KENTUCKY DUCK CALLS. In This Issue. Neil s Notes. Neil s Notes 1. Featured Photo 2. State Facts 3. Conservation Corner 3. KY Photo Gallery 4-5

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1 KENTUCKY DUCK CALLS A publication for Kentucky Ducks Unlimited volunteers February 2013 Vol. 6, Issue 2 Neil s Notes First off, I absolutely have to brag on Area Chairman Jesse Hedge and his Madison County Chapter, who with the help of Mike Hough and Col. Brian Rogers, hosted their second annual Wounded Warrior hunt. Mike has written an article with photos for this edition of Kentucky Duck Calls. Please thank Jesse, Mike and the Madison County bunch for their efforts and accomplishments. We have about six weeks left to sell tickets on our state drawing, which will be held at our state convention. Remember, any chapter selling 100 or more tickets will receive a free gun for their chapter's fundraising. You will find information about our upcoming Kentucky State Convention in this newsletter. This is YOUR convention! I would like to personally extend an invitation to each and every Ducks Unlimited volunteer in the state. For those who have never attended a state convention, please consider coming; you won't regret it! For those who usually do come, bring a friend. The state convention will be held in Frankfort on March at the Capital Plaza Hotel. Please take a moment to review and share this information with everyone on your local committees. It is your opportunity to meet and share volunteers from across the state. Planned activities for the state convention are Friday Night at the Races, national leader presentations, State Awards Luncheon, retriever demonstrations and the State Banquet Gala. I can assure you it is an event you do not want to miss. See you in Frankfort! Introduce a child to the great outdoors, Neil Riggs, State Chairman In This Issue Neil s Notes 1 Featured Photo 2 State Facts 3 Conservation Corner 3 KY Photo Gallery 4-5 Cooking with Kenny 5 Upcoming Events KY State Convention Registration State Convention 8 Thanks to Volunteers Major Donor 9-10 Wounded Warrior KY State Raffle Duck Dynasty The Last Shot 18 11

2 2 Kentucky State Contacts State Chairman Neil Riggs Treasurer Rich Risinger West Region Chairman Kenny Vaughn East Region Chairman Tom Tate Greenwing Chairman Bruce Conely Major Donor Chairman Dr. Brian K. Priddle Volunteer Recruitment Chairman Jeff Adams State Raffle Chairman Richard Fowler State Youth Hunt Chairman Paul Burton FEATURED PHOTO Bourbon Chapter leaders posed with their Wood Duck Flight Award at a recent kickoff meeting for the chapter s 2013 banquet. This winning committee continues to set the pace for top events in central Kentucky. (L to R, seated) Chad Ballard and Terry Waldridge; (L to R, standing) Brian Newcomb, Clint Sanders, Daniel Newcomb and Brent Willet. A great group for a great cause! The Bourbon Chapter will hold their 2013 banquet on March 16 at the Bishop Auction & Event Center in Bloomfield. Click here to get your tickets now! DID YOU KNOW? A group of geese on the water is called a plump. If the geese are airborne, they are called a skein. And if the geese are on the ground, they are called a gaggle. How many did you know?

3 3 Regional Staff North Regional Director Joe Borders West Sr. Regional Director Ben Burnley South Regional Director Charlie Lowery Regional Biologist Mark Flaspohler KY State Facts Total Membership 8,680 Greenwings 780 Legacy Greenwings 116 Sponsor Members 995 Major Sponsors Grassroots Total $503,926 Total Acres Conserved 11,647 Conservation Corner Kentucky is located in the Mississippi Flyway and provides important habitat for waterfowl produced in the Prairie Pothole Region and Great Lakes states. Kentucky has the potential to winter large numbers of mallards, black ducks and wood ducks. Since 1988, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12,700 acres of waterfowl habitat in Kentucky. While impressive, this represents less than 1 percent of the Commonwealth s original wetlands! In 2011, DU and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) continued our strong partnership to enhance and restore wetland habitat on public lands to benefit waterfowl and Kentucky waterfowl hunters! Public lands projects included installation of new water control structures at Doug Travis, Lake Cumberland and Ballard wildlife management areas. These new structures are critical for management of more than 500 acres of moistsoil impoundments, providing high-quality foraging habitat for waterfowl and opportunity for Commonwealth duck hunters!

