By P.J. REILLY, Woods and Waters
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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.
• • •
Signs of the poor economy were everywhere last fall.
Businesses were closing their doors and/or laying off workers.
New home construction ground to a halt.
Foreclosures were on the rise.
And hunters filled the woods.
Apparently, when the economy goes into the tank, hunters have more time to head afield.
According to a poll by
HunterSurvey.com, almost 25 percent of hunters who participated in the survey said they hunted more than they expected to in 2009, and 40 percent said they hunted about as much as they expected to.
Results from this poll support the finding that hunting license sales rose by 3.5 percent in 2009 in the 12 states that make up the National Shooting Sports Foundation's Hunting License Sales Index.
"While the exact reasons for the 3.5 percent increase are unknown at this time, past research suggests that slowdowns in the nation's economy often result in hunters having more time to go afield," said Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates Inc.
States participating in the NSSF License Sales Index are New York, New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee, Minnesota, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon and Utah.
The NSSF Hunting License Sales Index is designed to be an indicator of hunting license sales, but not an exact measure of all hunting license sales nationally.
Should the 3.5 percent rise hold true nationwide, it would represent one of the largest percentage increases in hunting license sales in more than 20 years.
Here in Pennsylvania, hunting is enjoying a surge in participation this year as well.
For the 2008-09 hunting year, the state Game Commission sold 926,892 general hunting licenses.
Spring turkey season — which is sure to generate one more surge in sales before the end of the license year — is still more than two months away, but already the Game Commission has surpassed last year's sales.
Through the end of January, 942,143 general licenses had been sold here.
Once license sales for turkey season are added in this year, it's likely the 2009-10 sales will be the highest since 2005-06, when 964,158 licenses were sold.
As in many states across the nation, hunting license sales in Pennsylvania have been on a slow, steady decline for more than a decade.
Pennsylvania historically sold over 1 million licenses every year. The 2004-05 season was the last when sales exceeded the 1 million mark.
P.J. Reilly is the Sunday News' outdoors writer. E-mail him at preilly@lnpnews.com.
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