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Show GUEST AT RANCH Journalist Professor Tells Thrills 3y GRACE E. RAY (Editor's Nate: The accompany, ing article is by Grace E. Ray, professor of journalism at the University of Oklahoma, who spent her August vacation at North Fork Guest Ranch near Cedar Ce-dar City. see Silently the pre-dawn hunters hunt-ers climbed up a hill toward the towering pink cliffs on North Fork Ranch: the trail was steep but horses did the walking for these hunters! Finally up under the eroded spire formations, they saw the big antlered bucks. Each man fired, and each brought down a deer. The saddle horses took the whole thing as routine and calm- Jy contemplated their oats waiting wait-ing for them at home. Second Breakfast Meantime at the ranch, which is 39 miles' from Cedar City, Mrs. Idona Smith, hostess, was baking bak-ing lightbread rolls and frying ham and eggs for a second breakfast to feed-the hungry hunters. Her husband, Bert, was tightening pack saddles on Silver Sil-ver and Model. He knew the men would have fresh meat and horned trophies to carry down. This is a typical Incident during dur-ing the deer season, Oct. 22 to Nov. 1, at North Fork ranch, which was the first guest ranch in Utah history to join the Dude Ranchers Association, Billings, Mont, the organization that recognizes rec-ognizes standard guest ranches. North Fork hunting reserva Hons were full up by late August, Aug-ust, for the ranch way of hunting hunt-ing is comfortable. A roof over your head at night, good home .cooking before the pre-dawn -sajly into the forest, a gentle horse to ride to the deer haunts. Easy Going Hunters Some North Fork guests simply simp-ly sleep In warm beds, put their feet under well-filled tables, and stroll out on their own shanks to nearby deer feeding grounds. Some of the blcr deer are killed by these casual hunters who believe be-lieve in taking it easy regardless regard-less of results. Some women guests' guns find "their mark at this ranch. Deer in this area are plentiful. Since Jan. 1 Bert has counted 500 deer crossing the highway from the direction of Zion National Park. He has seen as many as 100 in one day. While I was at North Fork last August, we rode horseback daily and usually saw deer. They would leap up and go tearing through the trees, jumping grace-fully grace-fully as they ran up hill. Once I saw one standing in the edge of the forest silently watching mo and Lady Jane, the mare I rode. Hunting Horses I wished I could stay and take part in the guest-ranch style of hunting on horseback. Those Indians' In-dians' had something in their trained hunting ponies. But Bert and Idona Smith. have mounts, they say, that seem t? take a horsey glee in helping hunters find their game. My vacation at the ranch was enjoyable; the good food, a chance to help herd cattle, to relax. re-lax. But all my hunting must be done here at the University of Oklahoma, where I hunt out and correct mistakes in stories written writ-ten by my journalistic students. Another thing I enjoyed at North Fork was reading the Iron County Record agriculture news I used to live on a farm. |