This is Texas. A Modern Texas. What Is A Ranch?

[workswithseed 2119]

3 minutes ago, ROFL BOX said:

Well, to be fair Coach Royal preferred the term "Cockroaches".

Is that why we call them that? I had no idea.

[SHOOTER12 8834]

1 hour ago, tejas60 said:

saw one on a hunting lease (not mine) south of Uvalde about 4 years ago. 

neighbor said he saw a pink one that's supposedly rare south of Alpine about 10 years ago. anybody heard of these? he smokes a lot of pot, so I don't know...

It's been about 4 or 5 years for me too. I remember when I was a kid it was nothing to see 50-100 in a day in Pleasanton.

[Bevo 13601]

6 minutes ago, luke duke said:

 

Sounds like a commune, you fucking hippy.

I wish I had a place like that.

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about buying the land. I'm not too excited about building a house though. I've been told by enough people that a timber frame home is going to run in the $250-$300 per sqft range. I'm hoping that I can get a hybrid stick and timber frame done for $175 per sqft. I have expensive taste but I have always been great at getting deals. I have a friend at Hinkley lighting where I can get fixtures at cost and I can get tile at cost and probably would prefer the new wood patterned tile over hardwood and ROFL will build the roof for pennies. 

[ROFL BOX 6649]

14 minutes ago, Bevo said:

and ROFL will build the roof for pennies.

Sure, 1,500 pennies per square inch.  I'm in.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

24 minutes ago, workswithseed said:

Is that why we call them that? I had no idea.

"(TCU) is like a bunch of cockroaches. It's not what they eat and tote off, it's what they fall into and mess up that hurts.”

_Darrel K. Royal
the SWC years

[CHIEF 5095]

21 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about buying the land. I'm not too excited about building a house though. I've been told by enough people that a timber frame home is going to run in the $250-$300 per sqft range. I'm hoping that I can get a hybrid stick and timber frame done for $175 per sqft. I have expensive taste but I have always been great at getting deals. I have a friend at Hinkley lighting where I can get fixtures at cost and I can get tile at cost and probably would prefer the new wood patterned tile over hardwood and ROFL will build the roof for pennies. 

Mrs. CHIEF works for a commercial modular building company, but they have spinoffs that do higher end modular, and I'm sure there are others, maybe even under $100 sq/ft to that area. Might not be exactly what you want, but would save you a buttload.

CHIEF

[troph 24914]

Mrs. CHIEF works for a commercial modular building company, but they have spinoffs that do higher end modular, and I'm sure there are others, maybe even under $100 sq/ft to that area. Might not be exactly what you want, but would save you a buttload.

CHIEF

We are going to be looking at modular potentially next year for a very remote location, I’d love a link. We may go with a shipping container solution too.

[Bevo 13601]

10 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

Mrs. CHIEF works for a commercial modular building company, but they have spinoffs that do higher end modular, and I'm sure there are others, maybe even under $100 sq/ft to that area. Might not be exactly what you want, but would save you a buttload.

CHIEF

What company?

[Johnny Sack 8397]

29 minutes ago, troph said:

We are going to be looking at modular potentially next year for a very remote location, I’d love a link. We may go with a shipping container solution too.

One of my best friends did modular at his place in between Freer and Benavides.   It is really nice.  
 

I will ask him the manufacturer and pm you.  

Edited June 23, 2020 by Johnny Sack

[Steel Shank 9432]

8 hours ago, SHOOTER12 said:

 

Definitely... but never expected to sprout a boner reading up on ranches.

Sometimes they appear at the oddest of times. Such is life.

[Scheiss Meister 8413]

Please pardon the poor quality of the images.  We saw these about 100 feet apart on the Devil's Hall Trail at Guadalupe Mountains National Park in 2005.  I don't think that I have seen one in the wild since then.  I had never seen one like the bottom one until then, and we saw two on the trail that day.

[workswithseed 2119]

My whole goal when I get back to Texas has been getting a chunk (about 50 acres) of land and make it a small native habitat. I've always wanted to take it down and reseed it with only native grass, then buy some harvester ant queens to populate the area, so I can put horny toads on my property, so they have thier food source.

Edited June 24, 2020 by workswithseed

[BottleRocket 647]

My FIL has a 5-600 acre ranch between Llano and Fredericksburg that goes back two generations. Three if you count my wife. He’s ‘retired’ now and runs about 100 pair cow/calf operation because it’s a passion of his. He leases to hunters which supplement the taxes and other expenses. We call it the ranch but he calls it home.

