3813 US Highway 60 #Rito Springs, Quemado, NM 87829

Recently Reduced! When one pulls a quarter-mile off State Hwy 60, into the family held Catron County’s Rito Springs Ranch, Quemado, New Mexico, a magical transformation takes place. Comprised of + - 6699 deeded acres plus 6761 state & 1180 BLM grazing lease acres. This amazing holding totals +- 14,640 acres. This historic Rito Springs Ranch has remained in the same family for +- 122 years! Catron County’s New Mexico Big Game Unit 12, in the very heart of big bull elk country has produced the 420+ state record bull elk in recent years, and is most noted for trophy elk, & antelope and great cattle production. Rito Springs Ranch has consistently carried +- 200 pairs year round and as high as 300 pairs on moister years. Located +- 3 miles east of Quemado New Mexico, the ranch is remarkably private, and one never realizes the secret oasis that exists just beyond the buffer provided by canyons, creek & 15-acre spring fed lake! From the ranch gate, Phoenix is 4 1/2 hours, Albuquerque is 2.5 hours and Springerville, Az is 55 minutes with a jet-capable airport. Being a family holding for over a century, the ranch has been a traditional working cattle ranch with an annual income averaging Cattle +/- $117,000 annual, Hunting +/- $33,000 annual, Water sales +/- $25,000 annual, and Gravel – no contracts in place currently but averaged $50,000 per year. Of course being a fully stocked working cattle ranch for 100+ years, leaves the full recreational aspect of the ranch yet to be tapped. While producing world class bull elk , book class antelope, and some exceptional mule deer the ranch is one of the nations best candidates with very little actual adjustment, revising the current cattle production focus to a trophy elk hunting ranch, while maintaining low ag tax status and enjoying cattle income. The hidden jewel of Rito Springs is the water. Blessed by close to a mile of springs, the State of New Mexico’s engineers' office records + -200 irrigated acres and at least that many acres sub-irrigated. The spring-fed + - 15 acre lake , stocked with largemouth bass, bluegills, yellow perch, and monster blue catfish, flows year round across a waterfall, irrigating the valley. Up to 200 head of elk are in the irrigated fields each night and one has push an elk out to let an antelope or mule deer in! +- 7 water wells complement the ranch. With nearby Arizona receiving +-18,000 more big game tag applicants than last year, and neighboring Colorado receiving over 60,000 more applicants for the 2021 season, the +- 6 mature bull elk tags, one ES archery, and one cow elk tag received annually are an incredible dividend for the ranch holder. Awarding a client, family member, kids, and grandkids an outdoor experience harvesting their very first bull elk and a limit of largemouth bass in the very same day is an experience not seen often. One can count on one hand and have fingers left over to count the properties that can provide such a treasured event. Antelope and Mule deer tags are over the counter for the landowner. Opening day of 2021 archery season filled a nice bull elk archery tag. Harvest percentages annually have come close to 100%. Corrals: There are working corrals scattered throughout the ranch. There is a large set of steel corrals with scales and a squeeze chute at the headquarters for working and shipping cattle, steel working corrals at the Palmer place, and steel panel working corrals at Cat Well. At Rodriguez Well, there are working corrals constructed of lumber and mesh wire. Houses and Other Buildings: Residential improvements are modest. At headquarters, there is a two-bedroom, 1 1/2 bath home that the owner stays in when at the ranch working. Also at headquarters, is a large steel shop/feed barn and a metal two car garage. At the Palmer place, there is a three bedroom, two bath home that the hired man lives in and a shop building constructed of metal and shipping containers.