Selman Guest Ranch
Harper
County
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This account written in 2007 by Eric Beck
The Selman Guest Ranch is
located in Buffalo, Oklahoma. The ranch is a 4th generation working
ranch that also provides wildlife viewing and hunting opportunities for
guest of their accommodations.
 14,000
acres of mixed grass prairie, eight miles of creek bottom and an
excellent bird habitat with a sand and salt flat nesting area. Many
species can be viewed, from Snowy plovers, Least Terns and Lesser
Prairie Chicken, to many migratory birds such as a large variety of
hawks and falcons and occasionally Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles. You
will also see Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Field, Grasshopper, and Harris's
Sparrow. The ranch is working with the USFWS to improve the overall
habitat, especially for the Lesser Prairie Chicken.
Large swaths of mixed
grass prairie containing little bluestem, buffalo grass and other
natives are abundant. Sandsage brush is also abundant, which is why
Lesser Prairie Chickens can be found booming here in the early spring.
These grasses also provide ample habitat and cover for a large
population of Northern Bobwhites.
Not only does the ranch
contain large tracts of native grasses but it is also divided by a
number of spring fed streams and creeks. Sleeping Bear, Buffalo, and
Sand Creek all intersect the ranch land. Along these streams are large
stands of old Cottonwoods that harbor Warbling Vireos, three species of
orioles, countless sparrows, Eastern Screech-Owls and various other
species throughout the year. These stream meander through the ranch and
eventually end up spilling into the Cimarron River. Other habitats on
the ranch include beaver ponds and cattail marshes, as well as small
mesquite stands that attract species such as ladder-backed woodpecker
and ash-throated flycatcher at their far eastern distributional limits.
The Cimarron River and its
floodplain add another significant habitat type to this lands
repertoire. There is a large salt flat that encompasses approximately a
mile and a half of river bottom. These flats are consistently home to
large breeding populations of the Federally Endangered Least Tern and an
Oklahoma Category II species the Snowy Plover. During the spring and
fall migration shorebirds are also abundant with sightings of Dunlin,
Western Sandpipers, and Baird’s Sandpipers not uncommon.
Prime areas available for
birding include cottonwood gallery forest along several perennial
prairie streams, a several hundred acre salt flat along the Cimarron
River, cattail marshes, ponds, gypsum buttes, cliffs, mesquite flats and
acres and acres of midgrass and shortgrass prairie. The ranch is
situated where East meets West geographically, and both Eastern and
Western species nest here. Selman Ranch protects a population of Lesser
Prairie Chickens, Least Terns, Snowy Plovers and a host of grassland
birds. Winter is famous for the waterfowl, shorebirds, Swans, Owls and
other wanderers.
Accommodations at the
ranch include camping under the stars and a guesthouse which was
originally the train depot in Selman, OK. Bob Selman moved it to the
ranch as a home for his in-laws to live in and to be close to his wife
Wilma. Now it sleeps six and has it's own bathroom and kitchen with a
small but growing Library. Sue Selman does all the cooking. Many of her
dishes come from old family recipes. Everyone loves her homemade Jellies
and bread.
Contact the ranch at (580)
256-2006 or
info@selmanguestranch.com
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