PLEASE READ

http://www.amesplantation.org/field-...onship-report/

Great read, thanks Chuck. Tell Traci Hi for me.

Enjoyed the read! The lore, nostalgia and great tradition of Bobwhite quail, bird dogs, horses and shotguns put into words!

I wandered around Kerr's a time or two when I was a kid. If you liked nice firearms it was the ultimate candy store, and the people behind the counter were nice also. I saw the photo of Alex and Ken Barnes. Ken is a very interesting guy. I have talked to him a bit about the good old days of duck hunting in California. He is quite the skeet shooter and he still writes occasional articles for the Bakersfield Californian. Boy, have times ever changed.
C.G.B.

Bring those pointers to the U.P. and lets see if we can make a grouse dog or two out of them:rotf:

Thanks for a great read Chuck. It makes me wonder though where did all go off the rails. Some of the things most celebrated back then are so disparaged today.

Traci says hey Daryl ..... Rich ... its hell staying on a horse in the alder thickets
:shock:

I miss the time with my Grandfather. We had some fine big running pointers. His best dog duke was a male from Johns S Gates 1940 National Champion
"Lesters Enjoys Wahoo"
A very small world in that I am friends today with John Rex Gates thru my father-in-law OG Greene

Here is a picture of my Pap ( On left with hat )

My Stud Rip is a son of Caladens Storm Trooper handled by Mike Tracy and Luke Eisenhart out of the great Guardrail owned by Gene Casale who went into the HOF under the handle of the HOF George Tracy
Here is a portrait of Guardrail hanging at Ames ...... Lots of stories from George from this dog

Yours Truly with John Rex and my father-in-law in front of Johns statue at the entrance to the museum at Ames

My winning stud All age and shooting dog RIP
The fruit never falls far from the tree. He could pass for Rail and lives up to his reputation for the lady friends.

OK, I was going to hold out on my favorite Kerr's story, but since I see this thread has "gone to the dogs", here goes.

Years ago while 'chasing Hedderly', I spoke to Jerry Knight at his home in Minden, NV about famous Parkers that had come through Kerr's, and he told me this story: Kerr's ordered and received a beautiful Remington Parker DHE .410, which Jerry immediately fell in love with and determined to buy it. He used a strategy of pointing out how to people who looked at the gun as to how hard it was to hit anything with a .410, that it really was pretty useless as a hunting gauge, and how ammo was pretty relegated to skeet loads for the gauge, although this particular gun was not a skeet gun.

His negative reinforcements worked, and the gun languished in the shop for several months. During this time, Jerry put away money every week against the purchase price of the gun, which would have included his substantial employee discount as manager of the gun department.

One day Robert Stack, who had been off making movies, strolled in and noticed the little .410 sitting in the rack and asked to look at it. As Jerry put it, "He hefted it, waved it around, and mounted and swung it for a few minutes. At that point I knew I was toast." Stack told him, "Well that's a delightful handling little gun; reminds me of my 28 gauge. I'll take it!"

Chuck, who is the artist for the Guardrail portrait?

It looks like Foster’s work.





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Dean
I don't know. My guess it is Ross Young. Guardrail (Jack) died the day after Christmas 1984. William Foster would have been way back. I will look at the signature when we return in the Fall.

Guardrail
Gene and Jack

Guard Rail
Posted on February 6, 2019


Guard Rail had died tragically on December 26, 1984 in an accident on Interstate 95 in Woodbridge, Virginia as his owner Gene Casale and Truman Cowles were headed down the road to spend the winter working dogs and attending trials in the South. Jack, as Guard Rail was called, was buried 50 miles away at the home of Ed Emerson, a bird dog friend who lived in Mineral, Virginia. The dog was nine and had already mowed a large swathe through the field trial world. In his career, Jack accumulated 42 field trial wins including six championship and 3 runner-up championship placements.

