Hunting Is Not All at Ducks Unlimited

If they walk like duck hunters, talk like duck hunters and sound like duck hunters . . . it’s probably a gathering of Ducks Unlimited.

The group bills itself as the leading conservation organization in the world and aims to preserve North America’s water fowl through the preservation of wetlands and other natural habitats.

The more wetlands, the thinking goes, the more ducks, and the more ducks to hunt.

“Without habitat, there is no wildlife,” said Greg Grewal, a firefighter and member of the Camarillo chapter of Ducks Unlimited. “We don’t need more hunting areas--it’d be nice if there were more--but just by increasing habitat, the population of ducks will increase. They need places to nest, feed and be protected.”

One of those places is the Ventura County Game Preserve adjacent to Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station, sort of a Club Med for more than 250,000 ducks each year. They drop in to eat, drink and meet birds of a feather from all over. Then it’s, hey, gotta fly.

The 600-acre preserve is also a prime place for ornithological studies by universities in the Southland. A group of students will visit today, in fact, but they’ll be younger than college age.

Greenwing, the children’s branch of Ventura County Ducks Unlimited, will spend the day participating in various activities ranging from bird identification to a gun safety course.

“This is the third year we’ve done this,” Grewal said. “The first year we were just getting our feet wet but last year we had 120 kids and this year we could have 300.”

No doubt the youngsters again will get their feet wet tromping through the preserve. They will take a walk through the marsh with Dept. of Fish and Game biologists and will observe a water dog demonstration.

On dry land they will practice bird calling, shoot clay birds and make wildlife wood carvings.

“This is about the only kid activity Ducks Unlimited has,” Grewal said. “But it’s becoming real popular. A lot of people have the impression it’s a boys thing but I have daughters (ages 13 and 10) and they’ve done a lot of hunting.”

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Pointed competition: Until the wee hours, in every hole-in-the-wall tavern in the Valley, the training was vigorous, but not altogether unpleasant.

A shot and a beer, a shot and a beer, then maybe several shots before the next beer.

This was able to go on for hours because the shots were taken with darts. And they were taken by serious competitors who with every bull’s-eye came closer to qualifying for the Medalist League regional soft-tip tournament.

About 4,000 players in the Valley have been whittled down to a handful who qualified for the regional, which brings together the best teams and individuals in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.

The tournament will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Burbank Hilton. At stake is $50,000 in prize money.

“This will be great competition,” said Jan (Turtle) Hagenbaugh, spokesman for the soft-tip darts company that sponsors the tournament. “Most local leagues played 14-week schedules to determine who qualified for the regional.”

Winners of the regional competition advance to the national tournament in Reno in May to compete for $175,000 in prize money.

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Take heart: Two running and walking events this month will benefit the American Heart Assn.

The Heart Run and Walk will take place next Sunday on Owensmouth Avenue south of Oxnard Street in Woodland Hills. A 5K run begins at 8 a.m. and a 5K walk begins five minutes later. A 10K run begins at 8:45 and an awards presentation will take place at 10 a.m.

The Ojai Heart and Sole 5K and 10K runs and 5K walk will take place Feb. 18 at 8 a.m. in Ojai.

Also, Inside Track is sponsoring a 5K and 30K run today at Mission Park in Ventura to benefit high school track teams.