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Book review: A New Book on California’s Gun Clubs: “They Came to Shoot”
By Dave Carlberg A book has just been published by the California Waterfowl Association entitled They Came to Shoot - A History of California Duck Clubs & Wetland Conservation by Frank Hall. Exhaustively researched, the 500+ page book examines over 3000 of the many duck hunting clubs that dotted the California landscape beginning early in the nineteenth century. California’s position along the Pacific Flyway made it a paradise for duck hunters, Bolsa Chica being one of the numerous examples Hall covers. The author devotes nearly an entire page to the Bolsa Chica Gun Club, including one of the Amigos’ turn-of-the-20th-century photographs of Inner Bolsa Bay and the club’s boathouses for which the author gives Amigos credit. At one time there were 65 duck clubs in Orange County alone, the last one (at the San Joaquin marsh) closed its doors in 1988. (The Sea and Sage Audubon Society now occupies some of its buildings for its headquarters.) The author also comments briefly on how tens of thousands of acres of the state’s wetlands were converted into residential and harbor developments, often significantly raising the wealth of the club members who owned the wetlands. In a few instances duck clubs were responsible for saving wetlands from development long before anyone heard ofthe California Coastal Act. The book, richly illustrated with old time photographs and maps, is a remarkable achievement. It is available only through the California Waterfowl Association, www.signup4.net/Public/ap.aspx?EID=WECA10E Regardless of one’s feelings about hunting, one must acknowledge that California’s duck hunting clubs occupied an important and fascinating place in the state’s environmental, social, economic and cultural history. Now retired, author Frank Hall served nearly four decades with the California Department of Fish and Game, during most of which he held the position of wildlife biologist. The book began as a personal challenge. With a deep interest in California history, especially its wetlands, and a hunter, Hall wondered how much information existed about the state’s many duck hunting clubs and how much was available. The answers are in this extraordinary book. Back to the Tern Tide/News Index |