A word from Ray:

When I took my first clients in the field back in 1987—I had no idea that today it would be my life’s work As it turns out I was preparing to be an outfitter my whole life.  Educated in Natural Sciences, I began working as a park naturalist.  Then for 14 seasons as a commercial long-line fur trapper from 1975-1988. After fur fell out of fashion and the market crashed, it was time to find a new career.

A life long hunter, I found outfitting a natural transition.Truth is, the outfitting is a “feel good” business.  Sharing experiences with intelligent clients every week, and making dreams come true, is very rewarding. The Staff and I have great passion for the task.  We can’t get every client an elk on every hunt, but we have averaged 82% success on mature bull elk rifle hunts over the past 15 years.This is why we have been able to have a 65% repeat client business.

All of our leases hold elk year round, except during the harshest winters.  These twenty-four ranches vary in elevations from 7,000 feet minus to 10,000 feet plus, which cover five life zones.  East to west they are spread out 35 miles and 25 miles north to south.  All of our leases are private ranches, with exclusive hunting rights, in one of the highest success areas in the world.  Additionally, we have significant land mass on the major and two minor migration corridors that are in the area.  A final fact of pertinence is that many of our ranches border on, or are adjacent to such game-rich areas as The Sargent, Rio Chama and Humphries Wildlife Areas as well as two tribal reservations – The Jicarilla and Southern Utes.

This wide variety of habitats and life zones is the reason we have had such a high rate of success (77% rifle) the past fifteen seasons.  Regardless of the weather, we have been able to get into the elk – cause we have land – high, low, and in between.