Chasing More Than Ducks

Chasing More Than Ducks

Brothers who built careers in UA Local 669 found something just as enduring in the duck woods: a community built on hard work, loyalty, and shared traditions. 

Each fall, Jim and Pat Tucker point their rigs south and make the familiar pilgrimage from the Midwest to Arkansas. What began as a duck hunting trip more than three decades ago has become something else entirely. 

“It’s a guy’s trip that never ended,” Pat says. 

The brothers first traveled to Arkansas in 1993. Back then, they were simply looking to shoot their limit of ducks. Year after year, they returned to the same stretch of ground, eventually becoming friends with the landowner and his family. Today, the place feels less like a hunting destination and more like a second home. 

But if you spend much time talking to Jim and Pat, you quickly realize that the ducks aren’t really the point anymore. The hunt is an excuse to bring everyone together.

The Tucker brothers grew up in LaCrosse, Indiana. They were on the younger end of a big family—five boys and four girls. Spending time outdoors hunting and fishing wasn’t a hobby so much as a way of life. 

“Hunting was the entertainment,” Jim says. “We couldn’t afford anything else. We ate the government cheese.” 

Before they were old enough to carry shotguns, the youngest Tucker brothers served another role. “We were the dogs,” Pat laughs. Their father and older brothers hunted rabbits, sending the younger boys crashing into briar patches to flush game. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it was part of growing up in a family where hunting, fishing, and putting food on the table were woven together. 

The lessons came early. “One thing our dad always told us was if you kill it, you’re cleaning it, and you’re eating it,” Pat says.

The brothers spent their childhood outdoors. They rode bicycles to local ponds and creeks, chasing bluegills, catfish, northern pike, and anything else that would bite. They hunted rabbits, pheasants, quail, and eventually ducks.  “We walked right out our back door with 20 gauges,” Pat recalls.  

That upbringing shaped more than their hunting habits. It also shaped how they viewed work. 

Their father was a union tool-and-die maker. Union membership wasn’t something the Tucker family discovered later in life. “It was in the blood,” Pat says. 

Both brothers eventually found careers with UA Local 669, the sprinkler fitters’ union. Jim was the first sprinkler fitter in the family, transitioning from a fabrication shop into the trade before eventually becoming an organizer, then president of Local 669, and ultimately serving as Executive Vice President of the United Association. 

Pat followed a similar path, working as a sprinkler fitter before becoming an organizer himself. Together, they’ve spent decades helping workers build careers that can support families. For Jim, the appeal remains straightforward. 

“To tell someone they’re going to make over $100,000 a year and not go to college and still be able to take their hunting and fishing trips—that’s a pretty good conversation,” he says. “You can’t do that without your union book in your pocket.” 

Pat often finds himself having similar conversations with non-union workers. Many are loyal to employers who pay less and offer fewer benefits simply because they don’t know another option exists. “You’ve got to explain to them that your kids will have insurance,” he says. “You’re going to have pensions. A lot of these guys are paying for everything themselves.” 

The brothers have spent much of their professional lives creating opportunities for others. In many ways, that same instinct now defines their hunting camp. These days, both men are far more interested in watching the next generation than pulling the trigger themselves. 

“The boys will tell you when I hunt with them, I just leave my gun in the case,” Jim says. “They’ll complain and say, ‘Hey, we’re shooting ducks.’ I tell them, ‘No, you’re shooting ducks. I’m having fun.'” For Jim, the best part of a morning hunt isn’t the shooting. “My enjoyment is watching those kids have fun,” he says. “If I’m shooting ducks, I’m distracted from watching them.”

Pat understands exactly what his brother means. “I used to chase ducks and numbers,” he says. “Now I’m just like, let’s see what you shoot.” 

Family friends and Jim’s son, Boston, now work hard at bagging a few ducks. New hunters are welcomed into traditions that stretch back decades, like big breakfasts, football, and a little hunting thrown in. The annual gathering has become a reunion built around shared experiences and shared values. 

Pat sums it up with a simple definition of success. “As long as I can pay my bills and get to go hunting,” he says, “that’s rich to me.”