Delta Waterfowl Lancaster Chapter co-chairmen, Jay Kreider, center, and Matt Kneisley, right, hope to introduce kids such as Jay's son, Nathan Kreider, left, to the sport of waterfowling.
By the time the license year ends June 30, it's likely more Pennsylvanians will have gone hunting this season than last.
Lancaster Chapter of Delta Waterfowl
When Matt Kneisley and Jay Kreider met five or six years ago, they easily could have become enemies.
The two men both had permission to hunt geese on the same farm in southern Lancaster County.
When Kreider showed up to hunt one morning, Kneisley already was there.
Kreider conceded the field and went to hunt elsewhere.
A week later, Kreider showed up at the field to hunt again, but he arrived earlier than he had the previous week, in hopes of beating Kneisley.
Kneisley had a feeling Kreider would do that, however, and so he showed up earlier as well. And he won the race again.
Unfortunately, it would not have been out of the ordinary these days if Kreider decided not to leave this time and if things then turned ugly between the two men.
But Kneisley's group was smaller than it was the previous week, and so Kneisley invited Kreider and his buddy to join his hunting party for the day.
And with that, two strangers launched a friendship.
Today, the waterfowl junkies spend many days each season in each other's company, calling to ducks and geese.
"It's too bad, but there are a lot of waterfowl hunters who think they own Lancaster County," Kneisley said. "But here's a positive example of how things can turn out if you reach out to that other guy, rather than act all territorial."
Kneisley, of Conestoga, and Kreider, of Marticville, recently teamed up to reach out to other local duck and goose hunters by forming the Lancaster Chapter of Delta Waterfowl last month — Pennsylvania's only chapter of the 46,000-member, Bismarck, N.D.-based organization.
"Everybody's welcome," Kneisley said. "The only thing we ask is that you check your egos at the door. That's not what we want to have here."
Two weeks ago, Kneisley and Krieder — co-chairmen of the fledgling chapter — met with a handful of like-minded hunters in a back room at Venice Pizza & Pasta on Columbia Avenue to talk about ways the organization might give back to the birds and the sport they so dearly love.
"The Lancaster Chapter of Delta Waterfowl represents a new way of conservation which will make a difference in our local community," states the chapter's mission statement, which was drafted by Kneisley and Kreider.
"It is an organization of hunters supporting hunting. It is a science-based group focused on building better waterfowl production through nesting and habitat preservation. ... We seek to have a fun, family-oriented atmosphere in all projects and encourage all members of families to participate."
Some of you might now be thinking, as I did, "Hey, why don't these guys just join Ducks Unlimited?"
Kneisley said he was raised as a member of Ducks Unlimited and spent decades with the organization.
In recent years, however, Kneisley said, he became disillusioned with Ducks Unlimited.
"I don't want to say anything bad about anybody, and they do a good job preserving wetlands," he said. "But, to me, DU started feeling like a big machine."
"They don't do this," he said, pointing around the room to guys talking to one another about calling and hunting ducks and geese, and sharing stories from seasons past.
"It seemed like the DU members only got together at fundraisers," Kneisley said. "I understand that's important, and I have no problem with that. But I'd like our members to get together to work on habitat projects and to go hunting with one another.
"We're here to have a good time and to make some new hunting buddies."
Apparently, others in the Lancaster area share Kneisley's yearning for "something different."
Jim Long, of Strasburg, Troy Gettler, of Ephrata, and Ron Yeager, of southern Lancaster County, were among those who attended the second meeting of the Lancaster Chapter of Delta Waterfowl.
"I'd like to see us do something for the kids," Long said. "To me, that's what it's all about."
The chapter only has a handful of members, but it already has a youth program called "Woodies."
"We will give a great deal of attention to this group, as they represent the future of our sport," the chapter's mission statement says. "There will be opportunities for work projects, special hunts, fishing and trapping, and education in conservation."
At the chapter's latest meeting, the members set up dates to build and erect nesting structures for wood ducks that will be placed on local creeks and swamps in several parts of Lancaster County.
They set up a date for folks to meet with Gettler — the reigning Pennsylvania state champion duck caller — to get some calling tips.
And they talked about things they'd like to do with each other and with kids, such as help Pequea Creek Watershed Association clean up Pequea Creek; organize fundraising sporting-clays shoots; and hold a fundraising banquet.
In accordance with the guidelines set by the national Delta Waterfowl organization, the Lancaster Chapter gets to keep 25 percent of all funds it raises.
"That money is going to get spent right here in our backyard to help the birds," Kneisley said.
Anyone interested in joining the local chapter of Delta Waterfowl can attend the group's next meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 18, in Venice Pizza & Pasta, Western Corners Shopping Center, 3079 Columbia Ave.
Or, you can call Kneisley at 666-4595 or Kreider at 284-4410.