Conservation. Hunting. The Ducks. That's what it's all about.

The festivities for the 2007 DU State Convention began on Friday at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Austin. I was welcomed by several large trucks with DU stickers on the back windows and I was pretty confident I was in the right place. One truck even had "DU" as the license plate, which is pretty intense. Don't you have to pay for special plates? :-) The owners of these vehicles were the Area Chairs, District Chairmen, National Delegates, and highly involved members who DU wanted to take the time to encourage and recognize for their time and services.

My point is that every single member there was very involved and very proud to be a part of the Ducks Unlimited family. I learned that these men and women were some of the most avid and "hard core" hunters. They don't play around in the field. They are the hunters who sit in the cold, wet conditions in the (very) early morning because they want to.

And THAT, my friends, is why it's so important that they keep everyone updated on their efforts and achievements. DU is a national non-profit organization that dedicates time and money to the conservation of wetlands and waterfowl habitat in North America. The best way to keep everyone around is to make sure they are always having fun, right?! Which is probably why DU Texas has 177 chapters and has so many dedicated members, volunteers, and staff.

A brief synopsis of the weekend:

Friday night we went to the Texas Disposal Systems Game Ranch and Pavilion in Creedmore, TX (south of Austin) where we mingled and ate with the other members and saw all the exotic wildlife from Africa out on the ranch...AND all along the walls of the pavilion, but those were mostly just the heads of the animals. There was a full bar, frog legs and quail for dinner, and a full band entertaining us with country music.

Saturday was a series of meetings and an awards luncheon, honoring the top chapters in Texas and their achievements. Whenever people had "down time" during the day, they could head over to the hospitality room across from the big ballroom and grab a drink "for here" or "to go." The entire weekend I felt like everyone genuinely loved the people they partnered with in this organization and they had so much fun joking around with eachother. John, Bud, and I were able to get a couple of interviews that day and those videos will be added to the journal later.

Saturday night was a blast as we saw awards given to the ones who exceeded expectations, whether financially or with their time...but all that was just the beginning of the night. Next was the live auction, raffle, and silent auction. I must say, those ladies who sell the raffle tickets are professional saleswomen...relentless. It is rare to find someone in the room who hasn't bought a few tickets. During the live auction they carry around the item up for bid so people can get a better look...at the item, of course. George Williams became a victim of this (see picture below).

All in all, it was a great weekend and I would encourage all of you to go to www.ducks.org to find out more about what you can do for the Ducks.

Special thanks to:
John White (TX/NM Regional Director) - for letting me help with the gift bags and for making sure our team was all set up before we even arrived for the weekend.

Bill and Donna Pyle (District Chairman) - for taking me under their wings that weekend and making sure I got everything I needed, including good conversation. 

Benjamin Jones (Area Chair) - for letting John Schwarzlose, Bud Force, and I interview him and sit at his table at the Saturday night Auction and Banquet.

Crispin Morin III - for taking our banner around Texas with him and his DU team, letting people know that TexasHuntFish.com supports Ducks Unlimited.

The Gokey family - Rob and Kyle, thank you for sitting down with us and sharing their experiences as a father and son team. Amy (and their daughter, Paige) thank you for letting us set up a table in the vendor room.

Images and Files: View all 26 photos / videos here.