Central Valley CA, 20ga. DHE Letter

[Craig Larter]

I thought I would share the letter on this gun. Has many qualities/specifications of the so called California duck guns.
Does anyone know if Dinuba, Tulare County was formerly a duck hunting area in the era this gun was made?? Mostly raisin farms and fruit and nut trees now days.

[Jeff Kuss]

According to Frank Hall's book They came to shoot, there were 3000 duck clubs in California at that time.

[Garry L Gordon]

I have a similar DHE 20 with the requested medium thick comb. My gun was ordered by a quail hunter, and the gun weighs a bit more than yours. I've assumed that when someone ordered the medium thick comb that it was to accommodate larger hands. Any other theories? Maybe to make the stock stronger for heavier loads...or...? How many of these larger comb guns do you suppose were ordered?

[Dean Romig]

I would be inclined to think a "medium thick comb" would be ordered by a man with a thinner than average cheek or face.





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[Chris Travinski]

I always thought the ticker combs were easier on the cheek for high volume shooting. Sounds like a neat gun Craig, I'd love to see some pictures if you pick it up.

[Garry L Gordon]

So, my gun with the medium comb has a larger than average wrist (4.5 inches circumference on the straight hand stock). I assumed that with the larger comb came the larger wrist, but I know what happens when one assumes.

I'd be curious to know if your gun, Craig, has a larger wrist also. Let us know when you get the gun if you would, please(?).

[Reggie Bishop]

Fully checkered fore-end. Sounds like an interesting Parker.
I think one of my Parkers went to Tufts Lyon Arms. I will have look thru my letters.

[scott kittredge]

That gun would fit me perfect with my duck hunting clothing on!!!
Love to see it.
Scott

[Craig Larter]

Scott: In the warm summer months 14"+- works good for me, once I dress for ducks 13 1/2" is perfect for me also. In the summer I just slip on a leatherman pad and it brings the LOP to 14".
Anyone know where to buy a copy of Fred A Halls book They Came to Shoot

[scott kittredge]

Any choke info on the gun? Craig are you coming to NH this summer? If so would like you to get together with some of us for a shoot and lunch.
Scott

[Daryl Corona]

Nice find Craig. Is it on a 1 frame? I've got it's brother, DHE 20 , 32", straight grip full, not slender, 2 5/8" chambers, SSBP, raised flat rib. DT. Bring it in Sept. and we'll drool after cocktails.:)

[scott kittredge]

Bring it in Sept. and we'll drool after cocktails.:)[/QUOTE]
Even if you dont bring the gun:rotf:

[Craig Larter]

Daryl it's a 0 frame.

[Dean Romig]

Nice!





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[Dave Noreen]

Back in one of the years of The Vintage Cup at Sandanona when I was helping Kevin with the PGCA booth we had 32-inch 20-gauges on display on 0-, 1- and 2-frames.

[Larry Stauch]

Craig, back to your original question of "is Dinuba, California a duck hunting area?" it most certainly was in those days. If you've ever heard of the Pacific flyway, these fellows had direct access to some of the greatest waterfowl migrations in the western US. However, JG Boswell intervined and here's what happened to the flyway:

The cotton magnate James G. Boswell begins in the nineteen-twenties, when his family was driven from Georgia by boll-weevil infestations and brought its plantation ways to California's San Joaquin Valley. Not to be defeated by nature again, the Boswells leveed and dammed Tulare Lake, the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi, to the point of extinction. In its six-hundred-square-mile basin they grew cotton, while in Los Angeles office towers they built one of the country's largest agricultural operations, swallowing small farms and multimillion-dollar subsidies with equal vigor. Arax and Wartzman strive for evenhandedness but acknowledge the costs of Big Ag—such as evaporation ponds with selenium levels so high that ducks are born with corkscrewed beaks and no eyes, and the recurrent "hundred-year floods," stubborn attempts by the old lake to reassert itself.

Obviously, a travesty like this wouldn't happen today, but it's too late for the Pacific Flyway.....or is it?

[Craig Larter]

Larry thanks so much that's just the information I was hoping for, thanks. Good place to start my research about the golden age of waterfowl hunting in the central valley.

[Carl G. Bachhuber]

If you want to know about central valley duck hunting you should contact this gentleman:
https://www.bakersfield.com/columnists/ken-barnes/
I have talked to him a couple of times and he is really a fascinating guy and great fun to talk to. He has written quite a few articles about the 'good old days' of duck hunting in California.
C.G.B.

[Craig Larter]

Carl: Thanks I sent Mr. Barnes a e-mail, I will let you know if it leads anywhere. Thanks Craig

[Craig Larter]

A few quickee pictures of the gun. Chokes im/im