If you’ve watched a mother keep everything running when life falls apart, you already understand Nancy Steele.
On the Texas Gulf Coast near Bay City, mornings at Thunderbird Hunting Club start before dawn: pumps humming, coffee steaming, boots on wet boards. Ducks Unlimited’s mission which is to conserve and restore wetlands for waterfowl, wildlife, and people, lives in places like Thunderbird, where stewardship is daily work.
When her husband, Todd, was diagnosed with bone-marrow cancer, Nancy kept that rhythm for her family and for a community that treats the club like home. Years later, when Nancy faced breast cancer, her sons echoed the resolve she modeled: “We beat it once. We’ll beat it again.”
What held through both fights was stewardship. Thunderbird sits where inches of water decide whether a marsh is alive with teal or quiet with empty sky. Nancy and her crew set boards, patched culverts, watched salinity and timing, and rebuilt what storms knocked down. The work is unglamorous, and it’s also what keeps birds returning and the family business together.
Nancy’s strength shows up in flooded fields at dawn, in laughter after long days, and in the quiet moments when no one is watching. It’s there in levees rebuilt after storms and in the steady belief that next season will be better. Through it all, she’s shown what grit, grace, and responsible management look like and not just for her family, but for every woman who’s carried more than her share.
Thunderbird isn’t just a hunting club. It’s conservation through commitment: wetlands managed by hand, families gathering to share first light, and a mother’s resilience keeping land and legacy alive.
Watch Nancy Steele’s episode of Ascend to see how resilience, family, and hands-on conservation keep Thunderbird Hunting Club so strong and why it matters for the future of waterfowling. Learn more at ducks.org/ascend.
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
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