3 Forks Ranch?

slamdunk · Aug 18, 2019

I just got back from a weekend scouting trip in Wyoming and just happened upon this crazy ridiculously gorgeous and large ranch on the Wyoming/Colorado border. It literally felt like I was driving through a movie set of the Yellowstone" series.
Upon investigation it, I discovered it is owned by the owner of the St Louis Cardinals and former owner of Gander Mountain. This ranch itself sits on a 200,000 acre parcel and they own all the way to steamboat springs which is 45 miles away!
They also own several parcels of land in the Baggs Wyoming area.
There has got to be close to a million acres of land owned by this guy. Upon discussing it with a few locals in town, he's not on anyone's Christmas card list as a town favorite.
Has anyone else seen this place?

Blank · Aug 18, 2019

Yep, very nice place. My buddy guides on it 3 months every year. Amazing elk and deer hunts.

Comules · Aug 18, 2019

Yes! $$$$$$

slamdunk · Aug 18, 2019

>Yep, very nice place. My buddy
>guides on it 3 months
>every year. Amazing elk and
>deer hunts.

Do you know how good of bulls they harvest?
Their elk price is only $10.5k, that's actually pretty low end in comparison to many other "top end" Outfitters.

mulecreek · Aug 18, 2019

When I lived in Craig my wife became friends with the wife of one of their helicopter mechanics. She got a full tour. Then it was impressive but I think it is moved up a couple more notches since. I seem to recall they generally take 300? class sixes with some 320? class bulls thrown in the mix. The price tag is for the service more so than the trophy. I do recall that they take some really high end bucks though.

The place had done some amazing stream restoration on the little snake I believe. A lot of that river used to look like the Weber between rockport and echo. Now it is a world class stretch of water.

littlebull209338 · Aug 18, 2019

My father-in-law grew up there. That is where Butch Cassidy and Sundance spent some time. If you have seen the movie with Steve McQueen about a gun slinger named Tom Horn that happened in that area. They host some of the rich and famous there as well. Has always been good hunting but he has made it better.

buckhorn · Aug 18, 2019

I hunted three Forks Mountain and the surrounding areas back in the 1970s and early 80s. That was when George Salisbury owned access to all that and I had permission to hunt. In fact my wife and I spent our honeymoon there. We stayed there for six weeks that year(1980) during all the hunting seasons and stayed in a sheep camp trailer. I did a lot of deer and elk hunting in that country. Spent a lot of time at the hole in the wall and The Drifters inn in Baggs. And at the Dixon club as well. Hunted Battle Mountain some on the Wyoming side.It all changed when Salisbury sold out to the rich guys that turned it into a high dollar outfit with that huge new hunting lodge and all. I really loved that country it is so beautiful in the Little Snake River Valley. Especially in the fall with all the colors.

Homer · Aug 18, 2019

Wait till ransom chimes in......lol right buckhorn?

High5 · Aug 18, 2019

LAST EDITED ON Aug-18-19 AT 09:29PM (MST)[p]I hunted there for mule deer in 07. Booked thru Cabelas, I used their visa for my business and used my Cabelas points for most of the cost. It was quite the place then, I can only imagine the level now. They were building the lodge then but their existing accommodations were pretty awesome. 5 star meals where you'd pick your next nights meal choices after desert. Cigars and after dinner drinks on the teakwood patio deck after. 2 people to a 4 bedroom high end cabin stocked with drinks and snacks, turn down service. They?d run a food trailer down to the river for lunch and make your sandwich?s to order. Half the guests were fly fishermen and half hunters but they kept us separated to avoid conflict. I missed a 200? buck on that hunt but it still was a hell of a week.

BeanMan · Aug 18, 2019

>>Yep, very nice place. My buddy
>>guides on it 3 months
>>every year. Amazing elk and
>>deer hunts.
>
>
>Do you know how good of
>bulls they harvest?
>Their elk price is only $10.5k,
>that's actually pretty low end
>in comparison to many other
>"top end" Outfitters.

Pretty poor as far as trophy quality goes. I drew a RFW cow tag about 15 years ago, lots of but not real hunting for me.

Hasbean

BIGJOHNT · Aug 18, 2019

I have seen a few hunts on the outdoor channel there on the ranch. I wasn?t impressed with the quality of the elk they took.

oilcan · Aug 18, 2019

>I have seen a few hunts
>on the outdoor channel there
>on the ranch. I wasn?t
>impressed with the quality of
>the elk they took.

I had the same impression.

littlebull209338 · Aug 19, 2019

The size of the elk found there is pretty common to most of Northwest Colorado. They kill a ton them however. A friend of mine runs an outfitting operation on a large ranch and two years ago they took 78 bulls none of which went over 300. The exception is Diamond Peak, the Raftopolis (SP) operation and a couple of others and they get some really nice bulls. The estimate buy the DOW is that there are 40,000 or so elk in that area. There is gold in that area but it is flour gold and nearly impossible to reclaim. I hunt deer on a private ranch about 25 lies from Three Forks during ML season.

88man · Aug 19, 2019

I thought the ranch was owned by the Anheuser Bush family.

Homer · Aug 19, 2019

>I thought the ranch was owned
>by the Anheuser Bush family.
>

David C. Pratt

slamdunk · Aug 19, 2019

>>I thought the ranch was owned
>>by the Anheuser Bush family.
>>
>
>David C. Pratt
>
>

That's correct.
He used to also own Gander Mountain but Camping World acquired them from Pratt in a bankruptcy.

eelgrass · Aug 19, 2019

He's an owner of the Cardinals? No wonder the locals don't send him Christmas cards.

