I went on Friday with my son.
Pheasant Fest was what I expected ... it is a trade show / sportsman show with an emphasis on pheasants.
Negatives
As expected .. it was filled with commercial hunting outfitters and high end SD preserves. These booths were not very busy. I did not take much time to talk with any of them.
The guys in the Garmin booth on Friday were about as bland, unfriendly, unknowledgeable as you could be. They had the new model GPS tracker there and could not talk about it.
Not much in the way of merchandise be Gander, Cabelas, or Pheasants Forever (PF). PF merchandise was especially sparse compared to their website sales. PF should have had much more shirts, products, and gear with their labeling.
There were several other clothing booths that seem to have more products - just did not see a thing I needed so did not spend much time there.
Pluses
Guns, dog crate, dog food, dog breeds, and dog clubs were well represented. It would have been a good place to visit if you were looking at trying a new breed of bird dog.
The DNR booth had their WIA and WMA land managers working there. They were asking visitors to sign cards asking for CRP extensions. I thanked both of them for their hard work and positive acquisitions and leases. I did challenge the WMA manager to improve their property management outside the main pheasant range. I politely told him that there were many properties that could use burning, cutting, etc... He agreed.
I also asked him why so many new properties take years to show up on the on-line mapping programs. He explained the process of acquisition, signing, and mapping ... but I think he was surprised (if not unaware) at how many properties are still not on the mapping program. I told him that the DNR did great in sending me emails of property descriptions and aerial maps ... then kidded him that maybe they should not put them on the on-line mapping program
I listen to the Smith's (Rick and Ronnie are cousins) one hour seminars. Both did a nice job talking about the basics of their training strategies. They promote positive training and patience. They both also said you need to be careful in over training a dog early and killing is prey drive (intensity).