Kilgore’s Corner

To paraphrase author Steve Smith in the introduction to his book, “Hunting Ducks and Geese,” if slogging about in cattails wearing chest waders gets your blood moving, if you yearn for the sight of a flock of greenheads dropping into decoys right after shooting time starts — or if you‚re just interested in becoming involved with a “class act” organization, the local chapter of Ducks Unlimited may be for you.

This year‚s Muskogee Ducks Unlimited annual banquet is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, September 22nd at the Muskogee Golf Club. The chapter counts a mailing list of 380 patrons and expects around 100 attendees for the annual DU event. There will be food, a lot of nice prizes, a raffle for at least eight guns, a silent auction, decoys, art work and fun. Auction items include dove hunting trip for four to Argentina, a safari excursion for two hunters and two guests in Africa, the DU gun of the year(a Benelli .20 gauge) and guided dove trips by Jack Morris, former Tulsa World writer.

Tickets for the banquet and annual membership are $50,single; $60, couple; $30, Greenwing (under age 16 and under), $300, sponsor.The money raised in Oklahoma stays in our state.

I visited with 30 plus year member and chairman of Muskogee Ducks Unlimited John Griffin about the organization and he stressed that the club‚s main objectives are about much more than simply hunting ducks. Purchasing and maintaining wetlands in which ducks can nest is what DU does so well, he says. It also helps to protect and preserve the hunting traditions and heritage begun by our forefathers.

The hunting experience is more than sitting in a duck blind on a cold winter‚s morning with your buddies watching the dogs work and Ducks Unlimited recognizes that. According to the DU website, Oklahoma is part of the Central Flyway and provides important migration and winter habitat for waterfowl that are produced in the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada and the northern United States.

It adds that in some years, Oklahoma has the potential to winter large numbers of mallards across the state. The Wetlands Reserve Program in Oklahoma emphasizes the protection and restoration of critical waterfowl habitat including bottomland hardwoods and moist-soil wetlands.

DU claims to have worked to conserve more than 37,800 acres of waterfowl habitat throughout Oklahoma including several recent WRP projects along the Red River. Its goal is to secure the future of Oklahoma as a key migration area for migratory waterfowl in North America. Members of Ducks Unlimited in Oklahoma total more than 7,500. Some of the popular types of ducks seen in our area are mallards, wood ducks, teal, and canvasbacks.

For tickets and or questions, please call John Griffin at 918-686-2221.