Grant Will Double Delta Waterfowl University Hunting Program’s Impact in Manitoba

Funds from the Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund support UHP students at five universities

For Immediate Release
June 5, 2023

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA — A $25,000 grant from the Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund will double the number of student participants in Delta Waterfowl’s University Hunting Program in Manitoba in 2023 and 2024.

Delta’s rapidly expanding UHP fills a critical need throughout Canada and the United States. Many of today’s wildlife management students do not come from families with hunting backgrounds. UHP introduces these future wildlife management professionals to waterfowl hunting so they understand the important role it plays in conservation. In addition, UHP aims to recruit students to become lifelong waterfowl hunters who will introduce their families and friends to our world.

The Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund grant will support students from the University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, Brandon University, Assiniboine Community College, and Red River Community College for the next two years.

“We’re grateful for this grant because it allows us to double the number of participants in the program,” said Alan Cattrysse, Delta’s R3 coordinator in Canada. “Up to 75 percent of wildlife management students have no hunting experience. UHP will help them understand the heritage and importance of hunting, and they will make more informed management decisions when they become professionals.”

Delta’s comprehensive UHP guides participants through hunter safety, shooting skills, a mentored hunt, field dressing birds, and a post-hunt meal. The grant helps pay for items such as hunter education course fees, duck stamps, shells, waders, hunting gear, and transportation to a mentored hunt.

“With the expansion, UHP will educate about 30 Manitoba students per year,” Cattrysse said. “The field experience is so valuable, and now, we’ll be able to host two days of mentored hunting at the Delta Marsh each year.”

The Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund, created in 2014, fosters an important partnership between the provincial government and Manitoba’s hunters and anglers.

In 2022, Manitoba made a historic $20 million investment to establish an endowment fund with The Winnipeg Foundation, which aims to ensure the long-term funding support for projects that enhance Manitoba’s fish and wildlife populations. Funding resources also include 10 percent of the annual fees collected from the sales of angling, hunting, and trapping licenses in Manitoba.

In addition to the UHP grant, the Manitoba Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund Grant has also awarded grants for Delta’s Hen House program in 2022 and 2023, as well as to fund Delta’s critcial canvasback research in 2022.

Delta Waterfowl is The Duck Hunters Organization, a leading conservation group working to produce ducks and secure the future of waterfowl hunting in North America. Visit deltawaterfowl.org. 

For more information about Delta Waterfowl’s University Hunting Program, please contact Alan Cattrysse at acattrysse@deltawaterfowl.org.