The Rolling Plains Ranch is a 373-acre piece of the big deer country of the eastern Texas Panhandle. Located on the Salt Fork of the Red River, this ranch has the potential to produce big whitetail bucks, loads of bobwhite quail, and Rio Grande turkeys.

The Land

Located in central Collingsworth County on the south side of the Salt Fork of the Red River Rolling Plains Ranch is the prefect size for bow hunting and gun hunting and provides the rare opportunity in this part of Texas to hunt from tree stands. At around 2,100 feet in elevation on the south end, the land drops about 100 feet on the northern end as the red clay transitions to sand hills and then drops off into the river bottomland on the northern end of the ranch.

Vegetative, the land varies from south to north to provide a buffet of plants beneficial to a variety of wildlife species. On the tighter clay soils on the south end of the property, grasslands dominate as buffalo grass, little bluestem, and sand drop seed are interspersed with prickly pear, yucca, and mesquite trees. A third of the way into the land, sand hills rise from the landscape and brush species like sand sage, wild plum and skunk bush sumac dominate and grasses like little bluestem and trees like cedar and hackberry are peppered throughout. On the northern edge, the land drops off at a small escarpment and flattens out to create a 25-acre bottomland with big, mature hardwood elms, bois d’arc and cottonwoods.

Flowing north along the length of the property, several small creeks and draws incise the property which create pockets of mature hardwood tree like elm, western soapberry, locust, and cottonwood.

On the southwest corner of the ranch, 51-acres of fallow farm ground is surrounded by an old barbed wire fence.


The Wildlife

The Rolling Plains Ranch lies in an area that’s historically known for producing big bodied, big antlered whitetail deer. Since this place hasn’t been hunted in several years, there’s no track record for producing big bucks. However, with ample food, cover, travel corridors, and surrounded on two sides by irrigated farm ground, all of the conditions exist to produce quality whitetail bucks.

In addition to whitetail deer, the generous mix food-producing plants and loafing and nesting cover, upland birds like bobwhite quail and Rio Grande turkeys flourish on the property.

Furthermore, bobcats and coyotes provide year around opportunities for the hunter.


Agricultural Practices

While there is a 51-acre farm field located on the property, it’s been several years since cropping. The balance of the land, while suitable for livestock grazing, hasn’t been grazed for several years. On the southeast side of the property, an old set of cattle catch pens stand but are in need of repair.

Structures/Fences/Improvements

No buildings exist on the property but there is an abandoned well on the southeast side. The entire property is surrounded by barbed wire fence of varying age.

On the north end of the property, a small, spring-fed pond provides water for wildlife.

A Little About the Area

From the Handbook of Texas Online:

“Collingsworth County, on the eastern edge of the Texas Panhandle, is bordered on the east by Oklahoma, on the north by Wheeler County, on the west by Donley County, and on the south by Childress and Hall counties. The county is named for James Collinsworth, the first chief justice of the Republic of Texas, whose name was misspelled in the legislation that established the county. The center of Collingsworth County is located at approximately 100°15' north longitude and 34°57' west latitude, about five miles north-northwest of Wellington, the county seat. Wellington is ninety miles east-southeast of Amarillo. Collingsworth County occupies 894 square miles of rolling prairie and river breaks located to the east of the Texas High Plains. The county terrain is such that about half of its area is not suitable for farming. Therefore ranching remains strong in the county balanced but not displaced by farms. The county's sandy and loam soils support a variety of native grasses as well as cotton, wheat, and grain sorghums.

The elevation of the county ranges from 1,800 to 2,600 feet above sea level, the average annual maximum temperature is 99° F in July, the average annual minimum is 26° F in January, the average annual precipitation is 22.03 inches, and the growing season averages 212 days per year.
During the 1980s agricultural production in Collingsworth County averaged around $28 million annually, with a healthy mix of cotton, grain, and beef production. By 2000 peanuts had emerged as an important local crop, and the county was second in the state in acreage planted in peanuts that year. In 2004 some 113,900 acres were planted, of which almost 30,000 were irrigated, and cotton, peanuts, and wheat were the primary crops. That same year the county reported 32,000 head of cattle. In 2000 county communities included Dodson (115), Samnorwood (39), and Quail (33). The bulk of the county's population, 2,275 inhabitants, resided in Wellington, the county seat.”