Delta Waterfowl Achieves Historic Milestone: 100,000 People Introduced to Duck Hunting

First Hunt, the largest waterfowl hunter recruitment program in North America, helps to ensure a strong future

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — Delta’s chapter-driven First Hunt program has introduced more than 100,000 people to waterfowl hunting, marking a landmark moment for hunter recruitment in North America.

Delta’s milestone includes people such as Jessica Painter, a Manitoba woman whose participation in a 2010 Delta First Hunt led her to become a hunting mentor herself, Tyrone Davis and his three sons from coastal Texas who learned to hunt together and started a tradition they now share as a family, and Dylan Michael, a member of the Air National Guard attended the Arkansas event last month that pushed the program past the 100,000-participant mark.

“The program’s roots go back to 2000 at the Delta Marsh in Manitoba,” said Joel Brice, Delta’s chief conservation officer. “It was born out of a simple but urgent reality that waterfowl hunter numbers were declining, and we needed to do something about it. Introducing people to waterfowl hunting can change their lives, the way they interact with the outdoors, and bring them into a community they didn’t know existed.”

North America has lost an alarming number of waterfowl hunters since the 1970s. The United States has about 1.26 million active waterfowl hunters, down 38% from more than 2 million in 1970. Meanwhile, the number of Canadian waterfowlers has declined more than 70% since 1978. Hunters fund conservation, so a strong base of waterfowl hunters throughout North America is critical to sustain waterfowl habitat, produce ducks, and maintain access to quality hunting opportunities. Unless we recruit and foster the next generation of waterfowl hunters, the duck hunting traditions we cherish are in peril.

Delivered through the organization’s rapidly growing chapter system, First Hunt is one of three programs under Delta’s HunteR3. Volunteer mentors offer their time and expertise to pass on the traditions of waterfowl hunting to people of all ages and backgrounds, with each event tailored to the needs of its local community and funded through the chapter’s Waterfowl Heritage Fund dollars.

“I had the privilege of being there when the Waterfowl Heritage Fund was born, and even then, I could not have imagined what our chapters would build with it,” said Jason Tharpe, Delta’s chief executive officer. “One hundred thousand participants later, it’s clear that when you put resources and trust in the hands of passionate volunteers, there is no ceiling. This milestone is one of the most significant in the history of hunter recruitment in North America, and a powerful reminder of what this organization exists to do.”

The event that pushed the program past the 100,000-participant mark was held in northern Arkansas in early February, timed to coincide with the state’s veterans- and youth-only hunting weekend. Delta’s Central Arkansas and River Bottom chapters joined forces with a local outfitter to bring more than 70 participants out to enjoy two days of hunting in rice fields and on the banks of catfish ponds.

For Michael, the Arkansas event was only his second waterfowl hunt, but it bore little resemblance to his first. 
“I learned a lot more on this hunt,” Michael said. “When I was younger it was more of just, ‘Be quiet, here they come, shoot.’ This time I got to talk to everyone, and I learned a lot more of how to actually do it and about the ducks in particular. I liked all parts of it.”

Delta’s First Hunt introduces people to waterfowl hunting, providing a safe, mentored opportunity focused on a quality experience.

“Waterfowl hunting doesn’t sustain itself,” Brice said. “It has to be taught, shared, and handed down, and that work is just as critical now as it was when the program began. Our chapters and staff understand that better than anyone, and the fact that they have shown up for this program every season for more than two decades is as much a part of this milestone as the number itself.”

For more information on the First Hunt program, tune into the latest episode of Delta’s “Voice of the Duck Hunter” podcast on YouTube or anywhere you find your podcasts.

Delta Waterfowl is The Duck Hunters Organization, a leading conservation group founded in 1911 that uses science-based solutions to produce ducks, conserve prairie wetlands, and ensure the future of waterfowl hunting in North America. Visit our website.

For more information, contact Joel Brice at jbrice@deltawaterfowl.org.