MOULTRIE — Sherrod McCall Sr. is one of the founders of the Colquitt County Ducks Unlimited chapter that has prospered over the years and in 2004 was named the state’s Chapter of the Year.

And his love duck hunting and his commitment to providing money to help Ducks Unlimited in its conservation efforts were honored on Thursday at Sunset Country Club when he and his son Sherrod McCall Jr. were honored at a program at Sunset Country Club as Life Members.

They bring the number of Life Members in Colquitt County to six, joining Ramsey Jones Pidcock, Ramsey F. Pidcock, John M. Carlton Jr. and Victor Beadles in having donated $10,000 or more to Ducks Unlimited.

It was Carlton who made the presentation to McCall, calling him “the most deserving duck hunter in Colquitt County.”

Carlton also said it was McCall who got him interested in duck hunting back in 1960.

“I can’t tell you all the fun Sherrod and I have had hunting at Lake Iamonia,” Carlton said.

McCall Sr. is one of the Ducks Unlimited pioneers in Colquitt County and was one of the 12 original members who met for the first local dinner at the former Elks Club.

The group continued to grow with a second generation of duck hunters, all of whom have continued to raise money for Ducks Unlimited.

“We’re like a fraternity,” McCall said.

McCall, who has been hunting in South Georgia and North Florida for more than 70 years, said that while it was duck hunting that originally got him interested in Ducks Unlimited, it was not long before he saw the benefits of the organization’s conservation efforts.

He says that knowledgeable hunters have conserved more ducks than they have taken out.

“We’ve got a tremendous heritage to nurture and carry into the future,” McCall said.

McCall regaled those in attendance with several stories of his duck-hunting days.

On hand for the presentation was DU Regional Director Greg McDonald, who told those assembled to honor the McCalls that the organization operates a $188 million budget.

And McDonald noted that DU is considered the most efficient of the nation’s 12,207 listed charities, with 86.7 cents of every dollar it collects going “back in the dirt.”

The local chapter has continued to grow in recent years under the direction of John Norris and Dan Couch.

Norris was named Ducks Unlimited’s top volunteer for Georgia last year.

McCall, who has been ill lately, told his friends that he is “getting stronger day by day.

“And I’m looking forward to next duck season.”