10 Years of "Duck Hunting With Grandpa"
For ten years Wapello Elementary School third graders have been treated to a one-of-a-kind field trip. The annual “Duck Hunting with Grandpa” trip is the culmination of a school project that starts with reading the book of the same name by local author Helen Hunter. On the field trip, students visit places and see things they read about in the book - they even meet the real “Grandpa.”
The idea for the field trip came from veteran teacher Marge Haganman. She found out about the book from her son who happened to be Hunter’s dentist in Cedar Rapids.
“My son gave me a copy of the book and I read it to my class because it was about Odessa. Then I wanted to get the author here for them to meet and the field trip grew out of that,” says Haganman, who is now retired. “I just think it’s so important for kids to know about their local area.”
The trip starts each year at Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge. This year more than 60 students and teachers took the bus tour through the refuge on November 2nd. With an estimated 30,000 ducks and geese in the refuge that day, the group was treated to a continuous stream of waterfowl rising from the water.
Refuge manager Tom Cox and Louisa County Conservation Board naturalist Katie Hammond helped answer the students’ questions about what they were seeing. They also talked about the importance of good habitat and why refuges are vital refueling stops for birds during the long journey south.
“The kids are amazed at all the wildlife in the refuge. Many of them live just a few miles away and have never been here.” said Cox. “Today they saw thousands of waterfowl plus deer, turkeys and eagles. It’s something very few kids get to experience.”
The learning continued through lunch as students ate at the Shafer’s Access waterfowl check station where they participated in a mock drawing to learn how Odessa duck hunters compete for favorite hunting spots. Several were disappointed that they didn’t actually get to hunt while others were glad they didn’t have to get there at 4:00 a.m. like the real hunters.
In the afternoon, local waterfowl hunters volunteered their time to show students some of the tools of their trade. Students toured duck blinds, viewed several different types of decoys, watched hunting dogs retrieve dummies and learned about duck calling from “Grandpa” Bud Hunter.
They also met the book’s author in her cabin at Sand Run and heard a chapter from her second book, “Turkey Hunting with Grandpa.”
“They get to hear another perspective on being an author. It’s not as easy as they might think. And getting to meet an author is exciting for the kids – it’s something they’ll never forget,” said teacher Bev Kuntz who has been along on all ten field trips.
In fact, the first third graders to go on the field trip are now seniors in high school and, according to Wapello senior Bailey Yotter, she and her classmates do remember that field trip.
“Everyone I talked to in my class still remembers Duck Hunting with Grandpa. It was fun but was really cold so we were glad to go in the cabin. We actually got to meet the author and hear her read from the book,” said Yotter.
When Hammond asked this year’s third graders about the best part of the day, many said seeing all the animals in the refuge; others liked meeting “grandpa.” However, most couldn’t pick just one favorite thing – they enjoyed everything about the day.