4 4 Kentucky DU presented George Warren with a special decoy on January 4 in appreciation of his outstanding leadership and continued support. Pictured from L-R are KDFW Director John Gassett, West KY Regional Chairman Kenny Vaughn, George Warren and KY State Chairman Neil Riggs. West Kentucky District Chairmen Steve Kiester and Charlie McKenney, after a day of successful hunting at V. D. Scott Lodge at the Sloughs Wildlife Management Area in Henderson. These veteran waterfowlers had some good blind time together. Neil has held several state leadership positions and is currently serving as the Kentucky State Chairman. Steve Kiester, District Chairman from Henderson, and Neil Riggs, State Chairman from Stamping Ground, display the results of a successful hunt on January 6 at the Sloughs Wildlife Management Area in Henderson. Pictured (L-R) are Ryle Benke, Ryle s Lab Tough, Dr. Brian Priddle, Travis Priddle, Jimmy Kapps, Kevin Wright and Keith Priddle after a successful hunt on January 12 on the Runway at Cache n In Duck Club in McCrory, AR.

5 5 Pictured (L-R) are Regional Director Charlie Lowery, Blizzard and Tennessee District Chairman Doug Phillips, with limits of mallard and teal on a January hunt in northeast Arkansas. If there is one thing we could say about Charlie Lowery it s that he loves to hunt ducks. Pictured are Charlie Lowery and Luke with a stringer of mallard drakes on a cold January morning. Thanks for all you do for the ducks, Charlie! You are an inspiration to us all! Cookin with Kenny Vaughn Duck Creole Recipe Bring duck breasts or a whole duck to boil in 2-3 quarts of water with an onion and 2 or 3 stalks of celery. Simmer until the duck is tender. Allow duck to cool in liquid, then remove skin and bones if necessary. Cut duck into small cubes. Ingredients 2 cups or more cubed duck ½ cup minced celery 2 Tbsp. butter 1 tsp. dried parsley 1 ½ Tbsp. flour 1 ½ cup chicken stock or stock from cooking duck ¼ cup minced onion ¼ tsp. mace 1 cup chopped ham 8-oz. can tomato sauce 1 tsp. paprika Salt and pepper to taste 1 ¼ cup minced green pepper Melt butter and add flour, stirring until smooth. Add chicken or duck stock, paprika, onion, green pepper, celery, parsley and mace. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, and add chicken or duck stock as needed. Stir in duck, ham and tomato sauce. Cook for 5 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice.

6 6 Upcoming Kentucky Events Cave Run SNO Morehead February 2, 2013 Lake Cumberland Banquet Somerset February 9, 2013 Union County Banquet Morganfield February 16, 2013 Grayson County Banquet Leitchfield Audubon Sponsor Dinner Henderson February 23, 2013 South Licking Banquet Cynthiana Green River Banquet Beaver Dam Lake Barkley Banquet LBSRP-Cadiz March 2, 2013 Barren River Banquet Bowling Green March 7, 2013 McLean County Banquet Calhoun March 9, 2013 Bourbon Chapter Banquet Bardstown Union County - Morganfield March 16, 2013 Kentucky State Convention - Frankfort March 22-24, 2013 Bullitt County Banquet Sheperdsville March 30, 2013 Caveland Banquet Barren River SRP May 3, 2013 For more information, go to Jim King jking@ducks.org Kentucky Ducks Unlimited still has a few areas without local chapters. If you know anyone in these areas who would be interested in participating in a local DU chapter, contact the regional director for that area or the state chairman. For Ashland, Florence, Maysville, Versailles, Winchester & Carrolton: Contact Joe Borders jborders@ducks.org For Williamsburg, Barbourville, Middlesboro & Hazard: Contact Charlie Lowery clowery@ducks.org For Scottsville & Hardinsburg: Contact Ben Burnley bburnley@ducks.org

