Sold | Velociraptor Ranch | Fay Ranches

VELOCIRAPTOR RANCH

Billings, Carbon & Yellowstone Counties, Montana

$5,950,000 | 4,833.47± Acres

Velociraptor Ranch | Billings, Montana

INTRODUCTION

Patented by the U.S. government and founded in 1912 by the family who owns it today, Velociraptor Ranch is truly reminiscent of the “Old West.” With great views of the eastern front of the Rockies and nestled in the foothills of the Pryor/Bighorn mountains, the rolling grasslands, dryland crops, breathtaking canyons, and year-round Cottonwood Creek, springs, waterholes, and seeps produce big mule deer, antelope, black bear, and large populations of sharptailed grouse and Hungarian partridge.

The ranch has historically been operated as a cattle operation, running between 150 to 200 pairs all year round, by the same family for over 100 years. There are 800± acres of dryland wheat, 600± on the deeded ground and 200±on the State leases and another 100± acres of hay ground on deeded land. The ranch also has 960± acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing leases.

The property is only about a 20-minute drive from Montana’s largest city and business and cultural center, Billings, and yet has the only house in the upper Cottonwood Creek Valley and seems a million miles away from civilization. At night not a light can be seen in any direction except the stars. The Bighorn Canyon Recreation Area is roughly an hour to the east, offering superb fishing and boating. Cody, Wyoming, an hour to the south, or Red Lodge, Montana, an hour to the west, are scenic gateway cities bordering Yellowstone National Park.

Velociraptor Ranch offers privacy, excellent hunting and wildlife habitat, water and grass for a livestock operation, and breathtaking views of the nearby mountains. On a clear day, you can see five different mountain ranges up close and on the horizon.

QUICK FACTS

• 4,833.47± deeded acres

• 960± acres of BLM leases, 320± acres of State lease

• The ranch is known for being in one of the most renowned areas of high scientific interest for dinosaur and fossil discovery in North America

• Year-round Cottonwood Creek

• Numerous artesian springs, waterholes, seeps, and one reservoir

• 700± acres of cropland farmed for wheat and hay

• Historically has run 150 to 200 pairs of cattle year-round, depending on wet/dry years

• 1,130 square foot well-maintained homestead residence, large shop, and numerous grain storage facilities

• 20± minutes from Billings, Montana

• World-class upland bird hunting for sharptailed grouse and Hungarian partridge

• Great mule deer, antelope, and black bear hunting

LOCATION

Velociraptor Ranch is a 20± minute drive south from Montana’s largest city, Billings (population 184,167), and home to Montana State University Billings and Rocky Mountain College. Billings is considered the trailhead of Montana and has the largest and one of the most critically acclaimed medical services corridors in Montana, Wyoming, and the Western Dakotas.

Twenty minutes due west down a scenic country dirt road lies the cowboy town of Edgar, along the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River, which is home to the world-famous Edgar Bar for huge steaks and giant prawns and lots of western hospitality.

GETTING THERE

From Billings, take Duck Creek road south of I-90 all the way until you drop off the big hill into the Cottonwood creek valley on cottonwood creek road.

AIRPORT SERVICES

The Billings Logan International Airport is located about 35 minutes from the property. Alaska Air, Delta, United, Frontier, American Airlines, Allegiant Air, and Edwards Air Service provide service to Billings with direct flights to and from Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

AREA HISTORY

The Keebler family homesteaded Velociraptor Ranch in 1912. The Bozeman Trail routed through the ranch in several places post-Civil War in the 1860s, with settlers heading for the gold rush areas of western Montana. This area was heavily homesteaded during World War I, with a neighbor in practically every coulee. A hundred years later, the ranch possesses the only yard light in the valley, as most of the settlers went bust in the Great Depression and were incorporated into the larger surviving farms and ranches. One of the properties added at that time was in Greeno place, which had a rustling, kill, and butchering corral hidden in the rock canyons, not viewable from anywhere. So well hidden, in fact, that the current owners didn’t find it for three years after they had acquired the property. The old house, cabins, and buildings tucked up in the rocks are a hole-in-the-wall hideout right out of an old western movie.

Old buffalo wallows were still around in the 1950s, still being used by cattle, but over the course of the current owner’s lifetime, they have generally grassed over. Dinosaurs quietly became known in the area as early as the 1960s, documented by a Yale paleontologist named Ostrum. His publishings didn’t become well known or established among the locals until around 1998, when a University of Oklahoma paleontologist named Cifelli showed up. Professor Cifelli had come to the ranch looking for “prehistoric mice and other small very early mammals,”….and dinosaurs kept getting in his way.

Jack Horner & the Museum of the Rockies got involved; the rest is history. The drainage on the west side of the property is known as Wolf Creek as it is now famous in paleontology circles for early Cretaceous dinosaur fossils, dating 110 million years old. Velociraptor ranch is of high interest scientifically, with other very limited parts of southern Montana, northern Wyoming, and Patagonia(Argentina) having this very oldest geologic layer appearing in North and South America. Most dinosaurs are from the late Cretaceous period, 6070 million years ago. Hector, the now famous fossil found in Wolf Creek a few years ago, sold at Christie’s Auction House for $12.4M in March 2022 and is the first complete velociraptor found. Find a new species (it happens often), and you’ll probably get your name on the thing, like Montana Lestus Keeblerorum, the prehistoric shrew-like rodent Professor Cifelli was looking for and did find. Many more dinosaurs/fossils are yet to be found as they constantly surface via erosion.

