Jim Flores

Self-made oilman Jim Flores of Houston, Texas is a lifelong, passionate, self-professed duck hunting addict. Delta Waterfowl Foundation is The Duck Hunters Organization. It's a match made in duck hunter's heaven.

Flores, 61, gained his passion for duck hunting early on. While he was growing up in Lafayette, Louisiana, his father kindled the flame in both him and his brother.

"I grew up in the middle of Louisiana's hunting heritage," Flores remembered. "Our father was an avid outdoorsman and duck hunter. He took us hunting since we were in corduroys and hip boots. My brother Bill and I were splitting a .410 crack barrel and fighting over who got to shoot the next duck. We just fell in love with it and have been passionate about duck hunting all our lives. Our father was the best. He was a true student of the game from the standpoint of understanding flyways of ducks and geese."

Throughout his youth, Flores enjoyed all of the outdoor opportunities South Louisiana offers. Having moved to Texas years ago, he also enjoys quail and deer hunting, but he's quick to add, "The top three are, and always have been, ducks, ducks and ducks."

The priority on duck hunting has influenced all aspects of his life. "My business success funds my hunting addiction!"

For 22 years, Flores has owned and managed Little Pecan Island as a family hunting retreat. He is proud that his whole family, including his four children, spend each Thanksgiving there hunting. Committed to optimizing habitat, his mission is to turn the clock back to create habitat consistent with what it looked like 100 years ago when South Louisiana wintered 12 million birds.

"I want to make sure it's a place where my kids can continue in the hunting and fishing heritage that I grew up with," he said.

Flores considers himself a dedicated wetlands conservationist relying on proven strategies and techniques published by waterfowl biologists.

"Adding scale and some trial and error is the recipe for waterfowl success at Little Pecan Island," Flores said. "The leadership in wildlife habitat management in South Louisiana is really the wildlife refuge system, and I just try to mirror their practices and create more resting and feeding areas for ducks."

He doesn't travel very much to hunt ducks outside of Louisiana.

"If you have the right habitat in place, then the ducks will come to you," Flores said. "One of the biggest things is to educate hunters how important habitat management is to wildlife and successful hunting. I really have to give a 'hats off' to Arkansas duck hunters and Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries. Those two groups really figured it out early - the habitat and duck relationship equating to good hunting."

Describing his perfect day of duck hunting, Flores is quick to answer, "It's being in the blind with my favorite hunting partner, Cherie, my wife of 37 years. She didn't know she was going to be a duck hunter, but she got pretty good at it pretty fast. The perfect day of hunting is shooting mallards, pintails, and specks (white-fronted geese) together on Little Pecan."

Flores is an ardent supporter of many conservation groups, including Delta.

"I think it's healthy to have variety - not necessarily in competition, but with different opinions," he explained. "The debate and friction ultimately foster innovation and progress. In the end, that's what's best for ducks."

Jim and Cherie Flores also are generous in their philanthropy supporting education, healthcare, and the arts. The couple's alma mater, Louisiana State University, is proud home of the Flores MBA program.

Flores knows great duck hunting starts by maximizing duck production on the breeding grounds each spring, which is why he supports Delta's duck production and habitat programs. He knows that Delta's important work in the northern latitudes puts ducks over the decoys of southern duck hunters.

Delta's mission is to produce ducks and secure the future of waterfowl hunting.

"We are totally aligned. Those two things are absolutely the key," Flores said. - Bill Miller