 

He says that when I show up to help it’s like losing two good men.

 

[SHOOTER12 8834]

45 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

Sometimes they appear at the oddest of times. Such is life.

This is try, however I will be calling my doctor, I'm way past the 4 hour threshold for safety.

And I don't care....

[Steel Shank 9432]

4 minutes ago, SHOOTER12 said:

This is try, however I will be calling my doctor, I'm way past the 4 hour threshold for safety.

And I don't care....

Godspeed and good fortune.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

 

Burnt Orange sunsets are continued proof that God is a Longhorn.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

11 hours ago, hullabelew said:

From what the old man says, fire ants and wild hogs are primarily the reason for the decline in horny toads.  Same with the quail population.  Really sad.  

 

As noted, loss of primary food source (harvester ants) due to fire ants and humans. Pesticides also probably play a role, either directly, or by killing of Harvester ants. Also killing by cats. Fire ants and hogs have definitely done a number on ground nesting birds.

 

 

10 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

Sweet little lizards. Flat and docile. Always told they could squirt blood out of their eyes, but I never saw it. They would just sit in your hand - and engage in a staring contest. Sweet little creatures. 

 

 

They do that when they are grabbed suddenly, like by a coyote that is going to eat them. Apparently tastes really really bad so the coyote spits them out. If you are gentle, they won't squirt.

 

8 hours ago, tejas60 said:

saw one on a hunting lease (not mine) south of Uvalde about 4 years ago. 

neighbor said he saw a pink one that's supposedly rare south of Alpine about 10 years ago. anybody heard of these? he smokes a lot of pot, so I don't know...

 

Pink one is probably a variant of the one in the second picture below (roundtail horned lizard), which is a different species, or could even be a third species, Desert Horned Lizard. There are a handful of different species that might be found in west texas. Color can vary quite a bit regionally in reptiles (see snake thread) which makes id-ing based on color difficult.

 

 

1 hour ago, Scheiss Meister said:

Please pardon the poor quality of the images.  We saw these about 100 feet apart on the Devil's Hall Trail at Guadalupe Mountains National Park in 2005.  I don't think that I have seen one in the wild since then.  I had never seen one like the bottom one until then, and we saw two on the trail that day.

 

bottom pic is a Roundtail horned lizard. Found in western US, including west texas. Different species from the Texas Horned Lizard, which is the top pick and the one that used to be so common in central texas.

[DalTxHornFan 3119]

2 hours ago, Scheiss Meister said:

Please pardon the poor quality of the images.  We saw these about 100 feet apart on the Devil's Hall Trail at Guadalupe Mountains National Park in 2005.  I don't think that I have seen one in the wild since then.  I had never seen one like the bottom one until then, and we saw two on the trail that day.

The last one I saw had an unfortunate encounter with my truck tire in a pasture at my deer lease west of Brady in the late 1980s.  Love those guys, but haven't seen one since.

[NoName 16408]

9 hours ago, BottleRocket said:

My FIL has a 5-600 acre ranch between Llano and Fredericksburg that goes back two generations. Three if you count my wife. He’s ‘retired’ now and runs about 100 pair cow/calf operation because it’s a passion of his. He leases to hunters which supplement the taxes and other expenses. We call it the ranch but he calls it home.

 

He says that when I show up to help it’s like losing two good men.

 

There are so many family ranches in Gillespie County that have been broken up in the last 20 (or even 10) years - glad to see it sounds like this one is staying in the family!

[Armybrat 40924]

15 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

"(TCU) is like a bunch of cockroaches. It's not what they eat and tote off, it's what they fall into and mess up that hurts.”

_Darrel K. Royal
the SWC years

I was at that 1961 game too. Damn toad kicked All American Jimmy Saxton in the back of the head as he was getting up after the play was whistled dead. Took him out of the game, and we lost 6-0. Sumbiches

Edited June 24, 2020 by Armybrat

[next2naus 439]

On 6/19/2020 at 2:51 PM, ROFL BOX said:

 

 

 

To most back East, the notion of owning even ½ an acre is a vast unmanageable portion of land that would need constant tending, mowing, maintenance, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You should not talk about things you do not know about. As example, I live "back East" and I have an acre and if we move will lilely get something thats two acres. Every lot in my neighborhood is at least an acre, same for the next one. 

[CHIEF 5095]

14 hours ago, Bevo said:

What company?

