Highveld Ranch

Real County, Texas
4,365 Acres

$19,950,000

Overview

In 1857, Apache raiding parties still roamed the area when Christian Dietert and his family arrived from Germany and soon established large grist and sawmills in what would become Real County. They eventually amassed a 20,000-acre spread that encompassed the land on which Highveld now sits. The old historic Dietert house and nearby rural schoolhouse still stand on the southern part of the Ranch. 

Highveld Ranch lies in the heart of the famed Texas Hill Country, a region renowned for whitetails and exotic big game and long a favorite hunting and recreational destination. Beautiful landscape, rich culture, favorable climate, abundant wildlife, and relative proximity to two of Texas’ most popular cities, San Antonio and Austin, make the Hill Country perhaps the fastest growing and most desirable region in Texas. The Hill Country is characterized by mixed savanna grassland-woodlands, rocky hills, fertile valleys, vast vistas, live oaks, and spectacular wildflowers, especially bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush.  

At 4,365 contiguous acres, Highveld is an exceptionally large Hill Country ranch and a rare find these days. Highveld means “High Savanna.” This is a fitting name for a ranch predominated by rolling grassland/live oak savannas sitting atop a relatively level, broad 2,000-foot-high plateau in western Kerr and northern Real counties known as “The Divide.” Highveld lies southwest of Mountain Home in northeast Real County on Hwy. 41 about 6 miles west of the intersection of Highways 83 and 41. It is ideally situated about 2 hours west of San Antonio and Austin and an easy drive to popular Kerrville, Mountain Home, Junction, Fredericksburg, and Leakey, placing Highveld in the middle of the best hunting and most popular cultural and recreational area in the Hill Country.

Highveld has excellent whitetail and turkey populations and is home to 10 exotic big game species, plus of course, wild hogs. Perhaps owing in part to the introduction of 50 bred native South Texas does over a decade ago, the overall quality of mature bucks on Highveld is exceptional. Indeed, Highveld is home to record-class bucks! Exotics include 5 deer species – axis, fallow, sika, red, barasingha; 2 sheep species – aoudad and red/mouflon cross; and blue wildebeest, scimitar oryx, and blackbucks.  

​The ranch is game-fenced and well-watered with 6 wells with cisterns that gravity feed water through miles of poly pipe to permanent waterpoints throughout the ranch. About 40 acres are currently in food plots.  Prior to 2019, a modest high-protein pellet feeding program supplemented native food sources, mainly shin oak, various brush species, grasses, forbs, and acorns. Ample rainfall in 2020 and 2021 provided good native habitat for game. The 2021 “Big Freeze” killed many exotics, helping maintain balance between wildlife and native habitat. TP estimates well over 2,000 native and exotic big game animals roam Highveld. TP has implemented a cottonseed feeding program to enhance the high-protein nutrition available to big game species.  

​Highveld is surrounded by large ranches and good neighbors. Basic shopping and services are available 30-45 minutes away in Kerrville, Junction, Leakey, and Rocksprings. For metro services and major airports, San Antonio is about 2 hours away and Austin a little farther. There is no conservation easement on the property. Highveld is essentially turnkey, just step in and immediately start enjoying the place, whether as a hunting, recreational and/or livestock ranch!  

  • Name means “High Savanna”

  • Rare big acreage Hill Country Ranch 

  • Turn-Key Tecomate Signature Property that is suitable for hunting, recreation and/or livestock 

  • Excellent Location near major cities & historic towns in beautiful Real County

    • Located between Junction and Leakey; 6 miles west of Intersection Hwy. 83 & 41 

    • 1¾ hours to San Antonio, 2¼ hours to Austin 

    • 30 minutes from Junction & Leakey 

    • 45 minutes from Kerrville

  • In famed High “Divide Country”  

    • High plateau with gentle topography 

    • Elevation 2,250’-2,350’ 