During his life Jack was bred 150 times and from the beginning started producing field trial winners. When Everett Skehan wrote an article for the March/April 1993 issue of PDJ Guard Rail had already sired 30 champions and an untold number of other winners. As of today, according to the records of the Field Dog Stud Book, in addition to his 42 wins, Guard Rail has sired 289 winners of American Field and Amateur Field Trial Clubs of America sanctioned stakes that have amassed a total of 2,708 placements. In addition, the grandsons and granddaughters of Guard Rail have produced over 90 more field trial champions and the total number of winners and wins by that next generation are collectively almost impossible to tabulate as they are still being added to on a regular basis. At the peak of Jack’s success, Gene remembers one trip to the South where he showed up at a field trial to find four breeders standing in line waiting to breed bitches to Jack.

Guard Rail’s career might have turned out a lot differently if Gene had not taken a chance on a young dog Rich Guiliano had gotten from Bob Nolan of Atlanta, Georgia. Nolan had offered the pup from the breeding of Smart and the blue hen bitch Nel’s Rambling On (both have been elected to the Field Trial Hall of Fame as has Guard Rail) when he learned that Guiliano was trialing and breeding pointers in Rhode Island where he had once lived. Right from the start Rich was impressed with his puppy that was soon winning puppy stakes. His puppy wins were followed by an impressive derby year that included winning the New England Futurity under the tutelage of Connecticut professional handler Bruce Jacobs. But as fate would have it, Rich was also involved in a new business venture and had less and less time and resources to devote to working and campaigning Guard Rail. He made the decision to sell the dog.

Jack was already out of shape and overweight when Rich brought him out and offered him to Gene Casale at a trial in Woburn, Massachusetts. Gene was skeptical as three or four people had already passed on the dog, but negotiated a two week trial so he could have a better sense of what he was buying. Once Gene got Jack home and was able to let him start running in the large meadows along the Connecticut River near his home in Glastonbury, Connecticut he began to see a transformation as the dog quickly regained his winning form. He and Rich negotiated a price of $2,500 with a $1,000 bonus if Jack won a championship.

Gene bought Guard Rail in August of 1979 and worked him at home for a while then took him to Pennsylvania where he could work him on the then plentiful wild pheasants prior to taking him to the National Amateur Pheasant Championship in October. There were 67 dogs in the field that year and Jack ran early the first day. He laid down a performance that had the gallery buzzing and Gene on pins and needles as the rest of the field tried to top Jack’s performance. Three days later Jack was named National Amateur Pheasant Champion and Gene gladly paid the bonus to Guiliano.

A storybook career followed with George Tracy winning three open championships with the dog while Gene added the amateur wins. Although glad to see Gene succeed with the dog, George claims that if he had had Guard Rail full time his record would have been even more impressive.

Fortunately for the bird dog and field trial world, Gene Casale was an early adopter of semen collection and storage. Gene found a vet in Georgia who was equipped to collect and freeze semen, and before the accident they had collected between 50 and 60 straws from Jack. Over the next 28 years, Gene has selectively used the straws to perpetuate the Guard Rail bloodline. Unfortunately, when the vet moved his practice north to Maryland some of the Guard Rail straws were lost one way or another. At this point there is only one straw of Guard Rail semen still in storage. When they first started using the stored straws to artificially inseminate bitches, they would use two per breeding. With advances in technology, they are now able to split a straw. The last straw that was used resulted in one pup in the first breeding and eight in the second.

Over the years, as I gained experience in field trials by running dogs in various stakes, watching as many braces as I could, and eventually judging, it seemed like every time I saw a pointer I liked, it was by Guard Rail or one of his progeny. When it was time to breed my bitch, Elhew Liebotschaner, I looked for a dog that showed the same drive, class, style, and bird finding ability that I had seen in those dogs from the Guard Rail line and those who had seen Guard Rail in his career reported he had in spades. In the fall of 2003 a young phenom burst on the scene in the New England woods that seemed to embody the Guard Rail traits I admired. The dog proceeded to capture both the National Amateur Grouse Championship and the International Amateur Woodcock Championship while still a derby. When I inquired about Wynot Ace’s pedigree, I learned that his father was Elhew No Trump and his dam was a line bred Guard Rail dog. That clinched the deal and we bred the two of them later that fall. That breeding produced my dog 6X Champion Wild Apple Jack and Jack Harang’s 7X champion Autumn Moon. As my Jack became successful, I was faced with the dilemma of who to breed him to in hopes of producing more winning dogs.