Aries Building Systems. I also have some plans I drew up that uses three shipping containers set up in a "U", sleeps up to 10, and has a hipped roof that covers the whole courtyard. Gonna build that in Southfork, CO in a few years. Can probably build the whole thing for less than 100k.

CHIEF

[troph 24914]

And there are fancy prefab ones too. Designs are getting really cool. Not sure what we are going to do but west central Texas or big bend country as a retreat is part of our plan. Prefab, prefab containers or containers and build ourselves are definitely top three ideas.

[Bevo 13601]

2 hours ago, CHIEF said:

Aries Building Systems. I also have some plans I drew up that uses three shipping containers set up in a "U", sleeps up to 10, and has a hipped roof that covers the whole courtyard. Gonna build that in Southfork, CO in a few years. Can probably build the whole thing for less than 100k.

CHIEF

Thanks. Not gonna lie: I had to look it up to know where Troy TX is located.

[CHIEF 5095]

26 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Thanks. Not gonna lie: I had to look it up to know where Troy TX is located.

That's where their manufacturing plant is located, they have one in California, and an affiliate in Washington State. Main headquarters are in Arlington, VA.

CHIEF

[Armybrat 40924]

3 hours ago, CHIEF said:

Aries Building Systems. I also have some plans I drew up that uses three shipping containers set up in a "U", sleeps up to 10, and has a hipped roof that covers the whole courtyard. Gonna build that in Southfork, CO in a few years. Can probably build the whole thing for less than 100k.

CHIEF

My nephew built this (photo taken during construction) on 5 acres near Leadville with that view of the Arkansas River:

 

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Armybrat

[conVINCEd 21470]

25 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

That's where their manufacturing plant is located, they have one in California, and an affiliate in Washington State. Main headquarters are in Arlington, VA.

CHIEF

I mistakenly thought the only thing manufactured in Troy was speeding tickets.  Learn something new every day.

[hullabelew 3724]

14 hours ago, BottleRocket said:

He says that when I show up to help it’s like losing two good men.

 

My old man used to say that to me all of the time.  

[Llano Estacado 1257]

https://hallhall.com/property-for-sale/colorado/seven-lakes-ranch/a091Y000023ozCB/

Greg Norman’s little shack in the woods is available.

[BabaYaga 15330]

2 hours ago, Llano Estacado said:

https://hallhall.com/property-for-sale/colorado/seven-lakes-ranch/a091Y000023ozCB/

Greg Norman’s little shack in the woods is available.

Take a check?

[ROFL BOX 6649]

You should not talk about things you do not know about. As example, I live "back East" and I have an acre and if we move will lilely get something thats two acres. Every lot in my neighborhood is at least an acre, same for the next one. 

So where are y'all from, you damned Yankee?

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[next2naus 439]

10 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

So where are y'all from, you damned Yankee?

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
 

I'm from Austin you dumbfuck. 78731

[Armybrat 40924]

20 minutes ago, next2naus said:

I'm from Austin you dumbfuck. 78731

My brother just sold his house on Eby Lane - moving from  a 7,000 sq/ft lot to a little over an acre place in Georgetown.

no spiral staircases involved though.

[Steel Shank 9432]

27 minutes ago, next2naus said:

I'm from Austin you dumbfuck. 78731

78739 > 78731

[ROFL BOX 6649]

I'm from Austin you dumbfuck. 78731

1. You new around here or... ? We're "assholes", not "dumbfucks".

2. "Back East" refers to the old idea of East Coast.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[ROFL BOX 6649]

I'm from Austin you dumbfuck. 78731

78731

How would that even remotely qualify as "back East" unless you were maybe from New Mexico? That's West Austin.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[Cajun 11753]

Own 1080 acres just south of Bigfoot, TX with two cousins.

You poachin' mutherfuckers ain't gettin' no satellite pics.

Good pig country...

 

Edited July 3, 2020 by Cajun

[Cajun 11753]

On 6/20/2020 at 12:07 AM, ROFL BOX said:

Paging @Cajun to the Burn Orange courtesy phone... Paging one mister "Cajun" to the Burnt Orange courtesy phone in the baggage claim area... you have a call waiting.

You rang?

 

Edited July 3, 2020 by Cajun

[Armybrat 40924]

Nice old Winchesters.

[Cajun 11753]

Their Holland & Holland cabinet is beyond the beyond.

[hookem2010 2625]

My whole goal when I get back to Texas has been getting a chunk (about 50 acres) of land and make it a small native habitat. I've always wanted to take it down and reseed it with only native grass, then buy some harvester ant queens to populate the area, so I can put horny toads on my property, so they have thier food source.

