ALBRIGHT, W. Va. – Dream Mountain Game Ranch – a 1,150-acre property where hunters have paid more than $15,000 for a weekend to hunt whitetail deer and elk – will be sold at auction on Thursday, Oct. 23, with Albert Burney Auction Company managing the sale.
The ranch was operated as a commercial hunting business for years before the current owners bought it in 2004 with preliminary plans to develop vacation homes there.
“It just wasn’t the best thing to do at the time,” said Jay Swearingen, one of the current owners. “With large populations of deer, elk, bison and other game, we felt that overcrowding might change the character of the land. We believe it’s a place that you can appreciate best by yourself, just enjoying the wildlife without other people around,” he said.
For that reason, the sellers decided to offer it as an entirety rather than dividing it into smaller parcels, according to Warren Ward, president of Albert Burney.
“We probably could have brought in more bidders by breaking up the ranch into smaller parcels, but there would have been no way to preserve its unique character as one of the best hunting ranches in the entire Mid-Atlantic region,” said Ward.
The current owners have kept outside hunts to a minimum and continued to manage the land for game production, with feeding programs and strict harvest limits.
“While we have continued to accommodate a few commercial hunts, we haven’t advertised or promoted it much. Hunting pressure has been very light in recent years, so the populations of deer, elk and bison are even larger than they have been in the past,” said Swearingen.
Individuals interested in additional information about the property and auction may contact Albert Burney Auction Company at 800.434.1654 or visit the company’s web site at www.albertburney.com.