Feb 7, 2019

Powered by partnership: SportDOG®, Banded/Avery and Federal Premium

It's the waders and jackets our new hunters wear. The decoys on our hunting properties. The ammunition that kids shoot at our summer camps. The e-collars on the dogs that retrieve our members' ducks.

We're talking about partnership.

California Waterfowl's corporate partnersSportDOG®, Federal Premium and Banded/Avery – don't just contribute cash; they play a critical role in powering the programs that are building a strong future for waterfowl and hunting in California.

Here's how:

SportDOG® recognizes that the partnership between you and your dog is one of the foundations of great duck hunting, so it contributes an e-collar for every single CWA fundraising banquet up and down the state, as well as a Canine Corner column in every single magazine about training your retriever. We're also proud that SportDOG®'s is the first ad you see in every issue of the magazine.

If you've ever tried to help someone get into hunting, you know one of the biggest obstacles is getting them suited up for their first hunt. Banded fills a huge need by providing literally dozens of jackets and waders for new hunters of all ages and sizes. We keep them at our Grizzly Ranch Hunting, Conservation and Education Center in the Suisun Marsh, which hosts a wide array of camps, clinics and hunts (here's this year's schedule) throughout the year, and when we do events elsewhere, we take them on the road!

If you've hunted at CWA's Suisun Marsh and Butte Sink properties through CWA's Hunt Program, you've hunted over high-quality decoys provided by Avery – one of the things that makes these affordable private-land hunts a special experience.

Have you ever shot at Grizzly Ranch? Our facility has a challenging sporting clays course, as well as basic shooting ranges where new hunters and shooters take their first shots and experience the joy of breaking their first clays. All of this is in the middle of a wetland, so we use only non-toxic shot there, and you know who provides all of it? Federal Premium. Literally tens of thousands of rounds. Federal ammunition is also used at all off-site CWA programs that involve shooting.

"California Waterfowl is humbled by the tremendous support shown by these partners," said California Waterfowl President John Carlson, Jr., "and grateful for the ways they help us achieve our vision of a California with thriving waterfowl populations, vibrant wetland ecosystems and respected hunting communities."