Partnership, Respect & Success

PROFILE

Beaverhead Ranch Group: Partnership, Respect & Success

Story and Photos by Travis Driscoll

Imagine a place unlike any other, where the sun shines 310 days per year. A land where snowcapped mountains gradually give way to a sprawling expanse of high plains. Here the sunrise illuminates vast lands, revealing cattle grazing peacefully alongside trophy-sized elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, aoudad, oryx and a whole host of other diverse game and wildlife. In this enchanted land, rose-colored deserts stand in stark against the turquoise sky dotted by pillowy white clouds and the sunsets blaze red like fire against a rugged Rocky Mountains.

No this isn’t Montana or Idaho. It’s not Wyoming or Colorado or even Arizona. This is New Mexico.

New Mexico is the hidden gem of the American ranch world, whether it be for recreation, hunting or cattle. Beaverhead Ranch Group (BRG), much like the state itself, is a hidden gem of ranch brokerages.

Some of the most storied ranches in the West are here, including the Bell Ranch, The T.O., the UU Bar, The C.S., Vermejo Park and The Great Western to name just a few. A quick glance at the list of the top landowners in America will reveal that several have considerable ranch holdings in the “Land of Enchantment.” Through the years, BRG has had the privilege of representing some of them.

Evolution of Beaverhead Ranch Group

Partnerships grown from mutual respect and success are the foundation of today’s BRG. For the first 11 years, the brokerage, founded by John Diamond, whose roots are based in generations of ranching and outfitting, was known as Beaverhead Outdoors. In fact, the name Beaverhead can be traced to the Diamond’s family ranch at Beaverhead, New Mexico, founded by John’s grandfather in the 1960s.

John Diamond

In 2017, John and ranch broker Travis Driscoll worked together on a transaction for a 19,000± acre cattle and hunting ranch in Catron County, New Mexico. Based on the success of that transaction and their strong working relationship, the two decided that adding Driscoll to the BRG team made a lot of sense.

Travis Driscoll

“Travis kind of came out of nowhere and made a name for himself in ranch real estate,” John said. “It impressed me because that’s really hard to do.”

His father’s outfitting business, which in its 40-year history has grown to one of the largest in the state, also proudly operated under the Beaverhead banner. John began guiding commercial hunts when he was 18 years old. Eventually, he took his knowledge and experience and forged a new path for himself, brokering ranch properties throughout New Mexico.

Along the way John brought his long-time friend, GT Nunn, into the brokerage to bolster his roster. Nunn is one of New Mexico’s most respected outfitters, guiding some of the state's most elite big game hunts. Known for his prowess with Bighorn sheep, he has become the go-to outfitter for New Mexico’s Governor Sheep Tag.

GT Nunn

“GT and I grew up the same way, working on our families’ ranches and guiding hunts,” said John, noting that Nunn, through his business Frontier Outfitting has earned a reputation as the state’s preeminent guide service for sheep hunting, a pursuit where the tags start at $150,000. “We know New Mexico from the inside out. Our knowledge comes from a lifetime of first-hand experience.”

Unlike John and Nunn, Driscoll, a native of southern California, got to New Mexico by happy accident. In 1992, he was en route from Colorado to California when his Volkswagen bus broke down in northern New Mexico. Driscoll spent nearly 25 years in the advertising world, where he built an award-winning career and portfolio, but at heart, he was a country boy who wanted out of the corporate world. He leveraged his marketing expertise to get a foot in the door of ranch real estate.

In 2022, BRG added a new broker, Bobby Duran, to the mix. While the brokerage never focused on growing its team, when the opportunity to include Duran came along, the team acted.

Bobby Duran

Duran is an accomplished Wildlife Biologist who worked many years with New Mexico Game and Fish and more recently with the Taos Pueblo. Additionally, he has been the go-to hunting guide for Frontier Outfitting, guiding some of the company’s most high-profile New Mexico hunters. He is also a rodeo bullfighter, sacrificing himself to protect cowboys around the state. His extensive experience, approachable personality and multi-faceted knowledge brings great strength to BRG’s roster of highly qualified brokers.

Kandes Goss

We believe in a no-nonsense way of doing business that is based on the truth and complete transparency—our client's interests come before our own.

Big Things in a Small Package

Historically, land serves as a strong, safe investment; in that regard, NewMexico is especially appealing. Cost per acre and cost of ownership are some of the friendliest in the west when one considers comparable land, beauty, grazing and hunting opportunities.

Since its inception in 2011, BRG has brokered nearly half a billion dollars in New Mexico ranch real estate. Year in and year out, the brokerage handles some of the highest volume of transactions, in both deeded acreage and monetary value, in the state.

Notable transactions include the 171,000± acre UU Bar ranch in 2018 and the brokerage’s first transaction in 2012, the renowned Gila National Forest Slash Ranch at over 76,000± total acres. Over the past 12 months, BRG has brokered more than $50± million in transactions with another $30± million currently under contract at the time of this writing. Many deals handled by the team are private, off-the-market transactions that often involve honoring NDAs and privacy agreements.

New Mexico is grand, diverse, beautiful, and accessible, a place where one can experience the majesty of alpine meadows and high deserts within a short, easy drive of one another. Here the Old West still lives—and there is perhaps no team of brokers who know these lands as well as Beaverhead Ranch Group.