Lying under the desk as I type this is a four year old daughter of Guard Rail bred by New Jersey professional handler Gary Malzone. We bought her specifically to breed to our Jack and have produced a nice litter of puppies that are just 13 months old now that already showing promise. Wild Apple LJ placed this spring in the 44 dog Grand National Puppy Classic and seems to be cut from the Guard Rail cloth.

There has always been a little confusion about something called the Guard Rail spot. Some felt it was the dot on the top of his head between the evenly marked halves of Guard Rail’s liver mask. Others considered the small liver patch at the base of his tail with an otherwise all white body the Guard Rail spot. The jury is still out on whether LJ will shine like his illustrious father and grandfathers, but at least he has both of the Guard Rail spots.

The place where you can find the most Guard Rail blood is Caladen Kennels in South Carolina. Ross Calloway reports that there are currently 17 direct sons and daughters in the kennel from frozen semen-bred Guard Rail litters. He was the breeder of the dog Gene won runner-up laurels with at the 2011 Region 13 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship – Caladen’s Railway Max, as well as other Guard Rail bred dogs that are winning on both the Shooting Dog and All-Age circuits.



Ross’s interest in Guard Rail started serendipitously. In 1987, after he’d moved to South Carolina, the only place he could find to run his accomplished North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) and National Shoot to Retrieve Association (NSTRA) German shorthair pointers was in local National Bird Hunters Association trials. At the time the NBHA required a retrieve and he was amazed that the English pointers in the trial appeared to be enthusiastic retrievers. He had believed the common wisdom among AKC and NAVHDA folks that pointers don’t retrieve. Despite that epiphany, he wasn’t really interested in anything but his GSPs. All that changed when one of the judges at the NBHA event invited him to his farm to train dogs and then wouldn’t let him leave without taking one of his pointer puppies. Ross gave in and took a little black and white female home that he called Pepper. She proved to be one heck of a dog that placed in a number of NSTRA trials and even passed the NAVHDA UPT (there second level test) with ease on her first try in a NAVHDA event. She was a Guard Rail daughter and when we fast forward to 2007 and Ross’s decision to switch to English pointers almost exclusively he went out and bought a direct daughter of Guard Rail. When bred to Rock Acre Blackhawk she produced Ross’s current All-Age winning dog Caladen’s Rail Hawk. And Ross has gone on from there.

He attributes the success of his Guard Rail breeding to the traits Jack has passed on. Jack was a tough-minded and driven dog that at the same time had an innate willingness to please. But even more important for Ross and the rest of the Guard Rail followers is the intelligence that the dog had which has been passed down through the line. If you are at a trial today and see a pointer that is “out on the edge” as Gene characterizes Jack’s usual performances but has the intelligence to stay connected by that invisible thread, you probably won’t have to dig too deep to find Guard Rail in the dog’s pedigree. Gene is going to save that last straw for a very special bitch or two, but considering the number of Guard Rail dogs competing and winning today you can bet Jack’s impact will continue well into the future. People like Ross Calloway, and to a much lesser extent me, will continue to mix Guard Rail blood into our breeding programs. Gene’s also got about 10 straws of one of Guard Rail’s most productive sons, Rail Dancer, to use and at 91 is still making plans for his dogs in the future.

Kevin
I had a Dhe 410 vent rib skeet gun shown to me at the Southern 2 years ago that may have been that gun. The gun was in incredible condition and there were some whispers that Robert Stack may have owned it. Came from Kerr's and it fit like a glove. What a Parker!

Chuck:

What a great picture. The Gates family knew how to run a dog. Robin did not to to bad with the shag either....

Having had some pups out of Rail Hawk and a Gunsmoke/Elhew bitch I have to agree with their desire and bird sense. They were a dream to work and hunt with. Always searching and always wanting to please.

Chuck;

I've been trying to find Dave Noreen ("Researcher")'s recent post where he shows a picture of Robert Stack's 28- and .410 gauge DHEs, but can't seem to find it. I don't think the .410 was a bona fide skeet gun as we recognize them (e.g,. I don't recall a vent rib, straight grip, or BTFE). Maybe Dave can set us straight.

