*Edwin Hedderly ~ Shooting Trap?...

[CSL]

Having seen the Edwin Hedderly high grade small bore Parker's and his California waterfowl hunt adventures discussed here over the years, I don't remember seeing many if any photo images of the man himself.

Ran across a few early mentions a while back of Hedderly shooting some Trap in the 20ga class at one of the California clubs, but have not seen reports of him shooting a 12-bore... Did Edwin own a Parker 12?... Would be interesting to know if any of his long barreled small-bore guns were Trap configured such as a Monte Carlo stock, Vent Rib, ect...

Any actual photos of Hedderly out there?


Best, CSL
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[Kevin McCormack]

Photos of Edwin Hedderly are extremely rare - in my years of researching him I came across only 3 - the first one thanks to my good friend "Researcher" Dave Noreen who called me up from the Library of Congress one day and said, "What's a picture of Hedderly worth to you?". (As it turned out, a lot!). I believe it was in an article extolling the virtues of the 16 ga. (32" of course!).

The second photo I know of him is shown in an article he wrote for Western Field entitled "Those Crane Lake Cans" (as in Canvasback ducks on Crane Lake CA). The third and probably the best is the one of him standing with a limit of ducks strung around his neck, holding his 32" DHE 28 gauge Parker, which he dubbed his "mosquito gun."

Much to my disgust, a PGCA member who shall remain unnamed casually "scooped" me by copying and posting it on this BBS some time back. I found out that the reason I never had it was that in copying all 29 parts of his epic, "The Smallbore Shotgun" in Western Field magazine, the copy of the cover of that particular issue with that photo was missing from the microfiche tape I spent weeks and many $$$ copying and transcribing!

The search for the complete original series is an epic saga in itself, and consumed many hours of my life spent in libraries from DC to California. Someday I will tell the whole story. In the meantime, I would admonish people to carefully investigate and respect the copyright requirements of ANY publication they find it in. I was too casual about it and very nearly got burned big time. Luckily I paid attention and avoided the fine(s).

To answer the OP's original question, I don't remember any reference of Hedderly owning and shooting any 12 ga. guns, but of course it is entirely possible. He was not a fan of MC stocks, and most of the guns he had built predated the availability of the vent rib except in prototype designs (of which there were very few in 12 ga. and almost unknown in smallbore guns at the time).

[CSL]

It appears my suspicions were correct, Hedderly was indeed an illusive character when it came to being immortalized on film. I came across the previously mentioned photo image of Edwin with his Parker 28ga and the limit of ducks over his shoulder, but that is all I could find... Running and gunning with the southern Ca crowd, there must be more photos of Hedderly's Hunting and Trapshooting adventures somewhere... The search continues...

Best, CSL
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[Bill Murphy]

I had a picture of EH which I thought I had given to Kevin. It was in a magazine article. If Kevin does not have it, I will look for it. He was shooting a 16 gauge at the time. On April 27, 1911, Hedderly was in a trap shoot at a LA club attended by Fred Kimble and other LA luminaries. He shot a 16 gauge in that shoot.

[Kevin McCormack]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

I had a picture of EH which I thought I had given to Kevin. It was in a magazine article. If Kevin does not have it, I will look for it. He was shooting a 16 gauge at the time. On April 27, 1911, Hedderly was in a trap shoot at a LA club attended by Fred Kimble and other LA luminaries. He shot a 16 gauge in that shoot.

Yes, I have it but don't remember who gave it to me or if I copied it during the many hours I spent in the LOC in Washington. It is a stand alone article, not part of the Western Field 'Smallbore Shotgun' series, and is titled, "The Abused 16 Gauge", all about what a great duck gun the 16 can be.

[Bill Murphy]

OK, here it is. Mr. Hedderly did not shoot registered American Trapshooting Association, or Amateur Trapshooing Association birds from 1913 to 1924. I don't know when Hedderly passed away, but he was obviously not involved in registered trapshooting competition during this time. Kevin, thanks for your research efforts into Hedderly and we wait patiently for the results of this research. I haven't researched the Interstate Association records, which would only be available as individual shoot records rather than annual records of individual shooters. American Trapshooting Association apparently took over from the Interstate Association in 1900, a bit earlier than our era of interest in Edwin Hedderly.

[Kevin McCormack]

[QUOTE=Christopher Lien;248405]It appears my suspicions were correct, Hedderly was indeed an illusive character when it came to being immortalized on film. I came across the previously mentioned photo image of Edwin with his Parker 28ga and the limit of ducks over his shoulder, but that is all I could find... Running and gunning with the southern Ca crowd, there must be more photos of Hedderly's Hunting and Trapshooting adventures somewhere... The search continues...

Best, CSL___________________________

Just to give you a reality check (and as everyone knows, "reality bites"), on a business trip to Sacramento CA years ago, after business concluded mid-morning on the last day, I spent the rest of the day in the State Game Commission Archives looking through hundreds of photographs and leafing through many more monthly Game Commission Reports. (Hedderly became a game commissioner in the late 19-teens/early 1920s and remained one throughout that decade).

Most all of his writings were concentrated on fishing regulations and trout stocking reports or habitat improvement, mostly for upland gamebirds (quail at the time). Writings on duck hunting were comparatively nonexistent, the 'golden age' of the southern CA clubs waning into oblivion.

I found not one photograph in their voluminous files that one could positively identify as Hedderly (and at 6ft. 6 inches, he is hard to miss!!). Most were telephoto-range shots of workmen and state game officers offloading trucks, standing on the running boards of open cars, or wielding nets along causeways.

[CSL]

Originally Posted by Kevin McCormack

Just to give you a reality check (and as everyone knows, "reality bites"), on a business trip to Sacramento CA years ago, after business concluded mid-morning on the last day, I spent the rest of the day in the State Game Commission Archives looking through hundreds of photographs and leafing through many more monthly Game Commission Reports. (Hedderly became a game commissioner in the late 19-teens/early 1920s and remained one throughout that decade).

Most all of his writings were concentrated on fishing regulations and trout stocking reports or habitat improvement, mostly for upland gamebirds (quail at the time). Writings on duck hunting were comparatively nonexistent, the 'golden age' of the southern CA clubs waning into oblivion.

I found not one photograph in their voluminous files that one could positively identify as Hedderly (and at 6ft. 6 inches, he is hard to miss!!). Most were telephoto-range shots of workmen and state game officers offloading trucks, standing on the running boards of open cars, or wielding nets along causeways.

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Yes I can see where an exhaustive afternoon at the California game commission archives that produced very little in usable photo research could be a reality check for you, hope it didn't "Bite" you too hard... As many who research various historical topics know, helpful information can often be slow coming, but occasionally a little diligence and luck can produce that needle in the haystack... Hang in there.

I have an original (mid-late 1920's) Trap related photo I've been researching that was found in Lakewood Ca, located in Los Angeles county. In the image are five gunners on the line at the ready. Closest in the foreground of this photo is a very tall man with a slim long barreled Parker towering above him. I remembered past discussions of Hedderly being described as quite tall, so I began a search for known images of EH for comparison. When viewing a close-up of the tall man in the later 1920's Trap photo next to the 1911 image of a younger EH holding his 28-bore and ducks, there are some convincing similarities, but still hard to say with the age differences in the two photos. Thought perhaps someone here might have encountered a good photo of an (older) Hedderly in their research travels over the years to compare with... The search continues.

CSL
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