Northeast Texas duck hunters have a chance to pay it forward by supporting Ducks Unlimited banquets and actions this fall.

Two things on the upcoming outdoors calendars go hand in hand — the opening of waterfowl season in Northeast Texas and the lineup of local Ducks Unlimited banquets.

Leading up to the Nov. 1 season opener, local chapters throughout the area will be hosting their annual banquet including the Tyler chapter, which on Oct. 30 will be holding its 45th annual event at Harvey Convention Center.

The first Tyler banquet was light years from what it has become. It was so small it was held at a lake house owned by the late Tom Woldert, a legendary duck hunter in Tyler for decades.

“Frank Fite was the first chairman, but then he got sick and I took over,” recalled Rob Caton. “There were maybe 30 of us, and I think we made something like $2,000, or something like that.”

The list of those attending were some big names in Tyler at the time including Tommy Swann, Barry Quick, Raymond Hedge, John Hudnall, Lloyd Waldron, Russel Watson, Woody Brookshire, Henry Bell, Watson Wise, Jim Collum and Jim Deakins. Like Woldert, many of them have died.

At that time they all had one thing in common, they lived to duck hunter in the winter. While most of them hunted ducks around the area, the state and in some cases the country, their home base then was the original Lake Palestine and then the expanded lake. Full of timber the hunting was awesome.

Also, deer hunting wasn’t the force it is today. Almost no one hunted in East Texas. Those that did hunt went to South Texas or the Hill Country. Caton said the hardest of the hardcore duck hunters liked it when deer and duck season opened the same day because it reduced the number of duck hunters on the lake.

“It was perfect timing,” Caton said of the first banquet. “It just went wild after that and has grown and grown.”

Since 1990 when DU computerized its records, the Tyler chapter has raised $865,000. Last year alone Texas’ 49,000 DU members raised more than $6.8 million.

Texas has long had a history of supporting Ducks Unlimited. The first record of the state’s participation was in the early beginnings of the organization in the late 1930s when Texas duck hunters donated about $8,000. That would be the equivalent of about $135,000 today.

Some of the fundraising activities enjoyed at banquets today also have their roots in Texas banquets. The Lufkin chapter is believed to be the first to hold a raffle, having started the practice in the 1960s.

In recent years the Gregg County chapter has consistently been a DU Top 100 chapter, a list that includes chapters who raised $100,000 in a year. The Tyler chapter has also found its way onto the list in previous years.

That money helps underwrite projects throughout North America.

Within Texas, DU has conserved in one fashion or another more than 228,000 acres of waterfowl habitat. Much of that has been in major wintering grounds along the coast.

In 2014 the organization provided protection funding for 2,200 coastal acres, land that is disappearing quickly. That has brought the total amount of coastal acreage protected, restored or enhanced to more than 68,000 acres in just the past 10 years.

However, the organization has also worked with private landowners and government agencies in developing wetlands throughout the state as part of the Texas Prairie Wetlands Project and other initiatives. During the last year DU helped fund projects on 1,000 acres of public property in the state.

Among the featured items at most of this year’s DU banquet are the 2014 DU Gun-of-the-Year, a Benelli Montefeltro Silver in 12-gauge and the 2014 DU Handgun-of-the-Year, a Beretta 92 FS 9-mm semi-automatic pistol.

Jacksonville, which will be holding its 37th banquet and auction Sept. 23 at The Legacy, kicks off the local banquet season. For ticket information call 903-721-1975 or email jvilledu@gmail.com.

Other fall banquets include: Gregg County, Oct. 2, Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Complex, 100 Grand, Longview, 903-748-5488 or 903-452-7204; Van Zandt County, Oct. 22, Serenity Springs, F.M. 858, David Darnell, 903-603-2829; Gladewater, Oct. 28, Gladewater Former Students Building, 2509 Hendrick St., 903-845-2132 or 903-738-0523; and Palestine, Oct. 28, Knights of Columbus Hall, 903-724-4392.

For ticket information or to volunteer for the Tyler banquet, call 903-520-5598.

Have a comment or opinion on this? Email Steve Knight at outdoor@tylerpaper.com, follow him on Facebook at TylerPaper Outdoors and on Twitter @tyleroutdoor.