DW · Aug 19, 2019

>The size of the elk found
>there is pretty common to
>most of Northwest Colorado. They
>kill a ton them however.
>A friend of mine runs
>an outfitting operation on a
>large ranch and two years
>ago they took 78 bulls
>none of which went over
>300.

Which is why there are very few older class bulls in that area. They give away a ton of tags, including late season plo tags, some running to mid January. Any bulls that survive the onslaught of public land hunters are picked over out in the sage and oakbrush on private property from mid october to mid January. Very few 4yr old 6points are carried over into the next year. No doubt the meals and accommodations are probably 5 star. They have to be to justify that price tag for a 3 or 4yr old 5 or 6 point bull.

"Not sure I grasp BHA motivation".
Hossblur 7/25/19

#livelikezac

elkassassin · Aug 19, 2019

>>The size of the elk found
>>there is pretty common to
>>most of Northwest Colorado. They
>>kill a ton them however.
>>A friend of mine runs
>>an outfitting operation on a
>>large ranch and two years
>>ago they took 78 bulls
>>none of which went over
>>300.
>
>Which is why there are very
>few older class bulls in
>that area. They give away
>a ton of tags, including
>late season plo tags, some
>running to mid January. Any
>bulls that survive the onslaught
>of public land hunters are
>picked over out in the
>sage and oakbrush on private
>property from mid october to
>mid January. Very few 4yr
>old 6points are carried over
>into the next year. No
>doubt the meals and accommodations
>are probably 5 star. They
>have to be to justify
>that price tag for a
>3 or 4yr old 5
>or 6 point bull.
>
>
>"Not sure I grasp BHA motivation".
>
>Hossblur 7/25/19
>
>#livelikezac

So DW?

A 10K PISSCUTTER?

I know so many people in so many places
They make allot of money but they got sad faces

It Ain't Easy being Me!

DW · Aug 19, 2019

>>>The size of the elk found
>>>there is pretty common to
>>>most of Northwest Colorado. They
>>>kill a ton them however.
>>>A friend of mine runs
>>>an outfitting operation on a
>>>large ranch and two years
>>>ago they took 78 bulls
>>>none of which went over
>>>300.
>>
>>Which is why there are very
>>few older class bulls in
>>that area. They give away
>>a ton of tags, including
>>late season plo tags, some
>>running to mid January. Any
>>bulls that survive the onslaught
>>of public land hunters are
>>picked over out in the
>>sage and oakbrush on private
>>property from mid october to
>>mid January. Very few 4yr
>>old 6points are carried over
>>into the next year. No
>>doubt the meals and accommodations
>>are probably 5 star. They
>>have to be to justify
>>that price tag for a
>>3 or 4yr old 5
>>or 6 point bull.
>>
>>
>>"Not sure I grasp BHA motivation".
>>
>>Hossblur 7/25/19
>>
>>#livelikezac
>
>
>So DW?
>
>A 10K PISSCUTTER?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>I know so many people in
>so many places
>They make allot of money but
>they got sad faces
>
>It Ain't Easy being Me!

If the beer fridge was well stocked i could make the numbers work!

"Not sure I grasp BHA motivation".
Hossblur 7/25/19

#livelikezac

elks96 · Aug 21, 2019

LAST EDITED ON Aug-21-19 AT 03:41PM (MST)[p]I hate the place. They are notorious for trying to block people out. They are the reason why we can not use helicopters to access land locked BLM in land locked BLM in that area of Colorado unless you have a ranching for wildlife license. They have worked hard to close public access, roads, etc. They have mis-marked several thousand acres. In the falls they will run 3 wire high electric fences to prevent animals from leaving the property. I personally have watched a bull flop in an alfalfa field for over an hour because they did not want to use a follow up shot and scare off the elk. I have seen hazers show up to herd elk away from the public land and back onto the private. I know they often use air craft during the season to "locate" moo cows, but find it funny they are circling big groups of elk

In my opinion they represent everything wrong with using wildlife for profit and it will only get worse.

This is all things I have directly seen, I wish I could say they are a great operation, but sadly I can not.

slamdunk · Aug 21, 2019

>LAST EDITED ON Aug-21-19
>AT 03:41?PM (MST)
>
>I hate the place. They are
>notorious for trying to block
>people out. They are the
>reason why we can not
>use helicopters to access land
>locked BLM in land locked
>BLM in that area of
>Colorado unless you have a
>ranching for wildlife license. They
>have worked hard to close
>public access, roads, etc. They
>have mis-marked several thousand acres.
>In the falls they will
>run 3 wire high electric
>fences to prevent animals from
>leaving the property. I personally
>have watched a bull flop
>in an alfalfa field for
>over an hour because they
>did not want to use
>a follow up shot and
>scare off the elk. I
>have seen hazers show up
>to herd elk away from
>the public land and back
>onto the private. I know
>they often use air craft
>during the season to "locate"
>moo cows, but find it
>funny they are circling big
>groups of elk
>
>In my opinion they represent everything
>wrong with using wildlife for
>profit and it will only
>get worse.
>
>This is all things I have
>directly seen, I wish I
>could say they are a
>great operation, but sadly I
>can not.

He's probably in the pockets of the Division as well, so they let them get away with these things.