Answering the call

Though he was a freshman at Auburn before he ever tried the sport of duck hunting, Adam Pierce quickly fell in love with the hobby and took to it like, well, a duck to water. 

“When a buddy of mine first contacted me and said he was starting an Auburn chapter for Ducks Unlimited, I knew little more about the group than their logo,” said Pierce.

One fundraising event later, which garnered $30,000 for the chapter, he was hooked. Upon graduation, Pierce moved back to Vestavia Hills, where he took on a series of successive board leadership roles with the Birmingham chapter. 

Pierce’s latest post will commence on March 8, when he will be installed as the incoming state chair for the Alabama chapter of Ducks Unlimited during the group’s state convention in Huntsville. In this capacity, Pierce will oversee all volunteer efforts within the Alabama chapter.

Beyond his love of the sport, Pierce said his affiliation with Ducks Unlimited supports a twofold purpose.

“I’ve really gravitated to the organization’s focus on conservation,” he said. “Sure, I enjoy hunting, but more than that, I like being in the outdoors. This year I hunted a good bit, but I didn’t shoot much at all. I just enjoyed getting out there. Groups like Ducks Unlimited and other conservation groups help make that experience possible.”

Pierce, a vice president and branch manager with First Partners Bank, said he has also enjoyed engaging area high school students with the chapter’s activities and fostering the life skills their involvement allows. 

“It’s wonderful to see the skills these kids can acquire,” said Pierce, describing the efforts of Vestavia Hills High School’s Hunting and Fishing Club fundraisers. The group hosted Ducks Unlimited events in 2011 and 2013, and a 2014 event is in the early planning stages. 

“These are really smart kids, but most 16- to 18-year-olds haven’t had a reason to come across some the basic business skills they learn through exercises as simple as setting an event ticket price,” Pierce said. “Instead of just randomly saying, ‘$25 a ticket sounds good,’ we’re breaking that down and having them think through event planning costs, facility charge, meal costs, silent auction markups and overall profit margin.” 

Vestavia was the first high school in the state to host a Ducks Unlimited event, and Homewood, Hoover and Mountain Brook high schools have followed Vestavia’s lead, tapping Pierce to meet with them about establishing high school chapters for Ducks Unlimited. 

In Pierce, these high schools have a proven mentor. Under his leadership, the Birmingham chapter earned the distinction of the President’s 100 list in 2008, which requires chapters to meet a minimum fundraising level of $50,000. The group maintained that status in consecutive years until 2013, when they made the Diamond list, with a minimum fundraising level of $75,000.

“Though there are a lot of hunters here in the Birmingham area, there is no duck hunting anywhere around here,” said Pierce. “We have to drive at least to Lake Guntersville, Scottsboro, Huntsville or along the rivers. For me, it’s always been a priority that despite not being in a closely concentrated hunting area, we have a successful chapter.”

To learn more about the Birmingham area Ducks Unlimited chapter, visit ducks.org/alabama.