Delta Waterfowl Chapter News

Delta Chapter News

Carter Hanna was just a boy when he hunted with South Nation Chapter's Ryan Robson for the first time. Now 16, Hanna isn't merely a tag-along: He helps mentor incoming youth during South Nation's annual First Hunt event.

He's learned quite a bit along the way, too.

"The kid can blow a goose call better than anyone in the chapter," Robson said.

Hanna is a product of the Berwick, Ontario, chapter's mentorship system, which began in 2008 and sponsors 10 young hunters every year. It also fully funds licensing and testing fees to complete the required Apprentice Hunting Program and Canadian Firearms Course — a total cost of $2,500 a year, or $250 per participant.

The chapter has partnered with the South Nation Conservation Authority, which helps fund the process and has donated roughly $10,000 in five years. Delta's Waterfowl Heritage Fund covers the rest.

But the price is worth it.

"We (Ontario) don't really have a hunting course for youth, so it can be intimidating for them when they are in a classroom full of adults," Robson said. "This scenario makes it a lot more comfortable."

For successfully completing the lofty hunting requirements, South Nation participants are rewarded with a guided waterfowl hunt. It's the cherry on top, and helps spark passion that can lead to a lifetime of waterfowling.

"We don't just take a kid hunting, we make young hunters," Robson said.

Delta Waterfowl is built on the passion of its members, and perhaps none have been as passionate as Gerry Kaumeyer. With the passing of Gerry last summer, our waterfowl community lost a true champion. Gerry was a supporter of Delta in its earliest days in Alberta. He was dedicated to the expansion of Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) in Canada. And like many Delta supporters, Gerry was a huge supporter of youth hunting. One of his greatest joys was helping young kids get involved in waterfowling.

"Gerry's passion for the outdoors was contagious," says Jim Fisher, Delta's director of conservation. "We're sure going to miss him, but his legacy lives on through the many young hunters he shared a blind with. We can all aspire to Gerry's commitment."

Gerry is best remembered in the marsh, holding one of the first hand-made Browning Superpose shotguns dating back to the early 1930's. He rarely missed a bird when this gun came to shoulder.

Because of the dedication of its chairman, the Backwater Chapter in Magnolia, Ark., recently received a $1,000 grant from Allstate. Seth Jean won the grant for Backwater, and also received the Allstate Agency Hands in the Community Award for his community service and commitment to helping others.

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The Puddle Jumpers chapter of Bismarck, N.D., utilized Waterfowl Heritage Funds and a grant from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department to host its annual First Hunt mentored field day and hunt, which took place during the state's youth waterfowl weekend in mid September.

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The Raft Creek Chapter held its first youth field day in April, and wound up with a big turnout.

Drumming up volunteer support and using the chapter's Waterfowl Heritage Fund money for the first time, the Searcy, Ark.-based Delta chapter attracted roughly 90 participants, ages 10 to 18, and their parents for a day filled with waterfowl discussions, handouts, a skeet shoot and cookout.

"Up until this year, we always allowed Delta Waterfowl to use our WHF money wherever they wanted to," said Timi Curtis, chapter chair. "We had a good time, and look forward to doing it again."

Raft Creek also presented Delta Waterfowl scholarship winner John Hall with $500 to go toward his college education. The Beebe, Ark., native will attend Arkansas Tech University this fall.

The Black Hills Puddle Jumpers Chapter, in conjunction with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department, recently helped introduce 24 young people to waterfowling during the annual Bob Marshall Conservation Camp at Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

During the four-day event, participants spent a pair of half-day classes learning about bird identification, hunting techniques, decoys, calling, blinds, and dog training and handling. Delta Waterfowl and Cabela's contributed donations in the forms of hats, calls and reference material.

Eric Anderson, Adam Harrison, Phil Heins, Jared Wire and Steve McEnroe volunteered as Black Hills Puddle Jumpers representatives.

To most folks, boot camp sounds like an oppressively difficult trial by fire. The Waterfowlers Boot Camp and Outdoors Festival on July 21 to 22 near Marengo, Ohio, was anything but.

The Southwest Ohio Chapter made sure to keep things fun and interesting during Kids Boot Camp. Assisted by Bird Down Retrievers, the Cincinnati-based Delta chapter held waterfowl and retriever demonstrations, spearheaded a hen house project and featured seminars by Buck Gardner Calls. Nearly 30 youths attended the boot camp.

Southwest Ohio bolstered the Delta family by selling 30 memberships during the annual two-day event, which also included a multitude of hunting seminars and duck and goose calling contests.

The Calhoun County Chapter is helping enhance waterfowl habitat in an area scarred by a 2010 oil spill.

A pipeline rupture on July 26, 2010, sent an estimated 1 million gallons of crude oil into Talmadge Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. Heavy rains caused the oil to top dams and spread over 25 miles of the river. Subsequent cleanup efforts involved collection and disposal of oil, as well as recovery and cleansing of oil-soaked waterfowl and wildlife.

