re: Ducks Unlimited

In my experience DU does some good things but the amount of money raised compared to the amount they spend in preserving habitat is akin to most charities.

I do take issue with their take on lobbying for more public land being accessible to hunting. Again, in my experience, they do almost nothing on this front and even though many of their projects are open to hunting they are heavily regulated and provide even more suitable habitat for loafing and resting and feeding which allows birds to only be hunted when DU sees fit. MANY of their "projects" are on private land and the only hunting allowed is by the landowner and of course DU executives....the projects that allow public hunting are FAR less attractive than these "private" projects and are usually marginal habitat to begin with.

Outside of that it is fun to go to a banquet with real duck hunters if you can find one. Most banquets are attended by people who think duck hunting consists of paying someone to take them, place them in a comfortable blind, set the decoys, do the calling, even do most of the shooting for them, all so they can take pictures and brag to their buddies back at the lodge. Nothing wrong with any of that but it is only duck hunting in the smallest possible way. If, however, you live in an area where folks do all of this on their own a banquet is very enjoyable.