ACREAGE

• 4,833.47± deeded acres

• 1,280± leased acres

• 6,280± total acres

The acreage at Velociraptor Ranch consists of wheatfields, rolling grasslands, rocky outcrops, big canyons and coulees, and cottonwood tree creek bottoms.

IMPROVEMENTS

• 1,128 square foot well-maintained homestead residence

• Large shop and cinderblock calving barn

• Grain storage facilities

• Multiple outbuildings and sheds

• Two wells

• One reservoir

• One big artesian spring

RECREATION

• Horseback riding and cowboying

• Hiking and exploring the canyons and caves

• Fossil hunting and looking for Indian artifacts and arrowheads

• ATV riding

• Four-wheeling

• E-biking

f is H ing

The longest undammed river in the lower 48, the mighty Yellowstone is nearby, offering rafting, jet boating, and blue ribbon flyfishing. Also about an hour away is the renowned Bighorn River and adjacent Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.

H unting & W ildlife

The big canyons and numerous coulees on the ranch consistently produce mammoth mule deer and big black bears. Antelope are also present on the rolling grass hills. But Velociraptor ranch is most famous for its large populations of native sharptailed grouse, sage grouse, and Hungarian partridge. The bird hunting is so outstanding that three Fay Ranches sales agents currently have it leased from the owner, have been hunting it for over 20 years, and think it may be some of the best upland bird hunting in Montana or anywhere else in the United States!

Photo not taken on property

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS & ACTIVITIES

• Billings & Bozeman for fine dining and shopping

• Edgar Bar

• Red Lodge Mountain ski area

• Cody, Wyoming

• Yellowstone National Park

• Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, where Custer made his last stand

• Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

• Cooney reservoir in Montana

• Buffalo Bill Reservoir in Wyoming for fishing, boating, and waterskiing

INCOME OPPORTUNITY

There are several opportunities for income generation. There are approximately 700± acres of dryland wheat and hay, and the ranch has historically run 150 to 200 pairs of cattle all year round, depending on wet or dry years. Currently, the ranch is leased out for cattle and sheep grazing. The ranch is also leased for bird and deer hunting. Dinosaur and fossil recovery present another lucrative revenue potential.

WATER RIGHTS

Seven separate water rights are on file with the Department of Natural Resources.

MINERAL RIGHTS

Most of the mineral rights are owned by the Seller and all will convey at closing. Seller plans to reserve a royalty of 50% on any future dinosaur or fossil sales. Mineral rights are not guaranteed. It is suggested that the Buyer conduct a mineral search with a title company.

CONSERVATION | STEWARDSHIP

Each of us at Fay Ranches loves the land and wants to see it remain as productive agricultural ground as well as quality fish and wildlife habitat. Through promoting the use of thoughtful land stewardship, Fay Ranches has guided owners toward a legacy of conserving wide-open spaces, enhancing and creating fisheries and wildlife habitats, and implementing sustainable agricultural operations. Fay Ranches is proud to say that since our company began in 1992, our clients’ conservation ethic and land-use practices have significantly enhanced the landscape on which we work.

SUMMARY

Velociraptor Ranch offers 4,833± deeded acres with 1,280± acres of BLM and State lease ground, dryland wheat fields, grazing, year-round Cottonwood Creek, and numerous seeps & springs. With world-class upland bird hunting for sharptailed grouse and Hungarian partridge, big mule deer, black bear, lion, bobcat, and antelope, the hunter will be in Heaven. The big canyons and coulees are famous for known dinosaur and fossil deposits. Grand views of the nearby Pryor/Bighorn Mountains and the Eastern Rocky Mountain Front set the scene. Minutes from Billings, Montana’s largest city, the ranch feels like it’s worlds away from civilization.

$5,950,000

TAXES TERMS

$4,800±

Cash, Conventional Financing, 1031 Tax Exchange

CONTACT NOTICE

Please contact George Duke at (406) 670-7258 | gduke@fayranches.com or Dane Reed at (406) 4250939 | Dane Reed@fayranches.com to schedule a showing. This is an exclusive listing. An agent from Fay Ranches must be present at all showings, unless otherwise noted or other arrangements are made. To view other properties, fly fishing properties, and sporting ranches that we have listed, please visit our web page at www.fayranches.com .

Offer is subject to errors, omissions, prior sale, change or withdrawal without notice, and approval of purchase by owner. Information regarding land classification, carrying capacities, maps, etc., is intended only as a general guideline and has been provided by the owners and other sources deemed reliable, but the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Prospective purchasers are encouraged to research the information to their own satisfaction.

