Big Creek Ranch

Description

Big Creek Ranch is a 325-acre property located near Atwood, OK, 100 miles from both Tulsa and OKC and 160 miles from Dallas. With a location a few miles west of Highway 75 and south of Highway 1, the property is easily accessible from any of the metro areas. It has frontage on a paved county road on its western side and it is currently accessed from a county-maintained gravel road on its southeast corner.  

A small camp site perfect for you RV is already set up near a small pond at the entrance to the property. From there, its all land, woods and water with miles of nicely maintained trails to take you to all of the best spots. A large pipeline runs north and south through the eastern edge of the property. This is primarily an upland setting with smaller post oaks and the owners have used this pipeline to their advantage by establishing food plots and bow stand set ups in the undisturbed block of woods to the west of it. Small trails snake through this block of woods from the larger food plot down to a "throw and grow" plot located in a slight draw on the north end. In this area, a clearing has been established that cuts west along the property line from the pipeline leading back to a large meadow in the center of the property. The meadow area has a food plot tucked up against the wooded block with the balance split between mowed and standing prairie grass.

From this point on, the land features become much more diverse. You first notice it in the trees as you transition from the normal Oklahoma mixed upland hardwoods to a gigantic stand of River Birch. These trees stand out with their whitish, paper thin bark but more importantly give us clues about what is going on underground as they only grow in areas with very shallow groundwater. One strip of this land extends all the way to the banks of Big Creek where you can find horsetail reed growing in seeps at the top of the bank. These moist areas are important for wildlife because they will sustain forage growth deep into a drought.

Flanking these areas are stretches of sandy loam soil that are slightly higher in elevation and are covered with enormous red oaks, white oaks, black walnuts, pecan, sycamores, ash, cottonwoods and even a few box elders. This mixture gives us a few more clues about how the property will perform over time as these species all thrive with some amount of natural subirrigation. This tells us that the groundwater in this area is within reach of the trees but not so shallow as to drown them. Again, this is an important fact as water is necessary for these enormous "mother" trees to regularly produce massive nut crops. The current owners have also smartly integrated food plots into these areas. These plots have corn feeders as an attractant and also small protein feeders to provide additional nutrition.

Cover is essential to holding whitetails, and in particular, trophy bucks. Big Creek Ranch has multiple dense stands of mature cedar trees. These are not the annoying juvenile cedars that encroach on open land, rather, they are large, old cedars with diameters of one foot or more that have a legitimate place in mature forests. These isolated pockets of cover are surrounded by growths of large hardwoods near Big Creek and provide an ideal place for a trophy buck to feel comfortable bedding down. In addition, there are also isolated plum thickets and areas with standing prairie grass which are ideal sunning locations for deer on blue sky winter days.

The ranch takes its name from the 3/4 mile run of Big Creek that extends through the western edge of the property. This deep channel creek is a live source of clean, clear water. Its steep banks also help to funnel deer to the easy crossings which makes it easier to intercept and observe the movements of the deer herd. Plus, you may find that some of your favorite times on the place involve exploring the creek with your kids and grandkids looking for arrowheads and fossils.

Ultimately, ranch selection is a matter of time. Do you have the time to spend learning a raw, unmanaged property through years of trial and error or do you want a place where you can start having success tomorrow? Although the sellers intend to remove their stands and feeders, Big Creek Ranch offers you a great framework for immediate enjoyment. You don't have to figure out where to establish food plots or set up stands as they are already optimized with respect to the location of water, bedding and trails. You don't have to disturb the woods by building new trails, they are already right where they need to be. Maybe most important of all, you don't have to manage the property for two or three years before you find out for sure if the hunting is everything you thought it would be. The deer on Big Creek Ranch have been documented and you can judge for yourself now.

As always, you will likely want to make lodging improvements that fit your family's needs and the Land Doctors are happy to discuss building your dream hunting lodge. If you want a place to enjoy now, then please call Sean Childress at 580 320 5791 to discuss or set up a showing of Big Creek Ranch.