8,000-Acre Oklahoma Ranch Sells to New Owners for First Time in 80 Years

A sprawling Oklahoma property owned by the same family since the 1940s was sold on May 7, marking the end of an era for a piece of the state’s ranching history. The Hilseweck Ranch, located in the southeast part of the state, was a well-known and unique property, according to the broker in charge of the sale. The 8,488-acre ranch sold for just over $15 million, coming out to about $1,811 an acre. 

Brett Grier of Hall and Hall says the property, accumulated over time, was entirely connected. “Finding 8,000–10,000 acres of one big block of land is rare,” he said. “It almost doesn’t exist.” This sale, finalized through two separate transactions with the same buyer, was the largest contiguous tract of land sold in Oklahoma this year, according to Land.com. 

Grier says there was interest from several timber companies that wanted to harvest the trees, but ultimately it was an Oklahoma man who owns another ranch in the state who ended up buying the Hilseweck Ranch.  

The Property

In addition to its large size, the ranch features beautiful and rugged terrain and has well-maintained county roads and a network of gravel and ranch roads. Grier described it this way: “It was like owning your own National Park.” Beyond the maintained roads providing access, the Hilseweck Ranch has been largely untouched, fostering a natural habitat. 

However, the property doesn’t include much land that can accommodate agriculture production, according to Grier. There isn’t much space for cattle, and there are no homes on the property. But he says the land was special for its diverse habitat and the fact that it was un-leased for commercial hunting for over 50 years, which allowed it to return to an undisturbed natural state.  

 Here are some of the other features of the property:

• Total acres: 10,218 
• Total acres sold: 8,488. The family decided to keep the remainder of the ranch. 
• Sale price: $15,378,150
• Location: Pittsburgh County, Oklahoma. Access near the towns of Stuart and McAlester, south of Tulsa.  
• Abundant surface water: 42 ponds, 1.5 miles of live water along the Canadian River, and headwaters of Beaver Creek and Wildhorse Creek.
• 90% brush and timber cover: Mix of pine and hardwoods with open areas in valleys and road clearings.
• Surrounded by large and moderate-sized agricultural-based properties
• Significant elevation changes: Up to 410 feet across the ranch
• Mountainous terrain with dense brush cover
• Extensive network of gravel roads and ATV trails
• Sizeable lake site that is 80% completed 
• Fencing and nine pipe entrance header gates

Grier says the mineral estate of the land was included in the sale. According to the Hall and Hall website, this means the new owner will have rights to the minerals underneath the surface. The sellers owned some of the mineral rights when they originally purchased the land, but not all of them. The land did produce oil some years, but its profitability was dependent on natural gas prices. 

The Seller

The original owner was Bill Hilseweck and his father-in-law, Tracey McCarley. They bought their first property in the 1940s and continued to add to it over the years. Hilseweck was a geologist who worked for gas and oil companies. They hired a ranch manager to maintain the property. That manager worked for the family for 50 years and when he passed away, his son took over. Hilseweck’s two daughters eventually inherited the land, and recently made the tough decision to sell it. Grier says they live out of state, which made the property hard to manage.

The Buyer

The buyer is from Oklahoma and owns another ranch about an hour from this property, according to Grier. He said the buyer has made it known that he plans to reclaim some of the pastureland and begin some brush management to improve areas of the ranch by getting rid of invasive trees and species. 

Game Ranching 

Grier says although this land cannot support a large number of cattle or be used for raising crops, there are two features that make a property like this attractive to buyers. First, this is the ideal hunting property. Second, it is a contiguous property that isn’t broken up by other land. Both things make it ideal land for conversion to a gaming ranch. 

This is a thriving industry and Grier is even seeing cattle farms turned into gaming ranches because of the high return on investment. “People are paying big dollars to come and hunt a trophy or exotic animal like red stag, axis deer, fallow deer, and blackbucks,” he said. 

Economic Perspective

The Kansas City Federal Reserve District, which includes the state of Oklahoma along with Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, as well as parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, puts out a quarterly report on agriculture real estate values. In its latest report, it says values overall declined in the district. But there were modest increases for ranchland and farmland in Oklahoma. Ranchland increased in value by 8% in Oklahoma. Grier says the Hilseweck ranch sold for a price he expected, based on what other comparable properties in the area sold for.

Produced in partnership with American Farmland Owner (AFO). AFO aims to help landowners make informed decisions for their farmland while ensuring the prosperity of American agriculture.