7 Kentucky Ducks Unlimited State Convention Registration # Full convention registration (single) $70 # Full convention registration (couple) $120 # Full convention registration (college chapter student) $50 # Full convention registration (Greenwing) Free # Saturday only (single) $50 # Saturday only (couple) $75 Total convention fees $ Credit card # Expiration date Security code Signature Date Names of all attendees and titles: Mailing address City State Phone Early bird prize: Free T-shirt to first 75 registrations. Early bird deadline: March 10, Please circle T-shirt size: S M L XL XXL XXXL Please mail completed form to: Kentucky Ducks Unlimited C/O Rich Risinger, KY Ducks Unlimited State Treasurer P.O. Box 77 Frankfort, KY Click here to register online:

8 8 Mark Your Calendars! 2013 Kentucky Ducks Unlimited State Convention Capital Plaza Hotel, Frankfort, KY March 22-24, 2013 The KYDU State Convention is coming to Frankfort, and this year s convention will be sure to please! We don t want to give too much away, but there will be signature Kentucky items on the auction block, plenty of bourbon, barbecue, horse racing and southern hospitality. Mail in your registration today or register on-line at Thanks to our volunteers! Ducks Unlimited had a great fundraising year in FY12 (ended June 30, 2012) and made great strides in the protection of vital habitat across North America (an additional 186,000 in the U.S. alone). In addition to the increase in total revenue, we were able to operate at better than 83% efficiency which means that your support went even further in FY12. DU s external auditors, KPMG, wrapped up our year-end audit last month and below are some of the official highlights: Operating surplus of $5 million Non-operating surplus of $7.2 million Grassroots event support of $34.4 million reflected a 9% increase over budget and an 8% increase over last year More than $68 million in U.S. conservation support from public sources and more than $29 million from private sources (Major Gifts) More than $119 million in conservation expenditures, conserving more than 186,000 acres in the United States alone Program service efficiency ratio of 83.4%, including conservation easements Adult and youth members more than 610,000 More than 50 diamond events reflecting the successful 75 th anniversary campaign

9 9 MAJOR DONOR ACTION PLAN By Dr. Brian K. Priddle Kentucky Major Donor Chairman GOALS FOR Ten new Life Sponsors, four Major Sponsor upgrades and two new Feather Society commitments. EVENINGS OF CONSERVATION The purpose of these events is to provide an opportunity to gather Major Donor prospects and educate them on the Ducks Unlimited conservation mission and opportunities for support. The focus is on DU s international conservation plan, regional and local focus areas, prior accomplishments and the importance of private support. Emphasis is placed on to DU s on the ground work to conserve critical wetland habitat. The goals are to identify and cultivate new major gift prospects and to steward current Major Donor prospects. Evenings of Conservation are designed as a first-contact cultivation event separate from our traditional event system and there is no fundraising done at the event (no auctions or raffles). The program is informational in nature and a means to engage potential major gift supporters. Make your commitment to SAVE THE BEST for Kentucky ducks. Contact Dr. Brian K. Priddle at brianpriddle@yahoo.com to invest for the future of Kentucky ducks and save the prairie breeding areas. It is a conservation fact that more money in the ground means more birds in the skies!

10 Kentucky s Top Four Ducks Kentucky DU s Major Donor goal for is 10 new Life Sponsors, four upgrades and two Feather Society members. We are currently at one new Life Sponsor, one upgrade and no Feather Society as of 1/31/13. Our goals are very much obtainable with your help. Please contact Dr. Brian Priddle at if you have any inquiries or need support with Major Donor activities in your area. 10

