Wilkses’ Bull Mountain Ranch on the market again | State & Regional

“The largest mule deer taken scored 194 while taking a few 180 class mule deer and a 152 whitetail,” the listing said.

The property, owned by Texas billionaire brothers Dan and Farris Wilks, was also offered for sale at the same price in 2019, along with three other Wilks Ranch Montana Ltd properties.

The Wilkses drew statewide attention recently after Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks awarded the brothers’ N Bar Ranch eight free either-sex elk tags as part of its private land access program. The ranch contains one of the largest elk herds in Montana, spread across three counties and hunting districts.

A video accompanying the Bull Mountain Ranch listing features elk and archery hunting footage before focusing on ranching opportunities.

“To the rancher, Bull Mountain Ranch is a place of numerous water resources and excellent grasses for grazing,” the listing said. “To the hunter, Bull Mountain Ranch is an ideal, natural game preserve. Rich pastures of grass, abundant water and plentiful game make Bull Mountain Ranch an exceptional, one of a kind ranch.”

Lack of public access to private property to reduce elk numbers has become a problem for Montana’s wildlife agency as some legislators question why FWP isn’t doing more to reduce elk populations. Some hunters and conservation groups fear the state under new leadership may be moving to a model that would provide landowners transferable hunting tags, in essence monetizing wildlife, which is a public resource. Landowner groups and a market-oriented environmental group are backing such tags as a way to reward landowners for providing wildlife habitat.