Watch it on the Pursuit Channel
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – June 29, 2020 –America’s longest running waterfowl hunting television series, Ducks Unlimited TV, kicks off its 2020 season this week with exciting hunts among the prairie potholes of North Dakota.
DU TV brings viewers exciting waterfowl hunting, tips and tactics and conservation education every week from July through September. Each episode explores North America’s best waterfowling destinations with stories of people dedicated to wetlands and wildlife conservation.
New co-host Fred Zink joins the DU TV family this season and stars in this episode. His waterfowl hunting experience and expertise are a great addition to the show. Co-hosts Doug Larsen and Ashley Ward are back, adding their own wealth of knowledge to every hunting adventure.
Zink joins Ducks unlimited staff and volunteers near Bismarck, North Dakota, home to DU’s Great Plains Regional office. This is public hunting at its finest with hundreds of thousands of acres of accessible land available free of charge.
Kevin Kading with North Dakota Game and Fish elaborates on the public land hunting opportunities in the state.
“There are over 200,000 acres available through the North Dakota wildlife management area system,” Kading said. “And there are currently 791,000 acres enrolled in our Private Land Open to Sportsmen or PLOTS program. That’s closing in on a million acres of open public hunting lands in North Dakota.”
North Dakota resident and DU volunteer Geremy Olson and family joins the cast and crew on this hunt over prairie potholes in the “duck factory.” Zink teaches them about waterfowl and waterfowl hunting while showing them how he hunts small waters.
Olson grew up in North Dakota, but he spent his time camping and fishing and didn’t pursue waterfowl. He became a DU volunteer and that opened doors to get involved with conservation and hunting.
Olson didn’t know much about hunting ducks and geese but the found himself surrounded by the right people. “The DU guys answered those questions,” said Olson. “They helped out any way they could.”
Zink also joins area students from both the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University on their Mentored Hunt. These students know a lot about waterfowl biology, but they don’t know much about waterfowl hunting.
This opportunity is provided by a cooperative effort between the universities and Ducks Unlimited. Students attend a basic waterfowl hunting skills workshop and mentors take the students hunting the next day.
University of North Dakota Associate Professor Susan Felege explained why this hunt is so important to the student’s future in biology.
“Wildlife biology is a very competitive field to get into,” Felege said. “Experience is a must for your first job, both in the classroom and the field. We are glad to have Ducks Unlimited as a partner in this hunt, DU is a big part of training the next generation.”
DU TV airs Mondays at 1 a.m., Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m., Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. (all times Eastern) on the Pursuit Channel. All episodes, plus bonus content and classic episodes, can be found at www.ducks.org/dutv.
DU TV is sponsored by Browning Arms, Browning Ammunition, Drake Waterfowl Systems, Plano Synergy and Zink Calls, Higdon Outdoors, Purina Pro Plan, Mossy Oak Camo, Mossy Oak Properties, Mossy Oak Biologic, Mossy Oak Nativ Nurseries and SecureIt Intelligent Firearms Storage.
Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 14.5 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.
