Situated in southeastern Oklahoma at the intersection of Pontotoc, Coal and Hughes Counties, the Oklahoma Trophy Ranch (OTR) is located where the rolling hills of the Cross Timbers and Arkansas Valley Eco-Regions meet. Both Muddy-Boggy Creek and Sincere Creek run through the property, these hardwood bottoms and surrounding hills support mature hardwoods stands interspersed with lush native tall grass prairies. The ranch supports abundant wildlife from Whitetail Deer to Cottontail and, now, American Bison. The Ranch is located about 1.5 hours (100 miles) Southeast of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and a little over 2 hours (130 miles) northeast of Dallas, Texas.
OTR has a long and rich history, in the late 1970’s, the Samuel Robert Noble Foundation purchased the original 2,960-acre footprint of our ranch as a research site to study cattle and whitetail deer management. Through research projects over the next 20+ years the ranch provided answers to many questions pondered by Oklahoma ranchers and recreational landowners. The Noble Foundation sold the property in 2005 to a recreational buyer that used the property for commercial hunting. In 2013 we acquired the property to establish a Conservation Bank to protect an endangered species, the American Burying Beetle (ABB). In 2015 we added an additional 580-acre parcel that joined the property on the north line bringing the total acreage to just over 3,500 acres.
The Conservation Bank covers over 3000 acres of this property and is protected by a Conservation Easement. The management of our ranch is focused on improving ABB habitat using various management activities including the use of controlled burns. Since the inception or the Conservation Bank, annual ABB survey numbers have continued to improve, however, we believe a key management component was missing, grazing; we had two choices to add grazing to our management toolbox, cattle or Bison.
The ABB and the American Bison coexisted for centuries, and we believed that grazing would complement our habitat management in ways that we could not achieve by any other method. Additionally, the prospect of reintroducing American Bison to this landscape after a 160-year absence was attractive for a number of reasons. And by using this iconic animal to continue to improve ABB habitat we are meeting our commitment to the American Burying Beetle, and we could provide a home for approximately 200 American Bison.
Our habitat management activities also benefit whitetail deer, wild turkey, bobwhite quail, rabbits, squirrel and numerous other game and non-game species. To learn more about our commercial hunting opportunities and lodging facilities please click a link below.
We believe this is a Win-Win for our Bison, the American Burying Beetles habitat we protect and our Whitetail Deer Herd and other species that thrive on our property.