    • Exceptionally productive habitat 

    • Loaded with Oaks, mainly Live Oaks and Shin Oaks

    • Ideal mix of woodlands and open/semi-open country

    • Hundreds of acres Oak Savannas

    • Fertile bottomland suitable for food plots

    • Near-ideal climate

  • Excellent 50-plus mile road network

    • 3-mile Oak-lined paved driveway to lodge

    • Approx. 9 miles all-weather, All-vehicle Caliche roads

    • Approx. 30 miles of secondary and hunting roads

    • 16 miles of perimeter road super aesthetics 

  • Incredible vistas

  • Beautiful Oak Savannas

  • All-weather scenic and game drives​​

Newly renovated Lodge and Managers House

  • New and/or completely rebuilt  

  • Highest quality, no corners cut 

  • 6,900± SF, 8 BR, 9.5 BA

  • 30’x60’ great game room with “Pecky” Cypress walls and vaulted ceiling 

  • Large den with large rock fireplace 

  • New well-equipped commercial kitchen 

  • New dining room with 20± seating 

  • Dedicated office- ranch themed furnishings and decor

  • Covered porch with game viewing

  • Other buildings 

  • 1,650± SF renovated Manager’s House with den, dining room, kitchen, 3/BRs, 2BA 

  • New 40’x60’ (interior) metal barn with 20’ 4-sided shed roof 

  • Game processing facility with walk-in cooler

  • Deluxe rifle range 

World-renown whitetail, turkey and exotic hunting

  • Best of Hill Country whitetail hunting  

  • Exceptional size

  • Record-class potential

  • Dense population / high carrying capacity 

  • 260+ bucks in herd of 950+ deer

  • Turkey Hunting

    • Among highest population in country!

  • Epicenter of Texas Exotic Hunting 

    • 10 Species of Exotics

      • Axis, Fallow, Sika, Red and Barasingha Deer / Aoudad and Red/Mouflon Cross Sheep / Wildebeest / Scimitar Oryx / Blackbucks

      • Year-round hunting

      • Great game viewing 

      • Many hunting options - safari-style, stand hunting, spot and stalk, rattling, etc.

Game Management Program in place

  • Highly Selective Harvest Strategy 

    • Population control thru female harvest

    • Male harvest focused on inferiors and post-primes

      • Protect and buildup quality prime breeder segment  

  • Enhanced Nutrition 

    • Supplemental feeding of Cottonseed 

      • 20+ feed stations 

    • 40± acres of food plots 

    • Improved native habitat 

      • Hundreds of acres of Cedar cleared

      • Opened thick cover to promote Forb production 

  • Increased water distribution/access 

    • 20+ permanent waterpoints

  • 15 quality enclosed blinds, most with corn feeders 

    • Several new Ranch King blinds and feeders

  • No interior fences

  • Game free to roam entire ranch

  • Surrounded by large properties

    • Great neighbors

  • No conservation easements

 

“The Texas Hill Country’s unmatched beauty, charm, traditions, climate, and year-round hunting and recreational opportunities have sparked explosive growth, making it increasingly rare to find a large, high-quality ranch like Highveld so near big cities such as Austin and San Antonio.”  

Wayne Cameron
Tecomate Properties Broker

“Truly the best of the Texas Hill Country, sprawling 4,385-acre Highveld Ranch offers perfectly suited facilities, diverse habitat, a safari-like wildlife experience, miles and miles to roam, boundless recreation, and best of all, world-class whitetail hunting, all set against the beautiful oak-studded backdrop of rolling hills and expansive valleys.”  

David Morris
Owner Tecomate Properties

“I had always heard Hill Country deer were small, but what a shock I was in for when we started running Reconyx cameras! Highveld was loaded with BIG bucks, some rivaling those in famed South Texas Brush Country. And the surprises didn’t stop there, 10 species of exotics roamed the ranch – axis, fallow, sika and red deer, aoudad and red sheep, wildebeest, scimitar oryx, blackbuck, and barasingha deer – along with the most turkeys I’ve ever seen on any property! This place is nuts!”

Mark Newell
Tecomate Biologist

Tecomate Properties assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information contained herein. Information contained herein has been provided by either the property owner or the listing broker and is assumed to be accurate and reliable. Buyers acknowledge, and shall assume full responsibility for verification of all information contained herein.
All rights reserved. Information Deemed Reliable but Not Guaranteed. Information on this site is provided exclusively for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Listing courtesy of Texas Ranches for Sale - Ken Hoerster and Gary Scwartz.