As you well know, "whispers" attaching various guns to famous former owners are like UFO sightings - location, time, place and observer/participant are crucial elements of verification. When I bought Robert Stack's 1953 Grade V Browning Superposed at the Las Vegas show some 10 years ago, the dealer who had bought it at the auction of Stack's estate had no clue as to its significance or value in our milieu, so to speak.

It had 30 inch Cordy (Belgium) barrels fitted by Simmons thru Kerr's and an aircushion stock (not a hydro-coil) by the Shiokaku brothers of Bel Air CA, who specialised in recoil-reducing devices for older or medically-compromised shooters who couldn't stand the recoil of a 12 ga. target gun anymore. Tried as I might, I could never find out what happened to the original FN Browning barrels after he had the Cordy barrels fitted.

I knew and shot with a couple of people (John Milius, Shelly Gitman, Roger Bain, Akio Mitpmura, Dennis Behrens and others) who shot bunker (Olympic) trap with Robert Stack at Chino CA (Bob Petersen's shooting park that he helped develop for the Olympics). None of them were able to put me onto who or where might know anything about those original Grade V SP barrels. I would have paid a lot of money for them.

I eventually traded the gun off for something that I wanted more. I knew the man and I knew the gun well, and I felt the better for having someone who really wanted it appreciate them both.

Thanks Chuck - I didn’t realize Guardrail (Jack) lived that recently. Foster died in 1941.





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Kevin
I remember the Browning. If memory serves me you showed it to me at Pintail during the vintagers a few years back but forgive me if I am crossing timeline..... I have access to the 410 thru a business/acquaintance
the 410 is not skeet choked but is skeet configured.

Bruce
Robin "BIG" Gates's heart was as big as his presence. He will be forever missed. Mike Tracy made the funeral and it was well attended. God Bless and rest our friend. Here is Robin "BIG" Gates and our friend Mark Mclean at Hoffman with the great setter " Shadow Oak Bo".... There you go setter guys!:) Bo was a two time National Champion!

Nuff Said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The great " SHADOW OAK BO" at the "Drop Zone" Hoffman , N.C.

Shadow Oak Plantation and the ever generous and humble "Mr. Butch"

Shadow Oak Plantation owner Butch Houston is a renowned bird dog man and upland bird hunting enthusiast. He has bred and trained bird dogs as well as guided quail hunts. For the past 40 years he has campaigned pointers and English setters on the major field trial circuits with top professional handlers, primarily dogs competing on the Open All-Age circuit with trainer/handler Robin Gates. No name in the field trial world earns more respect than the name “Gates” as Robin’s father John S. Gates and brother John Rex Gates are both honored members of the Field Trial Hall of Fame. Also in the HOF is Butch’s great champion pointer Joe Shadow from where the name “Shadow” Oak Plantation is derived. Other field trial champions include: Ch. Silky Sullivan, Ch. Live Oaks Bo, Ch. Lady Addition, Ch. Flint Shoals John, Ch. Phillips White Twist, Ch. Law And Order, Ch. Shadow’s Back Talk, Ch. Three Rivers and currently being campaigned, Ch. Shadow’s Next Exit, 2016 Purina Derby of the Year.

Most famous of all, Butch’s English Setter Shadow Oak Bo rocked the field trial world with his back-to-back wins of the most coveted of all, the National Bird Dog Championship in 2013 and again in 2014! No setter had won the grueling three-hour endurance stake held on the Ames Plantation in Grand Junction, TN in 43 years. And no Setter had won back-to-back since the great female Llewellin Sioux won in 1901 and 1902. Bo’s list of field trial championship wins also includes the 2011 Continental Open All-Age Championship run on the prestigious Dixie Plantation, Greenville, Florida. Retired in 2016, Bo now lives a life of luxury at Shadow Oak Plantation.

Old Researcher of course has saved out the auction pictures.

Attachment 94393

Attachment 94394

Attachment 94395

Attachment 94396

Attachment 94397

By the condition, Mr. Stack obviously wasn't out "huntin' the bottoms" with Dave Lien with this gun!!

