REMEBERING KERRS

[chuck brunner]

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!

[chuck brunner]

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

[chuck brunner]

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.

[Researcher]

Old Researcher of course has saved out the auction pictures.

Robert Stack DHE 410 01.jpg

Robert Stack DHE 410 02.jpg

Robert Stack DHE 410 03.jpg

Robert Stack DHE 410 04.jpg

Robert Stack DHE 410 05.jpg

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.

[OLD GEEZER]

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

[OLD GEEZER]

couple more

[Bruce Hering]

Originally Posted by chuck brunner

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! Shadow was a two time National Champion!

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".

[chuck brunner]

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!

[chuck brunner]

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.

[chuck brunner]

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)