MOULTRIE — Colquitt County’s Ducks Unlimited chapter started in the 1950s with a handful of duck hunters meeting at the Elks Club for dinner and tossing in $15 each to send to the national organization.

Next week’s Ducks Unlimited banquet is expected to draw close to 300 people and the chapter hopes to be able to match the $22,000 it sent to the international non-profit wetlands, waterfowl and wildlife conservation organization last year.

The chapter’s 48th banquet will be held on Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Colquitt County Arts Center.

The banquet has grown from an excuse for county outdoorsmen from the camps on Lake Iamonia, Lake Seminole, Lake Jackson, Lake Miccosukee and other areas to get together to a more formal gathering that is raising a significant sum for the organization that has helped enable duck hunters in the U.S., Canada and Mexico continue to enjoy their sport.

“Ducks Unlimited is helping promote awareness and support of the ecology and habitats,” said longtime local chapter member and avid duck hunter Sherrod McCall Sr.

While members of the local chapter enjoy seafood and camaraderie and take part in a raffle that this year will include 16 guns and a four-wheeler, they also will continue to promote the Ducks Unlimited mission of conserving, restoring and managing wetlands and associated habitats for waterfowl.

The process started more than 65 years ago when drought-plagued waterfowl populations hit all-time lows. Concerned sportsmen vowed to seek ways to alleviate the problem and got together to form what ultimately would become Ducks Unlimited.

The conservation group incorporated in 1937 and within a year had 6,700 supporters and had raised $90,000.

Today, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest private waterfowl and wetland conservation organization with more than 712,000 members.

It has conservation programs in place in the U.S. Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and in Latin America.

Dozens of species of ducks, geese and swans rely on the the year-round habitats provided by Ducks Unlimited programs.

Its conservation programs have reached reached more 2.8 million acres in the United States.

And chapters such as the one in Colquitt County have helped Ducks Unlimited raise some $2 billion over the last 65 years.

John Norris, chairman of the Colquitt County chapter, points out that 87 percent of the money collected by Ducks Unlimited goes directly to habitat conservation programs.

Chapter member Dan Couch pointed out that because much of the organization’s work is done by volunteers, only 13 percent of the money collected is used to actually run Ducks Unlimited.

“It’s a good organization as far as knowing that your money goes for what you want it to go for,” Couch said.

Longtime member and duck hunter Brooks Sheldon calls Ducks Unlimited’s mission to save disappearing habitats “a huge success.”

Bud Vereen helped get the local chapter started with primarily local duck hunters involved.

By the 1960s, Frank Pidcock became involved and the chapter grew, with some 50 members raising some $2,000 a year.

In the 1970s, some 125 people were turning out for the annual banquets and they were moved to Sunset Country Club.

Pidcock, who ran Ashburn Hill Plantation, often invited people staying at the plantation to attend the banquet with him.

“Sometimes he’d get them to join the chapter,” said McCall, who remembers Pidcock once bringing Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton to a banquet.

The chapter has been one of the most successful in Georgia and boasts 77 sponsors, second-most in the state.

“And we’ll exceed that,” Couch said. “We’ve got at least five new members.”

It also has three life sponsors in Frank Pidcock, Ramsey Pidcock and John Carlton.

The local chapter also sponsors a dove shoot, smoker and a dinner for sponsors.

An annual golf tournament, which this year was held last month, also helps raise money for DU.

The chapter also as a Greenwing program for youngsters.

“We are trying to do something for the kids to help promote (Ducks Unlimited) for the future,” McCall said.

The medical community also has been a large supporter of the local chapter, McCall said.

The largest fund-raiser is the annual banquet, which enables the hunters from various camps to meet and swap stories and get in line for quality prizes.

“That’s the key to our success,” McCall said. “People want to be part of it. They are happy with what they win and they have a good time. And we have people here from areas that don’t have chapters.”

And it is not just for duck hunters or other outdoorsmen. Many who are just interested in preserving our ecology have become members.

“Conservation’s the name of the game for Ducks Unlimited,” Couch said.