11 11 The Second Annual Wounded Warrior Waterfowl Hunt Bluegrass Army Depot, Richmond By Mike Hough, Ducks Unlimited District Chairman On January 11 and 12, the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) and the Madison County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited hosted their second annual Wounded Warrior Waterfowl Hunt in Richmond. A total of 14 servicemen and women attended from the 101 st, Fort Campbell and Fort Knox to participate. The soldiers arrived on Thursday evening in preparation for the events of the next two days. Just like last year, it rained during the trap shoot. That did not dampen the spirits of the shooters, but it did dampen the Ducks Unlimited Television (DU-TV) film crews cameras some! The warm-up trap shoot was scheduled for Friday morning and sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) and the Central Kentucky Trap Shooters, who provided shot shells for the soldiers at the Central Kentucky Wildlife Management Area near the depot. After introductions and a safety briefing, the hunters and their mentors worked together to hone shotgunning skills on the range. By the looks of most, even the ones that did not fire a shotgun very often had the skills necessary to break targets after the first round. Their skills were fantastic by the end of the practice session. After practice, the guns were cleaned and lunch was provided by the depot. A site visit to the blinds with the mentors allowed everyone to see where they would be hunting the next day. A wild game cookout was held that evening at the Buck Lake Lodge, with members of the Madison County Chapter providing the main course of goose poppers, elk, pheasant and duck. Charlie Lowery, East Kentucky DU Regional Director; Mike Checkett, Director of Development for Missouri and Kentucky; Neil Riggs, Kentucky State Chairman; Tom Tate, East Kentucky DU Regional Chairman; and Steve Glenn, 6 th District Fish and Wildlife Commissioner, were on hand to thank the soldiers for the sacrifices they made. Individual duck and goose calls were donated to the soldiers in attendance from Fat Baby Custom Calls and Zink Calls. Now, just in case you did not know, DU-TV has a new host, a good ol Kentucky Boy by the name of Field Hudnall, World Champion Goose Caller. You would think something would be done to make sure each hunter would have a lesson on how to properly blow their calls! And it was: all of the hunters came forward with their calls and stood in line in front of the cameras to make sure each one could make the correct sound. Field must be a good teacher between the laughter of the first try and their final attempt, the sounds were produced well enough to be ready for the next morning s hunt! Continued on next page»

12 12 The day of the hunt started once again with unseasonably warm temperatures for January and a hot breakfast before heading to the blinds. But this year was a bit different. Not only did we have birds in the area but DU-TV was there to film the experience. Tom Edwards of KDFWR gave the hunters a brief update on bird counts in the area, and smiles were seen across the room. The soldiers and mentors departed, the boats were launched, the decoys were set, the dogs were ready, coffee was poured from the Thermoses and the hunters and mentors were awaiting the first shots of the morning. The magic time for legal shooting arrived, 7:22 a.m., and the shots rang out. By the time the hunt was over at noon, each soldier had harvested a minimum of two birds each, and several had obtained their limits. Final count was 46 ducks and seven Canada geese. The Madison County Chapter, with volunteer support from the Lake Cumberland and Wilderness Trail Chapters of KYDU District 10, the Frankfort DU Chapter and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife co-sponsored the hunt. DU volunteers provided all of the elements of the hunt, including mentor hunters, duck callers, dogs and handlers, decoys, boats and weapons and other waterfowl hunting equipment and assistance. We would like to thank the following companies for the support they gave to the men and women of our Armed Services by providing items used on this hunt: Browning/Winchester: Dirtybird clothing HEVI-Shot: HEVI-Metal shells Rio: Shot shells Fat Baby Custom Calls: Duck calls Zink Calls: Goose calls Avery Outdoors: Blindbags and totes Central Kentucky Trap Shooters: Shot shells for the trap range Coastal Knives: Personalized pocket knives Ducks Unlimited Television

13 13 Wounded Warrior Waterfowl Hunt group photo after the hunt Major Tiffany Williams shows everyone how it s done with Tom Edwards (KDFWR). From left to right: Front Row: Major James Thompson and Major Brent Denny. Back Row: SPC Kenneth Hohneck, Duncan and Mike Hough (DU). Charlie Lowery s dog, Luke, and SSG Keith Pleva with a redhead from the morning hunt.

14 14 Kentucky 2013 Statewide Gun Drawing Hello fellow DU volunteers! It is almost time again for our Statewide Gun Drawing. We will draw for these prizes during the 2013 Kentucky State Convention on March 23. The state convention will be held in Frankfort at the Capitol Plaza Hotel, March You do not have to be present to win, but please come to the convention and have a great weekend anyway! Tickets will be sold by the individual chapters and their committee members for $10 each. Each ticket drawn will win a great prize: a gun safe with a mystery gift inside, plus eight special guns! Sounds like a great drawing to me! Any chapter that sells 100 tickets or more will win an AR-style Tac..22 cal. This rifle is to be used at their event the following year. To make sure each chapter gets proper credit for the tickets they have sold, the ticket stubs need to have their chapter # written on the back of the stub! Mail all tickets to the address below. As soon as you get a handful sold, just mail them to me. Please don t wait till the night of the dinner to turn them in all at once. Good luck selling and buying the winning tickets! By the way, if your ticket is drawn, it will be placed back in the hopper to give you another chance of winning! All prizes will be awarded in order of their dollar value. Call or me with any questions you have. Thanks for everything you do to support Ducks Unlimited! Richard Fowler 1812 Goggin Lane Danville, KY rfowler@kyducks.org

