WHO WE ARE
AVERAGE ISN'T
IN OUR BLOODLINE.
Columbus, Texas. Built from the ground up to be the last word in Texas hunting.
EST. 2017 · COLUMBUS, TEXAS
VARA ISN'T A HOBBY.
IT'S A WAY OF LIFE.
We’re the ones kicking up dust at first light and raising a glass by dark, trading war stories with whiskey in hand long after the sun goes down. Vara wasn’t built to be another deer camp. It was built to set the standard, from custom rifles and hand-stitched gear to a lodge that earns the word luxury without going soft. If it isn’t the best, it’s gone. This was never a solo ride. We built it for the bold, the ones who live for the chase and want something that leaves a mark. We don’t follow the path. We build our own.
THE OWNERS
BUILT BY FAMILY.
The Loessins run real companies, with all the deadlines, noise, and chaos that come with them. Vara isn’t one of them. It’s the escape from all of it. The family built this place to trade the boardroom for open country and live the thing instead of running it. The ranch was never a business. It’s a way of life.
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CULLEN LOESSIN
Cullen has been hunting since he was six and hasn’t slowed down since. With more than twenty trophies taken around the globe, he knows this country the way he knows his own hands. What drives him is simple: putting clients on the animal of a lifetime. When he’s not guiding, he runs animal care and the day-to-day operations that keep the ranch moving.
HUNTING GUIDE / OWNER
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MATT LOESSIN
Matt didn’t buy Vara Ranch. He built it. A lifelong hunter who’s chased game across the U.S. and deep into Mexico, he took the land over in 2017 with one idea: build something raw, wild, and impossible to forget. Two decades of high-stakes moves in oil and gas taught him how to deliver at the top end. Here that means a place where business, adrenaline, and the hunt run together, and nobody leaves the same.
OWNER
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VALORIE LOESSIN
Valorie is the reason the ranch has a soul. Her eye runs through every inch of the place, from the trophy room to the last detail in your suite. She designed the lodge from the ground up and turned it into one of the most luxurious hunting destinations in Texas, proof that wild country and real comfort belong under the same roof. If it feels considered, she considered it.
OWNER
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SAGE LOESSIN
Sage is the youngest Loessin, and the one most at home on the property. She grew up in the blinds and the lodge, around guides and clients, taking it all in from the time she could walk. When families bring children on a hunt, she’s the one making sure those kids leave with their own stories. She shows them the place, puts them at ease, treats them like guests of her own. The ranch raised her, and it shows in how she takes care of everyone who passes through.
JUNIOR HOST
THE CREW
THE PEOPLE WHO RUN IT.
Guides who’ve earned their trophies, a coordinator who runs the show, and a chef who treats dinner like part of the hunt.
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CARRAGHAN CHARLTON
Carraghan grew up in central Illinois, in the woods with her dad chasing whitetail. After Illinois State, she built a career out of the thing she loved. She brings the fresh ideas, runs point on client relationships, and makes sure the world knows Vara Ranch isn’t just a name, it’s a way of life. If you booked a hunt here, you’ve already talked to her.
MARKETING & HUNT COORDINATOR
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KURT STERN
Kurt learned to hunt under his late father, and it shows in everything he does in the field. His own trophies run from South Texas whitetail to New Mexico mountain lion, Nebraska mule deer, and waterfowl from every flyway worth naming. At Vara he puts clients on the hunt of their lives. Off the clock, he handles herd health and keeps the grounds in fighting shape.
HUNTING GUIDE
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PETE ZINNANTE
Chef Pete came up in a family-run Texas deli built on Louisiana-Italian roots, big flavors and no shortcuts. His cooking is bold, hearty, and built on the belief that comfort food should still stop you mid-sentence. He runs the entire table at Vara, from first coffee to the last bite after dark, with fire-driven, chef-prepared meals. Wild game gets handled with respect and technique, because here dinner isn’t an add-on. It’s part of the trophy.
EXECUTIVE CHEF
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GARRETT WITCHER
Garrett is a Lampasas, Texas native who grew up between the woods and the baseball diamond. He pitched through college in Illinois, hunted his way across the country, and came back to Texas to run a chiropractic practice full-time. Vara is his off-clock obsession. He guides every hunt he can, brings the energy on day one, and runs it the Vara way every time.
HUNTING GUIDE
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HUNTER POWERS
Hunter has spent more time in the brush than most spend at a desk. Whitetail and exotics are his specialty: he knows where they bed, where they move, and how to read the wind that gives them away. He doesn’t measure a hunt by the rack alone. He measures it by how the client walks out of the field, and the story they walk out with.
HUNTING GUIDE
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BLAINE ELLIS
Blaine was born on the water and never really came off it. Hunting, fishing, anything that runs or swims in Texas: name it and he’s done it. He brings the kind of field knowledge that only comes from years of putting in the work. He also puts the entertainment in client entertainment.