 The
View from the Ranch
It’s a new year here in Colorado and that means there’s
a whole lot to do around the ranch this winter. Whether we’re
heading off to a fishing and hunting show somewhere, improving
our ranch lands, adding new water, trimming brush, or manning
the phones, we’re always thinking about ways to make
your visit to High Lonesome Country a special experience.
This year we’ve added over 12,000 acres to our
holdings by acquiring the Albertson Ranch in the neighboring Kimball Creek valley.
With some hard work we expect this to provide new opportunities for our guests,
including more big game hunting, fly-fishing, wing shooting, and a host of other
activities, from mountain biking to trail riding. We’ll
keep you up to date on developments there. Every year we remind
folks that they can bird hunt at High Lonesome Ranch all winter
long. Even this year, with several feet of snow piled up elsewhere
in Colorado and up high on the ranch, our wing shooting down
in the valley has been outstanding. Don’t forget – you
can chase birds right through February 29 this year.
If you haven’t fished here in a couple of years you’ll
be impressed with both the size and quantity of fish on the ranch, and the
beautiful water and trips we’ve added on the nearby Colorado, White and
Roaring Fork Rivers. You could fish for a week with us and never see the same
water twice!
This is the year to bring the whole family to the ranch. We’re
adding mountain biking, expanding our riding program, and generally finding
lots of activities for those family members who aren’t as addicted to
hunting and fishing as you are. While they’re off touring the wineries,
visiting a spa, hiking the ranch or rafting the Colorado, you can still be
up to your elbows in big trout and flushing birds. We’ll still be the
best hunting and fishing lodge in the country, just with a whole lot more for
everyone to do. Hope to see you this summer.
 Epic Fly-Fishing
Maybe
it’s something in the water here at the ranch.
Or maybe the fish are just as happy as we are to live in beautiful
Colorado. Whatever it is, we’re all getting fat and happy! This
year’s biggest fish topped the scales at a whopping 14
pounds, stretched 31 inches and was caught by none other than
Lissa Vahldiek. Although Lissa doesn’t fish a lot at
the ranch when she’s here, she did mange to coax this
monster into eating her dry fly, and landed it on a 5 weight
rod. If you’re like us, you’re probably wondering
just what was the winning fly pattern.
According to Lissa, she just can’t seem to remember. And
her guide Ken Whitney? He seems to have developed amnesia, too. Oh well.
The good news is, that fish and more just like it are swimming in our miles
of private water.
Off-ranch fishing was a big success this year as many guests floated
the Roaring Fork and Colorado Rivers, and wade fished on the Crystal and White
Rivers. Our private water on the White River has proven to be some of the best
fishing in Colorado. Wild browns and rainbows up to six pounds are just waiting
for you to visit. Try our pre-runoff fishing in March and April if you just
can’t wait to get out on the water.
 Record-Setting Big
Game Harvest
What
a blast our hunters and guides had this past season! The
weather was absolutely beautiful, which normally means not
the best for hunting. Yet Arnie Speiss defied the odds and
set a new ranch record for mule deer this year with a spectacular
32-inch-wide, non-typical that rough scored 221 Boone and Crockett
points. Overall, we had another highly successful season with
85% of our hunters taking the shots they wanted. On the elk
side, we had great success too. Guide Todd Weiszbrod, who some
claim is part elk, helped Brian Lehner bag a magnificent 7
X 7 bull elk right up in the middle of the ranch. Our success
with elk this year was 85% as well. Each year our animals are
getting bigger and better as our hard work and farsighted management
practices continue to pay off. Word’s getting out that
we’re becoming THE place to go for trophy mule deer and
elk.
Rocky Mountain High
Wing Shooting
Perfect habitat, eager, well-trained
dogs, and hard-working guides spell just one thing at High
Lonesome Ranch – a
great day afield. Fall wing shooting was outstanding, with
lots of pheasants, chukar and Hungarian partridge flushed daily.
Good cover and plentiful food means we have thousands of wild
birds to hunt. It’s not unusual to get shots at 50 birds
or more in a day. With miles of ranch lands to hunt, we never
run out of new cover to work the dogs through. We continue
to improve both our bird habitat and our kennel. The addition
of pointing Labs to the ranks has proven to be a great success,
and popular with our guests. Handled and trained by head fly-fishing
and wing shooting guru Mark Weaver, our dogs are all eager
to please, and get the job done. We must be doing something
right because nine out of ten wing-shooting guests come back
to the ranch. 
(The other guy probably just got lost.) Don’t forget
we hunt through February, so you can still get out there!
Come See Our New Ranch Lands
We’re proud and excited to announce the acquisition
of the Albertson Ranch on Kimball Creek. Renamed Kimball Creek
Ranch, it’s located east of High Lonesome Ranch in the
next valley the other side of Cow Mountain. Along with being
one of the best cattle ranches on the Western Slope, it will
add to our recreation on a very large scale. Kimball Creek
Ranch consists of 12,006 acres with an elevation of 5,500 feet
to 9,000 feet. The valley itself is about three times wider
than our Dry Fork Valley. Immediate plans are for an 11-mile
spring creek restoration and habitat improvement. We are planning
on using Kimball Creek in 2008 for big game hunts, and for
fishing and wing shooting in the future. This property will
connect us to our High Ranch and the Young Ranch, and give
us about 300 square miles of private and permitted lands to
explore.
Fat Turkeys and Monster Trout
Turkey hunting
comes to The High Lonesome Ranch this spring. One of America’s
conservation success stories, the return of our Merriam turkeys,
has prompted Colorado to open this part of the state to turkey
hunting and us to offer a spring cast and blast of gigantic
proportions. Only at High Lonesome can you shoot big birds
and land big trout. This offer is very limited and only available
to a select few. Dates are April 12 to May 3.
High Lonesome on the Web
Be sure to check
out our web site www.thehighlonesomeranch.com for lots of information
about the ranch. Our guest gallery lets you share your experiences
and photos with all your fishing and hunting buddies. Next
time you catch that trophy fish, limit out wing shooting, or
bag your trophy mulie or bull, go to the website and upload
your photographic evidence to the guest gallery so everyone
knows you’re as good as
Ernest Hemingway and Zane Gray.
 Trout Unlimited Women’s Only Trip
June 12 – June 16
After last year’s successful outing, Trout Unlimited
will be coming to The High Lonesome Ranch for its second fishing
trip exclusively for women. Led by TU’s own Liz Ogilvie,
a certified casting instructor, this trip is the perfect trip
to improve your skills and enjoy our famous hospitality. Space
is limited. Contact Liz Olgilvie at TU for more details at
703.522.0200.
Sporting Clays
Try out our five-stand sporting clays
course next time you visit the ranch. It’s a great
way to experience the fun sport of shooting in a controlled
environment under the watchful eye of our professional instructors.
To make it even easier, we have everything you need to get
started, including the gun. Give it a try!
Give us a call at 970.283.9420
www.thehighlonesomeranch.com |
