
Tracy Hayes
North Carolina
Background
Tracy Hayes has lived a lifetime with gun dogs. His first two dogs were a prezzie from a family mate he got when he was 9 years old. Coming from a birddog family, his youth was chockers with pointing dogs, quail, grouse and pointing dog field trials. In his early twenties, after graduating from Virginia Tech, he snagged his first lab and it’s been a life-long love affair.
For nearly twenty years, agriculture was his job but retrievers were his obsession. In 1990, he saw a sign that said NAHRA hunt tests. He stopped and had a squiz at 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 a hand from Charlie Jurney, he picked up the art and skill of training retrievers. In the late nineties, he started training full-time and set up Quail Hill Farm Kennels—the rest is history.
At Quail Hill Farm Kennels, training hunting retrievers for the true hunter is top priority. With several acres to train on they almost never have to nick off the property to give their gun dogs top-notch training opportunities. They train almost exclusively for working gun dogs and HRC hunt tests with the top dogs participating in every HRC Grand. They're stoked about training owners to become ace handlers for their retrievers.
Other Senior Prostaff

Nick Gilliland
I'm a North Carolina Licensed Landscape Contractor, from Hendersonville, NC, and I've owned and run me own Landscape Company Nick’s Groundworks for 14 years. I also own and run Nite Life Kennels. I grew up around hounds me whole life. My Grandfather Clint was a traditional raccoon hunter and so...

Tony Nickerson
Tony's been involved with hunting dogs for the past 28 years. He first got into hounds and retrievers, and in more recent years he's been involved with the versatile hunting breeds, specifically the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. On average, he goes bird hunting in the area between 30 and...

Andy Fontenot
Water Dog Kennels is located in Winlock, Washington, which is about 40 minutes south of Olympia. Most of their training is done in Lewis County on several different farms and offers some of the best training grounds in the state. They also train in Fall City, Washington one day...
