Jacob Sartain

A proud southerner, Jacob Sartain fosters a deep appreciation for the far north. The lifelong waterfowl hunter and Delta Waterfowl member knows that the majority of ducks he sees over Mississippi decoys are hatched and raised thousands of miles away. This mentality has shaped how he gives back.

Sartain, 41, began volunteering with the Greater Jackson Chapter in Mississippi after returning to his home state more than a decade ago. He quickly climbed the ranks to chairman and spurred his chapter into one of the most active in the region.

But the 2013 Budweiser Conservationist of the Year nominee and Delta Waterfowl Volunteer of the Year finalist wanted to do more. As a recreational and agriculture land broker and property developer, Sartain understands the critical connection between private landowners and conservation. Delta's incentive-based Alternative Land Use Services program caught his eye.

Sartain co-founded the Prairie Grass Duck Club of Jackson, Mississippi in 2012. The investment group's goal is to financially bolster ALUS in Canada by focusing the efforts of like-minded donors. The Prairie Grass Duck Club raised $90,000 in its inaugural year and donates tens of thousands of dollars annually.

With two black Labs by his side and a wife of seven years whom he met at a Delta banquet, Sartain is dedicated to ALUS and giving back through his donor group. And whether he's hunting ducks in harvested North Dakota fields or walking creekbeds back home for greenheads, Sartain knows he's making a difference for ducks and hunters today and into the future.

"The reason Delta works for me is because it understands the relationship between a farmer and hunter-conservationists. What Delta recognizes is that if you want to improve hunting, you need to make landowners happy," Sartain said. "Delta has gone in the right direction. They know they need to make landowners a part of the waterfowl conservation conversation."-Tyler Shoberg

Summer 2015