by Richard Simms
posted January 25, 2008
This is a story about River Bend. It is not, however, the Riverbend you are used to reading about in Chattanooga. This scene is set in the Eastern shadow of the Appalachian Mountains near Fingerville, South Carolina. Welcome to the River Bend Sportsman's Resort.
"Pheasant," screamed Hank Rogers.
All three hunters had just barely stepped into the field, guns casually shouldered when the raucous cackle of a ringneck erupted from the sage. Only one hunter managed a fleeting, and wayward shot as the big bird sailed out of sight.
"We're here to hunt boys, not sightsee," chided Rogers with a grin. He whistled, directing one of his many dogs back to the hunt. With head held high, the bird dog crisscrossed the field, in search of new scent, and new birds.
For someone who rarely gets the chance to see, and hear, the fury of a flushing pheasant, the drive to River Bend suddenly seemed very short. It was my first trip across I-40 through the mountains, exactly 4-and-a-half hours from Chattanooga to Fingerville, and the hospitality of this upscale shooting and hunting resort.
The operation is the brainchild of owner/operator Ralph Brendle. In 1985 Brendle was only 34 years old and had worked his way to the position of Sales Manager for a major chemical company.
"I traveled all over the world," said Brendle. "And then I just got tired of traveling. But I used to entertain a lot of customers at places like this."
That led him to buy 550 acres of land near the South Carolina-North Carolina border, quit his well-paying "day job," and create a sporting paradise that includes a 6,000-square-foot lodge, a conference center, and accommodations.
The kitchen is run by Chef Lee Whitehurst, specializing in Southern cuisine. River Bend offers skeet shooting, sporting clays, and 5-stand, with professional instructors on site.
After sharpening your shooting skills you can move on to the upland bird hunts, along with turkey, deer and duck hunts. Add to that paintball courses and cooperative opportunities for fishing, white water rafting and golf.
"By adding the golf, you can basically bring anybody here and they'll find something they can do," said Brendle.
Brendle seems most proud of the River Bend Youth Camp. For 18 years he's offered a series of six-day summer camps for youngsters 10 to 15 years old.
"They come in here on a Monday," explained Brendle. "We take a maximum of ten kids a week. For $925 they stay here, we feed them, house them, all they need to bring is clothes. They get a hunter education certification and learn shotgun, rifle, pistol, archery, fly fishing and paintball. Not classroom instruction, but hands-on fun."
He admits that the recent years have been hard on his business. He says 85 percent of the traffic comes from corporate clients. Through his first career he had great contacts with South Carolina's textile industry, an industry that has now fallen on hard times.
"When 9-11 came and all the textile businesses went south forever, it became another challenge," said Brendle. "For the past four years we've had to regroup and find new customers."
Part of his focus has been on a new female demographic. I was looking forward to some sporting clays instruction from Wally Schneider. I was surprised when I learned that "Wally" is a woman.
"My parents named me Wallis. The King of England gave up his thrown for a woman named Wallis, but somehow it never caught on as a woman's name. I've disliked it for more years than I care to remember."
As much as she dislikes her name however, she loves hunting, shooting, the outdoors and her husband.
"He's the first person who took me hunting. My father, nobody, ever took me hunting. That's probably why I married him," Schneider shared with a smile.
She is one of only a handful of women certified as a Level II Instructor by the National Sporting Clays Association. As an instructor for the Paragon School of Shooting, she teaches men. Her goal however is to put a shotgun in the hands of more women.
"The might be tentative at first," said Schneider. "But once that first clay target breaks they're like, 'oh my gosh."
Hank Rogers is another "regular" at River Bend. Once a professional baseball player, Rogers spent most of career as a teacher and football coach. Now he's training bird dogs and coaching hunters on the tricks of quail, pheasant and chukar.
When you miss, expect some grief from the coach.
"I'm thinkin' I must be hunting with Ray Charles and Helen Keller today," Rogers shared after a particularly embarrassing miss.
At River Bend it won't be long before every hunter quickly gets the chance to redeem himself. Rogers watches intently as a favorite English setter locks onto scent. The dog freezes, one foot poised in mid-air. It is hard to know who is more anxious, the dogs or the three hunters wondering what will boil from beneath the grass.
With a sound like an out-of-control weedeater, a covey of quail boils into the air. Shotguns ring out in the crisp morning air. As the setter begins to retrieve several birds, Rogers says, "that was better boys," and this trip to a different kind River Bend is complete.
For more information, visit www.rvrbend.com.
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