Craig Daily Press

Craig — “We think it’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and we are dedicated to raising quality registered Angus cattle as well as the stewardship of the land.”

These are the thoughts of Jeff Meyers and Erika Murphy regarding Coyote Creek Ranch, which they own.

The ranch, made up of a little more than 1,000 acres, is located 13 miles south of Hayden, in the Dunkley Park area. It runs 85 to 90 Angus mother cows.

Meyers is no stranger to ranching. His family owned a ranch south of Kersey that also raised registered Angus cattle. It sold in the late 1980s.

The family also owned Miner & Miner, a software company. Meyers chuckled when he said the family was a combination of cowboys and engineers.

Meyers, who has a degree in electrical engineering, worked for the company and that’s where he met Murphy. She has a degree in computer science.

About four years ago, Meyers’ family sold the software company to Telvent and it became Telvent Miner & Miner. Meyers and Murphy continued to work for the company, but they also decided to buy a ranch.

“I always wanted to go back into the Angus cattle business,” Meyers said. “I think the Angus cattle are the best thing on four legs.”

Although Murphy likes the Angus cattle, she might just have something else in mind when it comes to “the best things on four legs.”

Murphy is a “horse person,” owning mostly Morgan and European Warmblood breeds.

Murphy rides her horses in competitions, mostly on the Front Range, though she also hascompeted in Hayden during Alpine Horse and Riders Club events.

So, the couple looked for a place for Angus cattle and horses, and the search for a ranch took awhile.

“We looked for a ranch for about three years and really liked the Yampa Valley, so we felt lucky find this place,” Murphy said.

“We were looking for a real ranch in an area where agriculture is a serious business,” Meyers added.

Coyote Creek Ranch is meadowland with aspen and a great view of the Little Flat Tops. It runs the cattle and raises hay. An adjudicated water right from Fish Creek, which runs through the property dates back to 1900. The ranch still is irrigated the way it was years ago.

There’s a main house, a foreman’s house, corrals, a calving barn, a horse barn and an arena on the property.

Meyers and Murphy are the fifth family to own the ranch since the Dunkley family sold it in the early 1950s. The original homestead, owned by Jesse Dunkley, is on the ranch. So is the original one-room Dunkley School, which is now a barn.

When Meyers and Murphy bought the ranch, they added onto the barn. The cows walk through the front door of the old school.

At the present time, Meyers and Murphy still work for Telvent Miner & Miner. They live in Fort Collins during the week, coming to the ranch most weekends. They’re working on a transition plan to be on the ranch all the time.

Dusty Danos is the foreman for the ranch.

Danos “and his wife are working hard,” Meyers said. “We’re glad to have them.

“The ranch’s focus,” he said, “is raising registered Angus cattle with low-birth-rate bulls that (Pulmonary Arterial Pressure test) well and easy fleshing cows that can work well in a harsher mountain climate.”

The PAP test determines a cow or bull’s cardiovascular performance at high altitudes.

The couple started their Angus program two years ago. It is providing commercial and purebred breeders with bulls and heifers that are mountain-ranch grown. The cattle are PAP tested annually and are raised at 7,000 feet year-round.

Some ranchers might be surprised that Meyers and Murphy look forward to calving season, even though it requires three-hour watches. It begins the third week in February and lasts for about 60 days.

The cows are artificially inseminated and then run with clean-up bulls.

The artificial insemination sires are Mytty In Focus and Morgan’s Direction.

Murphy said there’s a lot of handling cattle on the ranch. Ultrasound is used for pregnancy testing to determine the sex of the unborn calf and whether the calf is from an A.I. sire or a service bull. There are lots of records to keep regard a bull’s expected performance.

Stewardship of the land is important to Meyers and Murphy. For example, they try to minimize the use of vehicle on pasturelands. They endeavor to hold to the traditional ways.

“We worked hard in our professional careers, and we intend to carry it over into our ranch life,” Murphy said.

“We’ve traveled all over the world, but we’re never happier than when we cross the third cattle guard on County Road 37,” Meyers said. “That’s home.”