Greenhead presents the 2023 Executive Q&A featuring a panel of executives sharing their must-haves, top tips and favorite memories in the field.
Erica Dunn
Senior Director of Development
UAMS Institutional Advancement
Number of days you hunt a season? Never enough — usually 12 to 14
Where do you hunt? Carlisle
Club name? Steel Wings
What kind of gun do you use? Remington 1100 G3 Semi Auto
Favorite duck call? Echo Diamondwood Timber Double Reed
Fields, reservoir or timber? Timber
Rainy, nasty or bluebird sky? Bluebird, but there is nothing like the rare times you hunt timber during a snow.
Favorite hunting story/memory? Watching Jag’s first retrieve. We were hunting Steel Wings, the Rattlesnake Hole. The temperature was not too cold, so I decided to take her for her first duck hunt at 9 months old. It was unreal that morning. Ducks lighting in the hole before shooting hour, right in front of her dog stand. I remember thinking back to Chris Akin’s training seminar at Mack’s Prairie Wings on the importance of not “over stimulating pup.” Well, they we were as overstimulated as it gets. Jag may not have been in the ideal training situation for her first duck hunt, but we both sure were having a good time. Minutes seemed like hours waiting on shooting hour. I held her for the first round, then sent her after we worked a second group and she had a solid mark on a bird. I sent her, and it was the most animated water entry I think I have ever witnessed. She had never retrieved a duck on the water, and she actually circled it once before it “clicked.” Seeing it register and watching her eyes take on a whole new light when she figured out her “job.” I have never and will probably never again have a companion and hunting partner like Jag. She is 11 now and retired and was one of the best retrievers I have ever hunted with. Whether it was a slow day or a hunt for the books, she always locked in on that sky, committed to what she loves to do, and I loved sharing that with her. There is nothing like experiencing time in the timber with your pup. It is a bond like no other; it is a gift.
What got you into hunting? Love for the outdoors started with fishing trips with my dad and later continued with dove hunts and fishing trips with my brother. I was introduced to duck and turkey hunting by one of my closest friends and hunting mentor, John Metzger.
What is your most unusual “must have” in the duck blind? I actually carry a buckeye on every hunt for luck.
Where is your go-to spot for breakfast/meals on a hunting weekend? There is no better breakfast than the spread Patrick Schueck’s crew at Steel Wings prepares.
If you have children, do you take them duck hunting? If so, what are some of the highlights from these youth hunts? I absolutely loved the years that Adalyn (my bonus daughter) was able to hunt with us. She was able to experience several hunts few people get to share in a lifetime. Getting to introduce her to this life, her first timber hunt, listening to the owls, seeing that first light peak through the timber and the thrill of ducks so close you feel the vibration off their wings. Corey and I loved watching her “see” that for the first time.
Which Arkansas executive calls ducks the best? Hard to pick one. The top would be John Metzger, Jay Hauk, Corey Dunn and Wayne Reed.
