South Dakota’s premier hunting destination — Paul Nelson Farm — has been listed by Robb Nelson of Fay Ranches for $74.5 million. Guests have ranged from former Vice President Dick Cheney to NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. Brokaw himself described the experience as “the kind of days you hope will never end.”

South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden told The Land Report that Paul Nelson Farm “is far and away the number one hunting destination in the state, bar none.” The Missouri Coteau landmark includes three lodges with 35 rooms, a state-of-the-art shooting range, lounges, bars, a library, a conference room, guns, and even the hunting dogs.

“Growing up in this part of the world where pheasant hunting is truly revered, Paul Nelson Farm was the place everyone wanted to go to. People come in from all over the country to hunt there,” Robb Nelson said.

From Family Farm to Pheasant Hunting Icon

Paul Nelson’s parents purchased the property in the 1940s. They spent the next three decades farming wheat and corn and raising cattle and sheep on the fertile plateau. When Paul Nelson (1947-2020) took the helm in the 1970s, he expanded the cattle operation to more than 3,000 head.

According to his widow, Cheryl, rising interest rates coupled with the Farm Crisis of the 1980s prompted her husband to explore different options for the property. Through the Conservation Reserve Program, he began planting native grasses and thousands of trees. He also established food plots to further enhance the pheasant habitat. In 1992, he opened the 4,277-acre property outside Gettysburg as a hunting lodge.

“He thought that would make it a great place for a hunting lodge,” Cheryl recalled. “I said, ‘Who is going to come to Gettysburg, South Dakota, to go pheasant hunting?’ He said, ‘I think we’re going to find out.’ And with that, we started to build up the land to be a pheasant-hunting operation.”

Building a Pheasant Hunting Operation in Gettysburg

Approximately 40 guests made their way to the farm that initial hunting season. Paul helped organize the hunts, then entertained them in the lodge afterward. Cheryl flipped pancakes and served breakfast the next morning. The operation was successful enough that the couple began expanding their offerings each year, to the point that it now has nearly 100 seasonal employees.

“Paul’s genius was that he saw an incredible piece of land that he could do whatever he wanted to with,” Cheryl told The Land Report. “South Dakota is known for pheasant hunting, and Paul was a businessman who felt this was a huge opportunity for us. He didn’t have a love for hunting, but he had a love for the people that the lodge brought.”

Where Hunting Meets Hospitality

Paul Nelson Farm may well be the ultimate example of “If you build it, they will come.” Pheasant hunting enthusiasts flock to Paul Nelson Farm, attracted by both the quality of the property and the hospitality of their hosts. Its one-of-a-kind setting is recognized as one of the nation’s highest-density pheasant corridors.

“Paul Nelson always tried to make the experience a special one for every single individual who came to the property,” Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota told The Land Report. “You enjoyed the sport of the hunt, but then you enjoyed the hospitality after the hunt and the breakfast the next day. You told stories and had time to visit with one another. He made it a fun event where you could really enjoy the people you were with. And it’s an absolutely exquisite setting that brings back memories for many people of their childhood days of hunting. It separates you from the rest of the world for a while. I can’t imagine another piece of property that is as large and as well-defined specifically for outdoor enjoyment. It’s a place that was made to be a pheasant hunting heaven.”

Countless others agree. Not only is Paul Nelson Farm a two-time national Orvis Lodge of the Year winner, but South Dakota annually honors a landowner statewide with the Paul Nelson Farm Award. “That’s because it is the standard for the habitat that Paul Nelson produced, and the quality of the hunt that people experience there,” Governor Rhoden says. “It’s the best there is for pheasant hunting.”

The Holy Grail of Pheasant Hunting

Now, for the first time in decades, this one-of-a-kind destination is about to change hands.

According to Robb Nelson, the land alone is worth more than $30 million. He notes that crop ground in North Central South Dakota currently trades for approximately $8,000 an acre. And that doesn’t even account for the lodges, extensive improvements, and other infrastructure. Plus, he points out there is one other factor that doesn’t come with a price tag.

“There is the notoriety and the rarefied air of owning the most exclusive bird hunting lodge in North America,” Robb says. “If you’re a pheasant hunter, this is the holy grail.”