Nash Buckingham hunted ducks on Beaver Dam Lake, near Tunica, Mississippi, from about the age of 10, in 1890, to at least 1966, and through his writing both Buckingham and the habitat and hunting culture of Beaver Dam grew famous. “De Shootinest Gent’man” was among the strongest and earliest proponents of wildlife conservation: a staunch advocate of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and later the founding works of Ducks Unlimited.
How fitting, then, to see “Conservation Class,” the latest from DU Films. This handsome, narrative short film—part of a great new series from DU—tells the story of an enthusiastic group of college-age DU chapter leaders gathered for a hunt at Beaver Dam Lake, visiting the grounds of the old Beaver Dam Lake Club and Buckingham’s home waters. They tell their stories of mornings in duck blinds, the work of DU and their drive to keep the conservation ethic alive in the next generation.
The first two efforts released by DU Films (the first being “Carving a Legacy”) feed our craving for a more restrained “hunting show” format capable of striving for the higher meanings of our experiences outdoors. “Conservation Class” excels in combining this atmosphere with enthusiasm for DU’s mission. And the films are well made, holding up in high definition when you click in the lower-right corner.
In the early years Buckingham wrote in “The Evolution of Ducks Unlimited” that: “No doubt exists that if Ducks Unlimited hadn’t come on the scene, we would long ago have been through shooting wild ducks.”
It’s good to see DU’s work being carried on by a new crop of conservationists.
Sign up here to receive stories like this in our email newsletter.