RELATIONSHIPS IN REAL ESTATE

As required by Montana law, a broker or salesperson shall disclose the existence and nature of relevant agency or other relationships to the parties to a real estate transaction. The various relationships and description of duties are as follows:

1. SELLER AGENT

A “Seller Agent” is obligated to the Seller to:

Act solely in the best interests of the seller; Obey promptly and efficiently all lawful instructions of the seller; Disclose all relevant and material information that concerns the real estate transaction and that is known to the seller agent and not known or discoverable by the seller unless the information is subject to confidentiality arising from a prior or existing agency relationship on the part of the seller agent; Safeguard the seller’s confidences; Exercise reasonable care, skill, and diligence in pursuing the seller’s objectives and in complying with the terms established in the listing agreement; Fully account to the seller for any funds or property of the seller that comes into the seller agent’s possession; and Comply with all applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations.

Montana law permits a real estate agent, after providing written disclosure to a seller and obtaining a seller’s written consent, to represent multiple sellers of property and to list properties for sale that may compete with the seller’s property, without breaching any obligation to the seller.

A “Seller Agent” is obligated to the Buyer to:

Disclose to a buyer or the buyer agent any adverse material facts that concern the property and that are known to the seller agent, except that the seller agent is not required to inspect the property or verify any statements made by the seller; Disclose to a buyer or the buyer agent when the seller agent has no personal knowledge of the veracity of information regarding adverse material facts that concern the property; Act in good faith with a buyer and a buyer agent; and Comply with all applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations.

2. BUYER AGENT (cont)

A “Buyer Agent” is obligated to the Seller to:

Disclose any adverse material facts that are known to the buyer agent and that concern the ability of the buyer to perform on any purchase offer; Disclose to the seller or the seller agent when the buyer agent has no personal knowledge of the veracity of information regarding adverse material facts that concern the property; Act in good faith with a seller and a seller agent; and Comply with all applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations.

3. DUAL AGENCY If a seller agent is also representing a buyer, or a buyer agent is also representing a seller with regard to a property, then a dual agency relationship may be established. In a dual agency relationship, the dual agent is equally obligated to both the seller and the buyer. These obligations may prohibit the dual agent from advocating exclusively on behalf of the seller or buyer and may limit the depth and degree of representation that you receive. A broker or a salesperson may not act as a dual agent without the signed, written consent of both the seller and the buyer.

A “Dual Agent” is obligated to a Seller in the same manner as a seller agent and is obligated to a Buyer in the same manner as a buyer agent, except

a dual agent:

Has a duty to disclose to a buyer or seller any adverse material facts that are known to the dual agent regardless of any confidentiality considerations; and May not disclose the following information without the written consent of the person to whom the information is confidential; The fact that the buyer is willing to pay more than the offered purchase price; The fact that the seller is willing to accept less than the purchase price that the seller is asking for the property; Factors motivating either party to buy or sell; and Any information that a party indicates in writing to the dual agent is to be kept confidential.

4. STATUTORY BROKER

A “Statutory Broker” is not the agent of the Buyer or Seller but nevertheless is obligated to them to:

Disclose to: i. a buyer or buyer agent any adverse material facts that concern the property and that are known to the statutory broker, except that the statutory broker is not required to inspect the property or verify any statements made by the seller; and ii. a seller or a seller agent any adverse material facts that are known to the statutory broker and that concern the ability of the buyer to perform on any purchase offer; Exercise reasonable care, skill, and diligence in putting together a real estate transaction, and Comply with all applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations.

5. IN-HOUSE SELLER AGENT DESIGNATE Created when the agency holds both the listing on a property from the seller and a buyer broker agreement with the buyer, an in-house seller agent designate is a broker or salesperson employed by or associated as an independent contractor with a broker and designated by the broker as the exclusive agent for a seller for a designated transaction and who may not be considered to be acting for other than the seller with respect to the designated transaction.

6. IN-HOUSE BUYER AGENT DESIGNATE Created when the agency holds both the listing on a property from the seller and a buyer broker agreement with the buyer, an in-house buyer agent designate is a broker or salesperson employed by or associated as an independent contractor with a broker and designated by the broker as the exclusive agent for a buyer for a designated transaction and who may not be considered to be acting for other than the buyer with respect to the designated transaction.

BUYER AGENT

A “Buyer Agent” is obligated to the Buyer to: Act solely in the best interests of the buyer; Obey promptly and efficiently all lawful instructions of the buyer; Disclose all relevant and material information that concerns the real estate transaction and that is known to the buyer agent and not known or discoverable by the buyer, unless the information is subject to confidentiality arising from a prior or existing agency relationship on the part of the buyer agent; Safeguard the buyer’s confidences; Exercise reasonable care, skill, and diligence in pursuing the buyer’s objectives and in complying with the terms established in the listing agreement; Fully account to the buyer for any funds or property of the buyer that comes into the buyer agent’s possession; and Comply with all applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations.

Montana law permits a real estate agent, after providing written disclosure to a buyer and obtaining a buyer’s written consent, to represent multiple buyers interested in buying the same property or similar properties to properties in which a buyer is interested and to show properties in which a buyer is interested to other prospective buyers, without breaching any obligation to the buyer.