Watch it on the Pursuit Channel or online

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Lone Star State of Texas offers great hospitality as well as great hunting and fishing opportunities. This episode of DU TV takes advantage of both on a spirited early-season teal hunt near El Campo, Texas.

Former Ducks Unlimited CEO Dale Hall, Acting Chief Communications and Marketing Officer James Powell and co-host Ashley Ward hunt the flooded moist-soil habitat that beacons to migrating blue and green-winged teal.

And that’s not all – fishing for redfish on the bay and harvesting alligators in the marsh are also featured in this episode.

Our gracious host down in Texas is wildlife photographer and expert sportsman Todd Steele. He operates Thunderbird Hunting Club, a complex of coastal properties managed for ducks and other wildlife. Todd takes great pride in the habitat and its place in the local environment.

“When you made the habitat and you are watching these birds come in, it’s a special moment,” said Steele.

Todd Merindino is manager of conservation programs for Ducks Unlimited in Texas. He knows the area intimately and works with landowners and managers on wetland projects. Merindino explained why DU works primarily on private lands in this area of the Texas coast.

“Working with groups like Thunderbird and other landowners, we can put complexes of wetland habitat on the landscape,” Merindino said “These complexes are really important as you go inland because there is not any publicly owned state land or federal refuge available for a large habitat project.”

The wetlands of the upper Texas coast are a buffer against strong storm surges during major storm events such as hurricanes. Ducks Unlimited’s wetlands restoration and conservation work lessens catastrophic storm damage while benefiting wildlife and waterfowl and the people that call the Texas coast home.

Former CEO Dale Hall summed up DU’s involvement in this region.

“Ducks Unlimited’s focus in Texas is primarily on the coast because that’s where you can make the most difference in holding back water and providing quality habitat,” Hall said.

DU TV airs Mondays at 1:00 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 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, visitwww.ducks.org.

Media Contact:
John Gordon
(901) 758-3753
jgordon@ducks.org