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16 16 DUCK DYNASTY COMING TO CALLOWAY COUNTY The Duck Commanders are coming to Kentucky! The Calloway County football team is proud to announce that the stars of the hit A&E TV show, Duck Dynasty, will be in Murray for an event to benefit Calloway County football on May 11. We are thrilled to have this event and these great men in our school, said Brad Lawson, Calloway County s head football coach. Duck Dynasty is one of the most popular shows on television now, and to have them in our gym benefiting our football program, is just amazing. It s just going to be a great night for Calloway County High School, our program and our community. Scheduled to appear are Phil, Willie and Si Robertson. As a high school athlete, Phil Robertson was all-state in football, baseball and track and attended Louisiana Tech on a football scholarship. There he played ahead of four-time Super Bowl winner and Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw. After college, Phil spent several years teaching until he produced a duck call in 1972 and Duck Commander was born. During this time, Phil also turned his life over to the Lord and has built up a reputation all over the country for his faith and belief in the Almighty. He is invited to speak at hundreds of different churches and organizations every year, telling them what the Lord had done for him and can do for them. Phil is married to Kay and they have four boys, Alan, Jase, Willie and Jep. Willie Robertson is the CEO of Duck Commander and graduate of Harding University. He also created Buck Commander, which can be seen on the Outdoor Channel. Willie loves being outdoors and is happiest at home in West Monroe, LA, with his wife, Korie, and children, John Luke, Sadie, Will and Bella. Si Robertson, Phil s youngest brother, can be seen on the Duck Commander videos and on Duck Dynasty. Si has worked for Duck Commander since 1993, when he retired from the United States Army. Si lives in West Monroe, LA, with his wife, Christine. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Saturday, January 26, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the commons area of Calloway County High School. General admission tickets are $60 and meet-and-greet tickets are $125. There will be only 2,200 general admission tickets and 200 meet-and-greet tickets sold for this event. If there are any tickets available after the initial sale date, they can be purchased at Calloway County High School from Athletic Director Chip Gray or Coach Lawson. Any questions about tickets or the event can be directed to Coach Lawson by calling CCHS at or ing him at donald.lawson@calloway.kyschools.us.

17 17 Do you have an article, event summary or photos you would like to see in Kentucky Duck Calls? Whether you are a longtime DU volunteer or a first-time member, Kentucky Duck Calls is YOUR Kentucky DU newsletter. For any aspiring writers and photographers, what make Kentucky Duck Calls truly ours are stories and photos by Kentucky DU members. Please take the time to send me a story or photos of your events, members, conservation projects, Greenwing activities, trips or whatever you feel is important to share. It is my goal to provide articles relating to national and local conservation news, events, outdoor adventures, hunting, regulations and much more. With your help, we can make Kentucky Duck Calls a publication we all look forward to reading. Please submit your items for publication to: kwright@kyducks.org.

18 18 The Last Shot I d like to take a moment to say thank you to the 400+ Ducks Unlimited volunteers here in the state of Kentucky. As a fellow volunteer, I understand the effort it takes to put on a dinner banquet or to try to pull off that second event in order to meet your goals for a state award. Each year we seem to do whatever it takes to meet our fundraising goals to support the organization and cause we all love. We do it for many reasons; for me, it is about the opportunity to serve the greatest conservation organization in the world and to make friends all across the Commonwealth while doing so. Over my years as a volunteer, I ve had the opportunity to support events from Ashland to Paducah and Alexandria to London. It has truly been a life-changing experience, as I ve made so many great friends all across our great state. There are many opportunities for service here in Kentucky for Ducks Unlimited volunteers. If you have an interest in doing more, I would ask you to consider contacting your District Chairman, Regional Chairman or State Chairman and vocalizing your interest. I m sure it will be a positive and rewarding experience for you. In closing, I would like to provide you a quote from past DU President, John Tomke: I came for the cause, but I stayed for the people. Till next time Kevin Wright, Editor, Kentucky Duck Calls