Dorian Bundy: Turning the Red Cliffs Parking Area into a Roping Arena
Turning the Red Cliffs Parking Area into a Roping Arena Dorian Bundy embodies the spirit of the American West: His great-grandfather homesteaded on the Arizona Strip in 1916, ranch land that his family still owns. “It’s just been a way of life for me,” Dorian tells ABC4. “I grew up with a rope in one hand and a gun in the other.” He’s continuing both traditions—his love of lever-actions and six-shooters, along with wrangling cattle—except that today, when he’s on horseback, he’s usually chasing a synthetic steer. Dorian invented Rope Hog, an ingenious combination of the traditional dummy with hooves and horns, hitched to a remote-controlled four-wheeler. From the saddle, he uses a repurposed keyless-entry fob to control the throttle, so practice sessions become one-man operations. “Nobody wanted to ride the four-wheeler,” Bundy tells Cowboy State Daily. “They all wanted to rope.” It’s no surprise that the man who runs heavy equipment at Red Cliffs Rifle & Pistol Range came up with this arrangement, which has revolutionized the sport. It’s a story that created interest as far north as Wyoming. A reporter from the online newspaper in Cheyenne interviewed Dorian by phone, and he also appeared on Cowboy State Daily Show with Jake (1:06:26 into the video). St. George News, plus crews from network affiliates in Salt Lake City, came out to see Rope Hog in action at the range. “I can go out there and in 30 minutes, throw 50 loops,” Dorian says. “You can’t come close to that with any other practice device.” A Rope Hog costs about $12,000, which is “less than a pen of steers, and I’ll never wear it out,” he tells St. George News. Dorian is a former professional calf roper and still competes as a semi-pro. He has already qualified for the World Series of Team Roping Finale in December, joining more than 400 entries from across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. “You could win more than $400,000,” he says, adding that he still makes a good portion of his income with a rope. Dorian says firearms are a big part of being a cowboy, and he’s proudly self-reliant. “City people don’t appreciate the Second Amendment,” he adds, gesturing to the south, toward his family’s ranch. “Two hours from here, nobody’s gonna get there to help me except myself. “It gives me a perspective that I wish the whole country could have. If we want to maintain our freedom, these traditions and values have to be maintained.” By Kevin Foster Cox
