Sandoval Ranch

Located on the northeast side of Fisher’s Peak, Sandoval Ranch offers production and trophy hunting only 20 minutes from Trinidad, Colo. Owned by the same family since 1898, the property includes substantial senior water rights that irrigate up to 300 acres. The rangeland is in very good condition because of careful management during drought conditions. There is a permitted gravel pit on the ranch. This is an outstanding hunting property loaded with deer, and 180”+ bucks are regularly harvested here.  There are also good populations of elk, antelope, bears, and turkeys.

State Lease Disclosure

Located along the northern base of the prominent Fishers Peak and Mesa, the diverse terrain consists of irrigated meadows, rolling hills, mesas, canyons, and native grasslands.

Improvements

Sandoval Ranch is modestly, yet efficiently, improved with an owner’s modest home, a large steel shed, a Quonset, as well as working corrals and calving shed. County road 12.5 more or less constitutes the southern boundary, while county road 105.5 more or less constitutes the northern and eastern boundaries of the ranch.

Locale

Sandoval Ranch lies within a few miles of the Crazy French Ranch, recently purchased by The Nature Conservatory, opening up 30,000 more acres of nearby public mountain land.

Climate

• Average Annual Rainfall: 17 inches
• Average Annual Snowfall: 42 inches
• Average Winter High Temperatures: Upper 40s to low 50s
• Average Summer Temperatures: Upper 80s
• Days of Sunshine per year: 300+

Hunting

Sandoval Ranch lies in Colorado GMU 140, which is known as one of the best trophy big game units in the state. Elk, mule deer, bear, pronghorn, mountain lion, turkeys, and the occasional whitetail deer inhibit the ranch. This is simply an outstanding mule deer hunting ranch. Many 180”+ Boone and Crockett bucks have been harvested here over the years. The deer habitat is ideal, with lots of rougher mesas and buttes, plenty of pinon/cedar/ponderosa country along with pockets of irrigated meadows.

There are also some great antelope bucks on this property. While the elk come and go on the property, bears and turkeys are abundant.

The ranch is registered with Colorado Parks & Wildlife for the Landowner Preference Program for mule deer and pronghorn, which enables the landowner to apply for and receive transferable vouchers. Licenses for other big game species are also readily available.

Ranch Operations

The ranch will easily accommodate 300 pair during normal and even light moisture years. The irrigated lands provide sufficient winter feed. There are three sets of working corrals on the property, one with calving sheds, and reliable water is provided by earthen tanks, several creeks, and an extensive pipeline and tank system. The property is completely perimeter and pasture fenced with two-track roads throughout.

The property also includes an adjoining 640 acre state lease.

Water Rights

Includes original water rights with appropriations from the 1860s and adjudication dates ranging from 1903 to 1925 from San Francicso, Canoncita, Capulin Arroyo, Snyder, and Frijole creeks.