“It seems to me that Montana is a great splash of grandeur. The scale is huge but not overpowering. The land is rich with grass and color, and the mountains are the kind I would create if mountains were ever put on my agenda.”
For decades now, ranchers from the Big Sky state and those outside it have likewise fallen in love with Montana and its ranching industry, thanks to the fall season tradition of the Montana Angus Tour.
Each September, the Montana Angus Association welcomes participants to see ranches up close from one of the state’s seven regions. This year’s tour – held Sept. 20-22 – belonged to the central Montana region. Located at the edge of Lewis and Clark country, the picturesque setting of rolling hills, jutting mountains and golden prairies is home to tens of thousands of grazing cattle that pepper the land. Organizers counted 303 registered attendees coming from 23 different U.S. states, as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan.
If you were looking for the perfect spot to paint a canvas of ranch life, you couldn’t ask for much better than central Montana. Tour participants drank in the scenery at Hilltop Angus in Denton, Mack Angus near Lewistown, Gardner Angus in Winnett, Arntzen Angus above Hilger, Gagler Angus in Judith Gap, Stevenson’s Diamond Dot, Carr Angus and Stevenson Angus – all in the Hobson area. 
To follow along at some of the stops, view the slideshow below. Photos by David Cooper.