Robert Stack's Parkers were all different grades. The .410-bore was a DHE, the 28-gauge was a BHE and the 20-gauge was a CHE. Unfortunately I don't have the serial numbers of them.

Chuck: Here are some of the champion dogs mentioned in your Ames Plantation story. These are calendar tops put out by E. I. Du Pont De Nemours Paladin 1951,Sierra Joan 1949,Saturn 1947,Mississippi Zev 1946 Setter,Ariel1945 and 1941,Luminary 1942. I have all the national Champions from 1938 to 1961 and had planned on framing them but you put them away and forget about them. Thomas

couple more

Dave - thanks so much for the pictures! The fact that the .410 bore was not a straight grip was one of Jerry Knight's 'ploys' steering people away from the statement that it wasn't a "real" skeet gun (e.g. straight grip as usually encountered vs. a pistol grip and not bored skeet). Apparently Stack didn't care!! Stack requested and got AH-grade wood on his BHE 28 gauge as part of a sweetheart deal from Remington when he traded in his LC Smith award gun as skeet champion for the Parker which he had always wanted.

Chuck - excellent memory! The .410 is not skeet choked, another downplay factor in Knight's very skillful deflection of potential buyer's interest in the gun. As you will recall, the Grade V Browning was a spectacular gun, even after with the alterations in the stock and Cordy barrel set. Engraved by Gaston Vandermissin in deep relief with dark shaded backgrounds, it was one of the best Superposeds I ever had the privilege of owning and shooting. Choked .027 and .040, it was a killer bunker gun, which Stack loved to shoot.

So many are gone. I worked for Herb Holmes when he was in IL and "Billy" was just a kid. Got to meet John O'Neal Jr, Mr Elhew, and a bunch more as they would pass through headed south stopping at Herbs. They were all gentleman and what knowledge they had....

I learned a great deal, including "some tricks".

Kevin
I will see if I can get the Stack 410 to the Southern.....Its that good. The browning was spectacular and you were grinning like the proverbial Cat!

Tomas
Those deserve a place on the wall. What I would give to see just one of those dogs cross the line at Ames... As Mr. Buck would say "Hallowed ground"
What a place. Interesting note... Hobart Ames was supposedly a Parker guy and a few of his shooters are displayed including an old C single if memory serves me, along with some other guns.

Herb
Bob Wehle was quite a guy. Real genetics guy. Unfortunately the Elhew line has been bred out and mudded. He really produced some great shooting dog lines.
Sinbad, Fibber etc.... The pointer world is getting thin on really good conformation dogs with "Bird dog" traits. Ferrell Miller and Gary Lester are still breeding IMHO the finest running dogs on the face of the earth. Big fancy moving dogs with sense style and class. Millers White Powder (shown)

Dan Andrews who owns Drake's Landing got a pointer from Ferrell Miller. A nice dog but born deaf. Dan (to his credit) kept the dog and trained him using an E collar. I haven't seen Dan as the Southern was cancelled last year and I'm not able to attend this year but I hear the dog is doing well. He was solid on point with a wing at 12 weeks so the potential was there.

Rich
That's awesome. I know you have had some great sporting clays shooting at Drakes...
Ferrell is a great guy and his stories are classics. He and Gary Lester both won the nationals as Amateurs... Quite a feat. To ad to this the great trainer/handler D Hoyle Eaton just passed and he was tied and very close to Ferrell running those great white dogs. Another legend passes.

D. Hoyle Eaton Passes

BOONEVILLE, MISS. — Dexter Hoyle Eaton, 90, passed away Tuesday, March 2, at his home.

Hoyle was born July 20, 1930, to Flake and Lois Eaton. He was a U.S. Army veteran.

His tenure as a professional bird dog trainer-handler spanned some fifty years, and he left an indelible mark on the field trial sport.

Hoyle handled dogs that won virtually every major stake, from Canada to the Deep South, including the National Championship with Riggins White Knight, Red Water Rex, Rex's Cherokee Jake and Miller's White Cloud. Dogs he handled won the coveted Purina Award six times.

Hoyle Eaton was elected to the Field Trial Hall of Fame in 1979 and he was joined there by four of his contenders — Riggins White Knight, Red Water Rex, Ormond Smart Alex and Miller's White Cloud.

