Delta Waterfowl banquet set for Nov. 15 to raise money for conservation

By Todd Prater | Selma Sun Staff 

The Delta Waterfowl banquet will be held Friday, Nov. 15 at the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center at 6 p.m. If you are a duck hunter, you probably know what Delta Waterfowl is; if you do not hunt duck, you should at least know that what they do benefits you. 

Delta Waterfowl, known as The Duck Hunters Organization, is a major conservation organization. Their focus is conservation of duck and goose breeding habitats to help produce more ducks in the wild.

This benefits duck hunters but also helps keep ecosystems healthy, which helps in the conservation of many other forms of wildlife.   

Delta Waterfowl uses intensive management programs and conservation techniques to protect and increase the breeding habitat of ducks. They also conduct waterfowl research. Along with protecting and increasing the habitat of ducks, Delta Waterfowl also promotes the tradition of waterfowl hunting in North America. 

Delta Waterfowl has chapters all around North America. The Selma chapter is the River Bend chapter, and every year they hold the banquet as a fundraiser to help conservation efforts. Tripp Bowie of the local chapter said a percentage of the money raised will come back to the local chapter for conservation here at home.

The local River Bend chapter has used some of the money to do many projects, including building duck houses all over Dallas County. They have also held “Hero Hunts” where they took wounded veterans to hunt waterfowl. They recently did the same for first responders. 

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Bowie said the banquet will include cocktails and a dinner catered by Emily Hancock of Hancock Bar-B-Que. There will be numerous raffles of various hunting gear, and both a live and silent auction. The live auction is mostly artwork; the silent is mostly firearms. Bowie said there is still a handful of individual tickets available, but they are limited.  

Those who hunt waterfowl are familiar with the federal Duck Stamp that must be purchased before you can legally hunt waterfowl. Each year there is a Duck Stamp art competition.

The winning artwork becomes the next duck stamp. This year the winner was Eddie LeRoy of Eufaula. He painted a pair of perched black-bellied whistling ducks. His artwork will be the artwork used for the 2020-2021 Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp. 

All migratory bird hunters in the United States are required to have this stamp in their possession when hunting. The $25 stamp raises about $40 million annually for wetland and habitat conservation in the National Wildlife Refuge System.   

To get information on the Delta Waterfowl River Bend Chapter banquet and to get tickets, call Bowie at 334-410-0575. 

For information about Delta Waterfowl, visit www.deltawaterfowl.org. 

To reach the local River Bend Chapter, call 662-415-2377.