short term training lease in VA

[Swift River]

Hi,

I am a pro trainer in New England and it looks like a long miserable winter and I need a training fix. I would like to find some property to lease for 1 week in Feb, 1 week in March and maybe a week in April. I was hoping to find something in Virgina, maybe the Fredricksburg/Richmond area, about a days drive from the state of Mass. I'm not sure of how much snow or how long it lasts in that area of Virgina, I imagine the water would be too cold in Feb/March and maybe April, but it would sure beat 2+ feet of snow, ice and sub zero temps.

Ideally there should be a reasonable (safe) hotel nearby. I will have a few clients with me. I can provide referances from other people whose property I have trained at.

I'd be happy to exchange properties as well, if someone was going to be in the central Mass area and needed a place to train for a few days in the summer. Pictures of my property can be viewed at www.swiftriverretrievers.com

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Buck Shope, Swift River Retrievers

[Vicky Trainor]

Buck Shope??? Oh man, I've heard about you.....

LOL.....How've you been other than snowed in and freezing??

Sure hope you find some property to lease so you can get out of that snowy terrain for at least a few weeks! Nick Elam is down in that area as well as lablover (Dick McRee) Dick posts on RTF so maybe he will read your post and be able to give you some contact info for people in that area.

Good luck and take care,
Vicky

[Al VanHoey]

Buck

I'm not familiar with any training areas around the Richmond, VA area. If you are willing to drive approximately 5 hours further south, there is a large public training area in just west of Cheraw, SC. It is called the H. Cooper Black Jr. Field Trial Area. I doubt that you would have snow and you could probably get some water work in.

Al

[Ed Hogan]

There is a retiever club in Remington Va. They have some nice grounds. Rappahannock River Retriever Club. Look them up on Entry Express. They may have some grounds and the area is nice and safe.

[Julie R.]

There is a retiever club in Remington Va. They have some nice grounds. Rappahannock River Retriever Club. Look them up on Entry Express. They may have some grounds and the area is nice and safe.

Just to clarify...RRRC does not have its own training grounds, but we are allowed to train on Neil Selby's Shady Grove hunting preserve by his kind permission. He trains retrievers and pointers there and I know in the past he has worked out deals with other pros so it might be worthwhile to contact him. There is also a very cool lodge on the premises that is a renovated old 1820s brick farmhouse that you can sometimes rent rooms. There is a link to Shady Grove on our club's website www.rrrclub.com/

However this area can still have snow cover and frozen water; it's typically a few degrees warmer south and east because of the moderating influence of the ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Slick coating of ice this a.m., but not the big snowstorm the local media was hyping for the past 72 hours....

Julie R., sec. RRRC

[Ed Hogan]

Just to clarify...RRRC does not have its own training grounds, but we are allowed to train on Neil Selby's Shady Grove hunting preserve by his kind permission. He trains retrievers and pointers there and I know in the past he has worked out deals with other pros so it might be worthwhile to contact him. There is also a very cool lodge on the premises that is a renovated old 1820s brick farmhouse that you can sometimes rent rooms. There is a link to Shady Grove on our club's website www.rrrclub.com/

However this area can still have snow cover and frozen water; it's typically a few degrees warmer south and east because of the moderating influence of the ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Slick coating of ice this a.m., but not the big snowstorm the local media was hyping for the past 72 hours....

Julie R., sec. RRRC

Thanks Juli, I was hopeing someone from that area would see my post. I was reluctant to say anything because I was not sure if the Hunting preserve was open to the public. Looking forward to your next hunt test........ I'd invite them to NC but the water shortage has all my training grounds dried up.

[moscowitz]

Buck,

I use to go down to the Canal Area in March. No snow nice training grounds but to cold for water. Just about 3/4 hr. I did it as a day trip but there are cheap hotels. I stayed at the Knights Inn very cheap. The other area in S.C. is great. It has everything. Tech water large fields, terrain etc. All day drive. Hotels close by. No cost to train and have trailer hook-ups on site.

[jeff t.]

No cost to train and have trailer hook-ups on site.

There is a fee if you reserve the grounds in advance..which happens a lot. Best to check beforehand to make sure the grounds have not been reserved by others.

[Swift River]

Thanks for all the info.

I'm trying to get a hold of Neil to make some arrangments, I was at the MN and really liked his grounds. The club put on a great event!

I thought of the C&D and Rebel Ridge, but I think I will do better weatherwise if I go few more hours south.

I have a place to train in NC, but it's just too far for 1 weeks worth of training. Plus I impose my self enough on my freind there when I show up for a couple weeks in April!

Thanks again, Buck

[greg magee]

Hey Buck, long time no see. interesting to see you make the jump from amatuer to hard core pro. You might want to contact Jack Gwaltney if he is still around. They have some nice area to train down his way. Hope all is well, Greg

P.S. Dave Jenson is also a pro down in that area who might be interested in trading some grounds.