As part of damage remediation efforts, Enbridge Energy, the company operating the pipeline, has donated $3,000 to the Calhoun County Chapter of Delta Waterfowl. The chapter plans to use the funding to build and install 150 hen houses and 50 wood duck boxes throughout Calhoun County. A youth day event planned for summer will include assembling nesting structures.

"We will be putting a lot of effort along the Kalamazoo River to help Enbridge put back what was lost in the oil spill accident," said Joe Pace, Calhoun County Chapter chairman.

The Gulf Coast Chapter is using money from its Waterfowl Heritage Fund to aid research about how ducks and geese use Clearfield rice on southern wintering grounds.

The chapter has donated $6,000 through the McNeese State University Foundation to the Harold and Pearl Dripps Agricultural Sciences Department. The donation includes $5,000 for the rice study and a $1,000 scholarship.

Dr. David Kestel, chapter president, and Scott Broussard, treasurer, presented the check to McNeese State administrators on April 2.

All 30 committee members of the Eunice (Louisiana) Chapter took part in a project to install 130 wood duck boxes on nearby public and private wetlands.

Red Vidrine, a long-time conservationist and friend of Delta Waterfowl, built the boxes and predator guards, which were distributed and installed in January and February.

The project was funded with Waterfowl Heritage Fund dollars — money raised by chapters that can be used locally to enhance waterfowl habitat, hold youth programs and promote hunter recruitment.

The Southern Oregon Chapter has placed and maintains 27 hen houses in the Rogue Valley, including one nesting structure that a unique mallard hen has claimed to hatch her brood each year.

"She's a mean-old hen," explained Steve DeBerry, chapter president. "She chases the other ducks off. But she gets in there early and produces a lot of ducks."

DeBerry monitored the hen house in the Denman Wildlife Area, waiting for an early hatch. When 11 ducklings cracked out of their eggshells and left the nest on March 23, the chapter president was on hand to capture the event.

Now in the third year of its nesting structure program, the 150-member chapter plans to add hen houses in area marshes each year, DeBerry reports.

The Delta Waterfowl Puddle Jumpers chapter of Bismarck, ND, hosted a women's workshop and hunt in early October. Eight women, all associated with North Dakota's Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program, and seven mentors took part in the two-day event.

The workshop included a duck identification tutorial, gun safety tips and trap shooting. Participants divided into three groups, with two hunting over water and the third hunting a field.

"My group of four ladies did the field hunt," said chapter chairman Jeff Herman. "They helped out in every aspect of the hunt, from stubbling the blinds, setting out the decoys and bagging a few birds along the way. The biggest thing will be all those memories the ladies take with them."

The event concluded with a demonstration on how to field dress the birds, after which some of the breasts were cut up, marinated and made into cheese-and-bacon poppers for the grill.

The Puddle Jumpers Chapter partnered with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department for the workshop and hunt. Communications supervisor Craig Bihrle and BOW program director Nancy Boldt attended.

The Mountrail County Fowlers of Stanley, ND, held its inaugural Youth Waterfowl Weekend in September.

Fifteen first-time youth hunters, including several mentors, took part in the two-day event. The first day was a skills day at a local gun club, which included hunter and firearms safety, waterfowling skills, trap shooting and a regulations seminar by a local game warden. The second day featured a hunt, after which the youth hunters were taught how to clean and prepare birds for the grill.

"I think just about everybody remembers their first duck hunt," said chapter chairman Jason Dupay, noting that each youth hunter shot a bird. "The recruitment of young hunters is where it's at. The smiles on their faces tell us that we're doing it right."

Dupay says the chapter, formed in 2011, plans to grow its youth hunting weekend.

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and the local Rolling Plains Sportsman's Club were event partners.

The Jefferson County Chapter of Pine Bluff, AR, had a table at Mack's Prairie Wings during the 2011 Wings Over the Prairie Festival in Stuttgart, Ark. The festival is held each November in conjunction with the World's Duck Calling Championships.

Committee member Louis Astorga said the table was a big hit with visiting waterfowlers attending the popular festival.

"It was really nice to visit with Delta members across the country," he said. "We had quite a few people from other states inquire about getting a Delta Waterfowl chapter started in their hometowns."

Dan Goetz, the son of the Gateway Chapter chairman Mike Goetz, won the Intermediate Division of the 2011 World's Championship Duck Calling Contest in November at Stuttgart, AR.

The 14-year-old from St. Louis, MO, outcalled a field of 19 competitors in his first year in the Intermediate Division.

Goetz had competed in the Youth Division of the World's Championship two prior years, and has been calling competitively for four years.

Goetz took home a $1,000 check for winning the title.

"I knew he could do it," said Dan's father, Mike Goetz. "I was very happy and proud when he won. I always tell him to keep blowing as long as it is fun for him."

Like his father, Dan Goetz is a fanatic waterfowl hunter and advocate of Delta Waterfowl.