AHERO's Stuttgart Duck Hunt

Date: Nov 17, 2021 From: AHERO Hunt Ambassador LtGen James Laster To: Participants, Jan 2022 AHERO Stuttgart Duck Hunt

Gentlemen, I hope this finds you all well. I also hope you are getting some Whitetail woods time! Our hunt is an annual donation to American Heroes Enjoying Recreation Outdoors (AHERO) by the Bayer Corporation. We will be staying in their lodge just outside of Stuttgart, Arkansas and the hunting area is a 10-minute ATV ride and then 10-minute wade to the blinds through flooded timber. It is a first-class operation, and the guides are very good and knowledgeable. A couple of them are known as world class duck callers. In fact, Stuttgart is also known as the duck hunting capital of the world. I really enjoy this hunt, and this will be my 4th year attending as a coordinator/AHERO Ambassador. Technically, all you will need is some warm clothes and a hunting jacket, hat, and gloves. Everything else will be provided to include gun, shells, and waders. You can bring your own gun if you desire. The waders are insulated, and I have found that wearing a good insulating layer and or sweatpants underneath keeps me warm. All expenses are also covered to include airline, transportation, and hunting license. Of course, the lodge will provide 3 great meals a day. The Bayer Lodge and our AHERO Hunt Master, Joe Roberts, requests that we arrive early afternoon of Friday 7 January. This is important so that we have time to get everyone checked in to their room and then go to Mack’s Prairie Wings sporting goods to get everyone their licenses. You will also want to spend some time in Mack’s looking around…trust me! One of the best outdoor stores I’ve been in. We will hunt morning and afternoon 8-9 January and will hunt only morning on Monday 10 Jan. Airline reservations for return should be made for late afternoon/evening. Best airport is Little Rock. Hopefully everyone will be coming in close together so to make it easier for me or Joe Roberts to pick you up. We will authorize a rental car if we need to. I will probably come in the night before and stay in a hotel near Little Rock, so I will be in position to pick you up. Please go ahead and look for flights that will get you into Little Rock early afternoon on 7 Jan and depart late afternoon/evening of 10 Jan. Once you know the flight you want, please email Lee Stuckey (Copied Above) along with all of your personal info required for him to book your flight. Please copy me on all traffic to Lee Stuckey. Look forward to seeing you all.

S/f Jim

Flyway4AHERO: Our Senior Leadership Ambassadors Go Out for Duck

By USMC Maj Joseph Burke (Ret)

When waterfowl enthusiasts think about the best location in North America to pursue decoying mallards in flooded timber, none other than Stuttgart, Arkansas, will be first to come to mind. Stuttgart is the duck-hunting capital of the world. Lying in what is called the “Mississippi Flyway,” it is the primary wintering grounds for the largest flights of mallards in North America.

Thanks to Bayer Farms and Brian Reeves of Kings Bayou Outfitters, four long-retired Marines this season got to experience this firsthand. LtGen James Laster, Sgt Maj Bryan Zickefoose, 1stSgt Craig Corsi and I were accompanied by hunt master Joe Roberts, a retired police officer and seven-year participant in this annual pilgrimage to enjoy some of the best duck hunting and exclusive waterfowl clubs in the United States.

Founded in the mid-1970s and covering 3000 acres, Bayer Farms offers more than 800 acres of flooded timber and 2000-plus acres of surrounding rice fields that create ideal wing-shooting conditions. The environment is pristine and the weather for the hunt was ideal. With little windchill, the temperatures in the mid- to high-20s were comfortable.

“I’ve been hunting pretty much ever since I could walk. Currently, I’m a guide for mostly bear and moose hunts in Maine, and I’m an AHERO ambassador in the senior leadership program providing exposure about AHERO’s hunting events. There is great peace-of-mind to be found out hunting, which is key to why so many wounded vets benefit from the program. We want to build awareness of it and bring more of our young warriors to these hunts. Sharing stories with a buddy on the hunt who may not be familiar with hunting is the ‘best medicine’ possible!” ~ Bryan Zickefoos

AHERO's January 2022 Stuttgart, Ark., Duck-hunt participants,( l-r) back row (all USMC) - LtGen James Laster (Ret), Sgt Maj Bryan Zickefoose (Ret), 1stSgt Craig Corsi (Ret), Maj Joe Burke (Ret). Front row, Huntmaster Joe Roberts (Police Officer, Ret).

And the accommodations were second to none – thanks, of course, to the considerate onsite Bayer staff. As we watched the sun rise over decoys at dawn and heard our guides begin to send out the alluring feeding calls of early-rising mallards, the level of anticipation you couldn’t help feeling was almost erotic.

My involvement with AHERO had begun earlier in 2021. I was asked to tag along on a scheduled waterfowl hunting adventure with three other retired Marines: LtGen Laster, SgtMaj Zickefoose, and 1stSgt Corsi. These are not only great Americans, but they are also respected men, husbands, and fathers who appreciate the outdoors as much as I do.

As a young kid growing-up in Southeast Texas, I was lucky enough to have a dad who didn’t delay in dragging me along with him and his hunting buddies into the rice fields of the Central Flyway, which lay southwest of Houston. I was instantly hooked in this early exposure, which began with hunting ducks and geese, and then moved to bigger game-hunting and also fishing.

Truth is, what I was “hooked” on was nature and the outdoors. And since those early years, I’ve continued to enjoy being in a duck blind with waders on, accompanied by man’s best friend and hearing those early flights of birds moving into a local feeding area.

ABOVE: SgtMaj Zicklefoose after killing his limit in flooded timber.

LEFT: Leisure time after a long but satisfying day duck hunting in a Stuttgart, Ark., area of the Mississippi Flyway.

For me, it just doesn’t get any better!

Why Senior-Leadership hunts?

The title of Flyway4AHERO is applied, in this case, to the organization’s sponsored waterfowl hunting experience, which provides Veterans and First Responders with an amazing opportunity to experience waterfowl hunting. But there are other AHERO Senior Leadership hunts, as well. They are a means for bringing our participants together with others who have endured similar challenges and might take joy and energy from hunting in the beautiful settings our country still has to offer.

The Bayer Corporation continues to deliver on its commitment to supporting Veterans by affording them this opportunity. Those of us who participated in this Flyway4AHERO hunt highly encourage any Veteran or First Responder experiencing PTSD or other conditions resulting from their service to consider taking part in an outdoor hunting or fishing event this year.

Evidence of a successful morning hunt as the group prepares to depart for the day.

The sense of purpose and camaraderie that amounts to a kind of therapy is an oftenexperienced result of participating in an unforgettable expert-led hunting or fishing experience.

On behalf of the AHERO Ambassadors - we look forward to seeing you afield in 2022!

“Hunting is therapeutic. This program can connect participants back to America. Can introduce veterans to duck hunting if they’ve not done it before but would like to or encourage those who have enjoyed it in the past to return to it.” ~ Joe Burke

Sitting in a goose blind waiting to ambush passing speckle-bellies.