Mesa Vista East Division

The property is improved, with the main headquarter improvements being located in a scenic tree covered setting. These improvements include two comfortable homes, a gun room, large rock faced barn, four bay storage building and an old frame feed house that was restored by Mr. Pickens when he first purchased the nucleus of the ranch in 1971. Towards the eastern portion of the ranch are the original Payne Ranch Headquarters improvements. The Payne Ranch is one of the divisions Boone assembled over the years.

About 15 years ago, Mr. Pickens dredged a man-made creek, known as Boone’s Creek, which basically parallels the Canadian River. Surging water can overflow from a large circular concrete water holding reservoir located along Boone’s Creek. This creek flows a distance of 2.5–3 miles through the East Division of the property and is located in the Canadian River bottom. This dredging captured sub-surface water, being the actual water table in the Canadian River bottom. As the creek was formed, water from the high-water table rose and filled the man-made creek channel. During the summer months, because the water table is normally not as high, the creek can be supplemented by well water to enhance the flow. During the winter months, as the water table rises, supplemental well water may not be needed.

Boone’s Creek first flows into two shallow man-made duck ponds, one containing approximately 15 surface acres and the other approximately 20 surface acres. These ponds have perfect tall grass vegetation for waterfowl habitat. The creek then continues on, ultimately flowing into a large man-made fishing lake, which contains approximately 20 surface acres. A main road through the ranch travels along Boone’s Creek and showcases this outstanding man-made water development. These exceptional water features are only duplicated on Boone’s Headquarters Division of the Mesa Vista Ranch, and to the knowledge of the broker, do not exist on any other ranch in the Texas Panhandle.

Another productive creek bottom area, Indian Creek, drains through a portion of the ranch for several miles. Indian Creek drains into the Canadian on the property. This creek is supplemented by live springs and several large, deep natural or man-made fishing holes. Cottonwoods are common along Indian Creek and its tributaries. Because Indian Creek also has a high water table, along with deep holes of water, it would be possible to construct another man-made creek in this area of the ranch, if desired. Further east, a wide creek bottom, known as Three Corrals Creek, runs through the eastern portion of the ranch, also draining into the Canadian.

The river and creek bottom country are both scenic and productive, offering outstanding wildlife habitat. Immediately to the south of the river bottom, the elevation gradually increases as the property transitions into rolling and undulating mid and tall grass sand hills country. Typical sand hill vegetation includes sumac, sage, wild plum thickets, and groves of hackberry trees.

The Mesa Vista Ranch is located on top of the prolific Ogallala Water Formation. The water rights under a portion of the East Division were sold by a previous owner but, Mr. Pickens retained all water rights under approximately 5,200 acres of this portion of the ranch. Full domestic and livestock water rights remain on the balance of the property. All owned water rights will convey with the sale of the property. Four irrigation wells are developed on the property. If needed, any of these wells can be used to supplement Boone’s Creek, or used for normal irrigation purposes. Three of the wells are capable of producing 200-300 gallons of water a minute. Many thousands of acres of water rights in Roberts County have sold in the past few years for approximately $500 per acre. 

Besides the conveyance of the valuable water rights, all wind generation royalty rights will convey with the property. There is scattered oil and gas production on the ranch.

For the most part, and from an operational standpoint, the Canadian River forms the north boundary of the property. In some places the south banks of the river are the surveyed boundary and in other areas, the true ownership boundary is just south of the river. In several places, the actual ownership boundary crosses over the north boundary of the river. Because the river bottom is sub irrigated, with standing water in places, access to the river itself is very limited, especially in the winter months as the water table rises.

Throughout Mr. Pickens’ ownership, he continued to enhance the productivity of the Mesa Vista Ranch, with the primary focus being quail habitat improvement; however, these improvements have been beneficial for all wildlife. Quail feeders are found all over the ranch and waterlines have been run through portions of the property to numerous, protected, quail watering holes. Even during droughts, native quail have access to grain in the feeders and water along the waterline network. Throughout the year, grain is scattered along roadways to supplement the quail. A few food plots are located on the ranch. These cultivated areas are typically planted to wheat and serve as a magnet for deer. 

The ranch is fenced, crossfenced, and livestock water is available (windmills, solar wells, etc.), but very few cattle have been run on the ranch in recent years, as the focus has definitely been on wildlife enhancements. Besides quail, the ranch has an outstanding white tail deer population, impressive mule deer, a few antelope, feral hogs, aoudad, and exceptional migratory waterfowl. The sportman will enjoy the bass fishing available in the stocked lake and in Boone’s Creek.