For many years, Carla Fryer and Rick Berck have called 73 Pointers Ranch home.

They live in a 220-acre farm located 15 minutes north of Jonesburg that includes a sporting clay shoot facility, an upland bird hunting club, a graveyard and a house that has a head of a female deer and a kitchen that is over 100 years old.

“This is a little paradise in a way,” Fryer said.

On June 3, Fryer and Berck gave a tour of their ranch to a FFA group from California High School in Moniteau County. About 30 students spent more than an hour visiting the ranch, which is located off Highway FF.

“I was very impressed,” California co-adviser Gary Morris said. “This was what I was hoping for, something a little bit different that our kids can see.”

The ranch was named 73 Pointers Ranch after Fryer and Berck found a female deer while going for a walk in 2019. The animal had 73 pointers. After finding the deer head, Berck called the Missouri Conservation office and later took it to a taxidermist.

The deer head has been displayed in the family room since November 2020. Fryer shared the story to the California students on how she and Berck found the deer head.

Then, Fryer took the students to the graveyard, where a Civil War veteran named Samuel Wright was buried. Wright joined the Missouri Volunteer Army in 1861. The next year, his leg was wounded severely and spent time in the hospital in Huntsville, Ala. He was captured in Georgia in 1864 and was confined in Andersonville Prison. He died in 1904.

The trip to 73 Pointers Ranch was part of the California FFA’s Summer Rewards Activity trip that included a visit to St. Louis.

“We usually do a big trip every other year where we would go out of state for three or four days,” Morris said. “On off years, this is a non big trip year. We’ll do a one-day trip usually somewhere in Missouri where we could go see some stuff. So this is one of our off-years. Next year, we’ll go on a big out-of-state trip somewhere.”

Morris said his chapter decided to go to the ranch after one of the members — senior-to-be Bella Fulks — saw some information about it.

“I contacted Carla and Rick and they kind of gave me a rundown of what they do out here,” Morris said. “I thought this would be a cool opportunity for these kids to see it.”

The ranch opened its sporting clay facility in August 2025. The Jonesburg Lions Club held a sporting clay tournament at the facility in May. The Jonesburg Optimist Club is holding an event there on Aug. 22.
Upland bird hunting occurs at the ranch between October-March. The ranch also provides turkey, deer and quail hunting. Fields are also available year-round for dog training.

“The people who come here are awesome,” Fryer said. “The hunters are great. We met some of the most amazing people.”

Fryer said there was only one time since the ranch opened that a customer was upset.

“I met him at Pheasant Forever in Kansas City and he was handing out business cards and meeting people,” she said. “He said he was older and he had to ride in a buggy. We put him in a mule and we took him out hunting. He was getting ready to shoot the bird. Rick literally held him to shoot the bird. With tears in his eyes, he said, ‘I can’t do it anymore.’ It was like taking away car keys from another little person. It broke our hearts. So they ended up staying at the clubhouse and we ended up hanging out with him the whole weekend.”

Berck and Fryer have lived together at 73 Pointers Ranch for 26 years. Berck first moved there in 1994.

“Rick owned a company called All-American Painting Company, which is a big union painting company, for 20 years,” Fryer said. “When he retired, he decided to do this.”