REMEBERING KERRS

[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)

[C.O.B.]

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.

[chuck brunner]

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.

[chuck brunner]

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

[Jon Weber]

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.

[Alan Phillips]

Originally Posted by todd allen

I used to shoot with Don occasionally. Bought a nice BHE from him. I haven't heard anything about Don for some time. Any updates?

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.

[chuck brunner]

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.

[Pay Dirt]

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

[Dean Romig]

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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