It doesn't seem that long ago that he developed a young nearly all-white pointer he named Sir Lancelot, and the recollection of Lancelot's bid in the National Championship is surely still vivid for the many who witnessed it that sunny day on the afternoon course.

Hoyle was instrumental in the establishment to the Hell Creek Area near Blue Mountain, Miss., a venue for a number of leading trials.

He is survived by his wife, Betty Gwyn Maxwell Eaton; two sons, Joe David (Cherry) Eaton and Paul W. Eaton; two sisters, a brother, Dan (Cathy Frasier) Eaton; four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and special caregiver, Jennifer Hancock.

He was preceded in death by his parents, five brothers and two sisters.

A Celebration of Life service was held Thursday afternoon, March 4, at McMillan Funeral Home with Bro. Ricky Bishop officiating. Burial was in Oaklawn Memorial Park.

D Hoyle Eaton 7/20/30 - 3/2/21
A Classy Old school gentleman. True Dog Man
Mr. Hoyle's presence at the Nationals will be missed!

R.I.P

I was fortunate to have lived in West Hollywood in the mid-1950s to early 1060s. On rare occasions my dad would take me to Kerr's to look at firearms and such and maybe even catch a glimpse at a movie star or celebrity - which wasn't all that rare in Hollywood in those days. I was pretty young and I never thought too much about it again until I purchased a Browning Pigeon Grade Superposed 20ga two-barrel set from a collector in New York. I received a letter from Browning indicating that it had been sold by Kerr's in August 1960...one year before my family moved from California. I have no idea who purchased the gun new as the letter didn't specify. I have the invoice number and I'd love to know but it seems the records from Kerr's are no longer available. I've often wondered who the original owner might be.

When Don Criswell was active as a dealer in high grade shotguns (mostly 21's) he also shot skeet competitively and was very good at it. He used a 32" mod. 21 before long barrels gained favor. I shot on his squad for years. I think it was on Thursdays that Jerry Knight would put out all the new arrivals at Kerr's when he worked there. Don and I would always be at the store as early as possible with all the other dealers and collectors to view the new merchandise. Jerry would let some of the dealers, John Kilgore, Mike Weatherby, Bill Moore, Criswell to name a few take the guns home with no more than a handshake and try to sell them on commission. I remember one, a Purdy 20 ga. new in makers case that Kilgore had from Jerry that was offered to me for $5000.00 and I passed. Still lay awake at times just thinking how dumb I was. We won't see the likes of Kerr's and the people who frequented the store ever again. All the people mentioned here have passed away. Don Criswell died last winter 2020. His wife Donna passed about a month before Don. Jerry Knight moved to Minden, Nevada in the early nineties and continued to shoot skeet (mostly .410) and do a little varmint hunting until his passing about 16 years ago. An interesting note, the records from Kerr's may be out there somewhere. They were in bound books and I looked through them when Mike Weatherby had them. It seemed like every movie star from the era was a customer.

Alan
Thanks for adding to the thread. I called Don about 10 years ago on a 21 that we purchased and originally was built for Kip Farrington. The 2 barrel set was cased and engraved. He spent over an hour on the phone talking about 21's and the good old days. You are completely correct. We will never see times like those again. Really a shame. The big box stores have taken the customer care and appreciation out of the retail world and technology has made it sterile. I used to really enjoy opening up Shotgun news or the Gunlist and browse the ads looking for a deal. I still have some old A&F catalogs from the fifties that belonged to my Grandfather and chuckle at the earmarked pages with an asterisks next to a Parker or Smith..... "fruit don't fall far"

A couple Years ago I tried to reach Kerr's daughter to research an A1 special Trap gun that came thru him. Jim Tyne provided her number. I called and was told the books no longer existed. Pretty short conversation. I often wondered if they were kept under lock to protect their customers identity..... May surface some day.

Czars 2 barrel soft case. Yeah, he shopped there too.

https://i.imgur.com/D1sHYfS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/EYkJPT3.jpg

Okay Bobby - inquiring minds want to know.... "Czar's two-barrel soft case - he shopped there too." "He" who?...what Czar?... what gun?





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