that you can start cattle out at a lower elevation and then run to the higher grass as it greens up. It is an excellent place for grazing from early spring to late fall. The current owners have taken out the cattle facilities. The infrastructure is still there to reestablish them though. By that I mean that the pipes for troughs are there as well as the area for corrals and chutes. Perimeter fences and cross fences are in place and aid in the movement of stock. There are hay fields and water rights for some of the areas. Rainfall will be from 12-16 inches. It is a mild area and I personally have wintered my cows there on just protein blocks. They were in there from January to April.

The ranch has an amazing amount of elk on it as well as really big bucks. It supports a great amount of cow elk which prompts an eight month cow season for private land owners. This season does not use up your LOPs but is a sponsorship for non-landowning hunters or you can use your LOPs for it. There has been a lot of elk harvested on the ranch in the past but not in the last few years. The owners have harvested a few but not many at all. The same with the bucks. I have seen very large mule deer and bucks of 31 inches have been taken. It is a ranch you can hunt all day every day and never hunt it out. Also, if you want to enhance the habitat you can put dryland and irrigated alfalfa in some of the fields to draw animals in. There are other grasses and forbes that can be planted all over the ranch that will be highly palatable to elk and deer that will keep the animals coming and form a pattern for them to be there. Also, with all of the ponds and springs everywhere you will see that the animals will drift into those areas when it dries up elsewhere. There are wells in the upper elevations that run off of a generator to fill water troughs. These should be filled in August so as to keep the wildlife coming in to the area. The area around the ranch is wild and remote so that it lends itself to quite a few animals and large ones at that.

The North Fork of the John Day River runs about 2 miles bordering the ranch. Steelhead, trout, salmon, and bass are in this river. Salmon are not allowed to be caught but all of the other species can be taken. It is known for its steelhead and bass. Steelhead are in the 5-12 lb. range. There are some of the best holes of the river on this ranch. You will also see migratory waterfowl all along it. The North Fork is a federally designated Wild and Scenic River. It is a beautiful river where you can see the bottom and the fish swimming. Deer Creek also is on the ranch. It is a year round creek and trout are in it. There are other creeks on the ranch also but these are the two major ones. Numerous springs and ponds dot the ranch and many more could be made creating ponds or using troughs.

The topography of the ranch is draws, meadows, open hillsides, timbered areas, large rolling flats, canyons, and gentle areas by water. It is absolutely perfect for hunters or watching wildlife. It has pine, fir, aspens, cottonwoods, and juniper. There is sage, native grasses, and introduced non-native species.

Two homes are on the ranch. One is an apartment used by a couple who keep it up part time. The apartment is part of a very large shop and storage building that has a meat room and walk in cooler. It is very nice. The other is a remodeled home by a pond overlooking a larger pond with very good sized trout in it. It is also very nice and is in a beautiful setting. Wild turkeys abound around these homes. There is also a graveled road leading up to both of them that is tree lined(young trees) , grassy, and is lit up in the night. It is a very classic entrance into the ranch. There are fruit trees planted in an area going up to the main house. Almost all of this is encompassed by grass, trees, and lighting. There is an abundance of water for the houses. Sprinkling all of the grass and trees takes a lot of water and that is being worked on now by utilizing springs up the mountain. That has not been done as yet though. The major roads around the homes, ponds, and part way up the mountain are graveled. There is a gravel pit on the ranch that helps when you want to do a little more gravelling. The couple on the ranch that help part time would be willing to stay under the right arrangement and continue to oversee the property and help keep it up. This couple is invaluable and has the right equipment to do most anything the ranch needs.

This ranch is in a conservative county with a small population. The county government is not in an adversarial position with the landowners or really anyone in the county. They want to help and it is refreshing to live here. There is only one stop light in the county at John Day, Oregon. That is about 60 miles away. There is an airstrip at Monument as well as store, school, post office, motel and supply store. The climate is mild with little snow in the winter by the ranch house but can get deep at the higher elevation of the ranch. The sun shines an extreme amount of days. There is UPS everyday as well as power, phone, and mail. The county is known for its recreation, mainly hunting, fishing, and rafting the North Fork. Its principle industries are mainly resource based such as cattle ranching, logging, and hunting. Much of the county is federally owned. It is a little over 2 hours to Pendleton, 2 hours to Bend, and 4 hours to Boise.

Taxes-$11,782.07

Price-$11.5m reduced to $5,950,000