Tracy Hayes
North Carolina
Background
Tracy Hayes has lived a lifetime with gun dogs. His first two dogs were a gift from a family friend he received when he was 9 years old. Coming from a birddog family, his youth was filled with pointing dogs, quail, grouse and pointing dog field trials. In his early twenties, after graduating from Virginia Tech, he acquired his first lab and it’s been a life-long affair.
For nearly twenty years, agriculture was his vocation but retrievers were his passion. In 1990, he saw a sign that said NAHRA hunt tests. He stopped and watched Charlie Jurney, Allen Pleasants and a few other hunt test trainers and his life was never the same. He co-founded Big Elkin Creek Waterfowl and Retrievers in 1993. Over the next several years, with the help of Charlie Jurney, he learned the art and skill of training retrievers. In the late nineties, he started training professionally and founded Quail Hill Farm Kennels—the rest is history.
At Quail Hill Farm Kennels, training hunting retrievers for the true hunter is paramount. With several acres to train on they almost never have to leave the property to give their gun dogs excellent training opportunities. They train almost exclusively for working gun dogs and HRC hunt tests with the top dogs participating in every HRC Grand. They take pride in training owners to become very proficient handlers for their retrievers.
Other Senior Prostaff
Mike Simmons
Mike has been training dogs for several years and competed with his personal dogs in UKC and AKC hunt tests. In addition, he trains client dogs for both gun dog (duck hunting) and all levels of hunt tests, both UKC and AKC. He isalso an HRC AA licensed judge in...
Kirk Moffitt
My father was a passionate bird hunter and amateur dog trainer, and I grew up around dogs. I’ve worked with various hunting breeds for more than 50 years, including pointing, flushing, and retrieving dogs. My father imported a Brittany female from France in 1958, and I fell in love with...
Chris Anders
Chris has 12 years of dog training experience and over 20 years of combined retriever training and hunting experience. He mostly works with Labradors, Goldens, Chessies, Spaniels, and a few pointing breeds. He is a member of the Professional Retriever Trainers Association, Hunting Retriever Club, Delta Waterfowl, and Ducks Unlimited.