I'm 32 and still clawing my way out of grad school debt, but this sounds like just the sort of thing I'd like to do when I've saved some coin. Not necessarily horned toads specifically (although that sounds awesome), but some sort of habitat and wildlife restoration, even if at a very small scale. I would be incredibly content spending the second half of my life on a project that never really ends like that.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

On 6/23/2020 at 9:46 PM, workswithseed said:

My whole goal when I get back to Texas has been getting a chunk (about 50 acres) of land and make it a small native habitat. I've always wanted to take it down and reseed it with only native grass, then buy some harvester ant queens to populate the area, so I can put horny toads on my property, so they have thier food source.

That’s what we did on our place, only 24 acres and minus the horny toads.  It was pretty much solid juniper when we bought it.  Slowly and selectively cleared and planted native grass and put in erosion control.

[workswithseed 2119]

1 hour ago, hookem2010 said:

On 6/23/2020 at 7:46 PM, workswithseed said:

My whole goal when I get back to Texas has been getting a chunk (about 50 acres) of land and make it a small native habitat. I've always wanted to take it down and reseed it with only native grass, then buy some harvester ant queens to populate the area, so I can put horny toads on my property, so they have thier food source.

Read more  

I'm 32 and still clawing my way out of grad school debt, but this sounds like just the sort of thing I'd like to do when I've saved some coin. Not necessarily horned toads specifically (although that sounds awesome), but some sort of habitat and wildlife restoration, even if at a very small scale. I would be incredibly content spending the second half of my life on a project that never really ends like that.

I'm 27, and I don't get paid too much (by y'alls standard) as I'm only a welder, but when I went to a small community college, I had a professor talk about native grasses and and conserving water. This was after the drought of 2011, and that sparked my interest in it all, and trying to be holistic about the approach. I might never get close to 50 acres, but I want to get damned close. 

[CleverNickname 1321]

I have 51 acres (bought 35 in 2007 and buying 16 adjacent acres). I go probably 20 times a year (1:45 drive from my home). Honestly it is probably all I can handle in terms of keeping roads good, keeping the mesquite from taking over, and keeping the cedar from taking over. I always have projects going. If I had 200 ac it would either just be field/scrub or I would just not lay eyes on some areas for months and months. 

[ROFL BOX 6649]

5 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

I have 51 acres (bought 35 in 2007 and buying 16 adjacent acres). I go probably 20 times a year (1:45 drive from my home). Honestly it is probably all I can handle in terms of keeping roads good, keeping the mesquite from taking over, and keeping the cedar from taking over. I always have projects going. If I had 200 ac it would either just be field/scrub or I would just not lay eyes on some areas for months and months. 

Speaking of, got any updated pics of the joint?

[ROFL BOX 6649]

31 minutes ago, BurntEyes said:

Cedar is a pain on my Tennessee land, but the wild rose bushes that are everywhere are a real beating. I also have bamboo patches. I fucking hate bamboo.

You need the Pullerbear.

[HOOKEM4 5044]

I hired a guy to clear cedars last summer. Just gave him an area and said to clear as many as possible. The aftermath is some habitat for some creatures in some cedar piles and we had a small spring fire up for a short time in a draw below the clearing. My plan is to clear 30-40% of the cedar on the ranch. I can easily kill the small ones but may need to get a saw implement to clear faster. Cedars suck.

[CleverNickname 1321]

22 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

Speaking of, got any updated pics of the joint?

Going on 10 years the drywall still is not taped and floated and the shower is just a curtain tacked to the cement panel. If it was too nice then the womenfolk would come up more. There is talk of building a shed to move out the tools and crap that we store in the tiny bedroom. Kinda getting tired of the bare concrete, but really with the scorpions I dont like to walk barefoot anyway.

The last couple of years I have taken gallons of Monterey oak acorns from my front yard and planted them Jonny Appleseed style all over the land. This year I actually found a couple that came up and put up a cage before a deer ate em. Still probably will be annihilated in the July/August dry spell.

[gurt 751]

Heading to the wife’s family ranch in Catron county New Mexico tomorrow. About 4K acres with 130 head of cattle. In laws live at their ranch in Driftwood, but spend about 2 months of the year in NM. There’s a full time ranch manager out there and he also raises and trains horses. More Elk than cattle in that area. Selling elk tags is the only way my in laws break even out there.

[CleverNickname 1321]

4k acres? Holey moley.