Five Lakes Ranch

Description

Summary:   The 3 Big W’s that every ranch buyer is looking for are all found right here and they are in abundant supply. Water, Wildlife, and Woods… Call Bret today to schedule your private showing of one of Texas’ best kept secrets!  

Location:   Located in the southwestern portion of the Cross Timbers Ecoregion, Five Lakes Ranch is found in beautiful Brown County, approximately 6 miles south of Brownwood, Texas, making it an easy 2 hours 20 minutes southwest of Fort Worth, 2 hours 20 minutes northwest of Austin, just under 3 hours southwest of Dallas, and 3 hours 15 minutes east of Midland/Odessa. Physical Address: 9200 FM 45, Brownwood, TX 76801 

Surface Water:  Numerous surface water sources are scattered throughout the ranch with 5 lakes, 10 ponds, and multiple seasonal creeks that feed through the land. The two largest lakes are Soil Conservation Service lakes that were originally constructed in 1971 and measured 15 and 16 surface acres respectively at the time of construction. As is typical of SCS lakes, they have large engineered dams with rock rip-rap on the upstream side, drop-inlet primary spillways, and large earthen emergency spillways. The headquarters lake measures just under 9.5 surface acres when full, and can be seen from the homes. Two smaller lakes of ~3.3 and ~2.5 acres are tucked back in the woods and great holes of water in their own right. Today, these collective bodies of water provide reliable sources of surface water for wildlife and recreation. 

Waterfowl and Fisheries:   Unbeknownst to many, seasonal duck hunting can be exceptionally good in this part of Central Texas. Die-hard water fowl hunters may be surprised by the amount of duck and geese that the area will hold. Historically, the ranch has benefited from its location south of Lake Brownwood, east of O.H. Ivie, and southwest of Lake Proctor where ducks will often roost overnight and then feed on the surrounding lakes and ponds in the area, like those found here on Five Lakes. Fishing in the larger lakes can be great and with some management, it is believed these fisheries could once again produce some double-digit size trophy bass.  

Wildlife and Hunting:   The ranch is home to impressive herds of both whitetail and axis deer, and is ready to hunt with numerous blind and feeder (corn and/or protein) setups scattered throughout the property. A large overhead feed bin is located at the headquarters where protein is stored on-site. Five Lakes also provides exceptional wildlife habitat with plentiful cover and edge, abundant sources of native browse and forbs, numerous locations where wildlife food plots have been or could be established, and exceptional water sources. In a field located on the northern portion of the ranch there’s a rifle range that stretches out to ~600 yards with targets positioned every 100 yards. This is a great area to sight in rifles and hone your skills at multiple distances. It’s believed that this range could be extended to 1,000 yards with a little additional clearing and dirt work. In addition to the whitetail and axis, the ranch is home to an abundance of Rio Grande turkey, dove, and even a few quail.   

Recreational Recognition:   In December of 2005 the ranch was featured in Texas Wildlife Magazine in an article called “Early Ducks”, touting the ranch’s outstanding waterfowl hunting, as well as trophy deer hunting and bass fishing.    

Terrain:   The landscape offers ~165’ of nice rolling elevation change across beautiful live oak covered hills, 150+/- acres of fertile post oak and pecan lined creek bottom fields, and 55+/- acres of improved Klein and Bermuda grass pastures. Other forms of tree cover, vegetation, and browse include red oak, elm, hackberry, mesquite, cedar, bumelia, sumac, catclaw mimosa, elbowbush, lotebush, agarita, greenbrier, and others.  

Ranch Headquarters – Structural Improvements:   Located at the headquarters area just a short drive in from FM 45, you’ll find two homes; a ~2,800 SF owner’s home and a 1,290 SF guest home, an insulated 2,400 SF shop/equipment barn, storage shed, nice set of pipe working pens, two water wells, and a back-up generator.  

Roads and Fences:   The ranch offers excellent curb appeal with a large stone entrance, cattle guard, and automatic gate where you have direct access to the ranch from pavement on FM Highway 45. The east side of the ranch fronts along FM 45 for ~1.35 miles and the west side fronts along paved County Road 237 for ~1.55 miles, where there’s also “back gate” access as well. The interior road system is extensive with a good all-weather entrance road that leads to the headquarters area and a network of pasture roads and trails that seem to go on forever through the property. The perimeter of the ranch is game fenced and considered to be in good condition. The interior cross fences are all standard height barbed wire and t-post fences, are in good shape, and divide the ranch into 6 main pastures. A fenced lane connects several of the pastures to the working pens located at the headquarters. 

Airports:   The nearest public airport is Brownwood Regional Airport which provides two asphalt runways measuring 5,599’ and 4,608’ in length and averages ~21 aircraft per day.  

Area:   Local area attractions include Brownwood Country Club (5.5 miles from the back gate of the ranch), Lake Brownwood and Lake Brownwood State Park, the Hideout Golf Club and Resort, the Colorado River, which forms a portion of the county’s south boundary, historic downtown Brownwood, Howard Payne University, legendary Texas High School football coach Gordon Wood Hall of Champions Museum, and for some Fridy Night Lights action, Gordon Wood stadium is home to the Brownwood High School Lions.      

School District:   The ranch is located in the Brownwood Independent School District 

Property Taxes:   The property is Ag-Exempt and property taxes for 2022 were $6,371.66. 

Easements:   There are no pipeline easements, roadway easements, major transmission lines, or other detrimental easements encumbering the ranch. The Brown-Mills Soil and Water Conservation District holds easements pertaining to the dam maintenance and operation of the two SCS lakes located on the property.   

Asking Price:   $10,995,000 ($5,590.64 per acre) 

Contacts:  

Bret Polk  
254-965-0349 mobile  
bret@hrcranch.com 

Broker & Commission Disclosure:    Buyer’s Agent/ Broker must be identified upon first contact with Listing Broker/ Listing Agent and Buyer’s Agent/ Broker must be present at the initial property tour in order to participate in the real estate commission. Commission splits will be at the sole discretion of Hortenstine Ranch Company, LLC.