| I'm pretty sure there are a number of pheasant hunters on the forum, so I wanted to give my impression of the just -concluded (2/22) Pheasant Fest, held at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I met several pheasant hunters from across the Plains states and asked each how their season went. For the most part, the responses were very positive and mostly, the folks I spoke to are looking forward very optimistically to the Fall 2026 season. As usual there were many vendors; I heard close to 400, in attendance including representatives from Browning/Winchester, Beretta, Retay, CZ and others. The LC Smith and Parker collectors clubs were well represented, and both clubs brought fine examples of their brands' side by sides. There were a multitude of bird dogs of every size, breed and description and it was interesting to listen to the "sales pitches" that each breed rep had for their breed. There were displays from the conservation and farm equipment people and there were also a number of outdoor clothing reps available. I don't know how familiar you might be with Phil Bourjaily, a freelance outdoor writer who has written about shotguns and bird hunting for years. His work has been in most of the outdoor publications and he's done a lot of gun and ammo testing and reviews. His works are also online. Some of you older guys may remember that his father, Vance Bourjaily, used to write for Outdoor Life and, sometimes Field and Stream. Anyhow, I was fortunate enough to run into him at the Browning-Winchester booth and we talked for several minutes about the merits of the 16 gauge. He had a Winchester Model 12 16 gauge mod. choked gun he was particularly fond of, and I told him about a Merkel 1620 I have. We had a good chat; glad I ran into him. While there I did make a nominal contribution to PF, I've been a Life Member since the mid-1990's. This was a good show. The 2027 Fest will be at Omaha, NE. on March5-7, 2027. |
2026 Pheasant Fest-Report
- Thread starter Wolfchief
- Start date
Gettin Birdy
Member
There were many folks I know who decided to skip the show due to Minneapolis location. It is too bad for PF/QF but I understand why people would not feel safe or comfortable spending money in Minneapolis.
I did ponder the safety factor before we went. I called the PF headquarters to ask about the unrest in the area, and was told that the Whipple Building (Federal facility) in St. Paul was the focal point for the insurrectionists and that downtown Minneapolis was much safer. We did not see any protesters but did see X-rated graffiti and protest banners against ICE off the highway as we entered the St. Paul area.
We stayed in Red Wing, about 65 miles south, Friday and Saturday nights, no problems there at all--but ironically, every one of the locals we spoke to there gave some variation of "that place wasn't safe BEFORE these recent riots and we strive never to go to downtown Minneapolis/St. Paul".......
We stayed in Red Wing, about 65 miles south, Friday and Saturday nights, no problems there at all--but ironically, every one of the locals we spoke to there gave some variation of "that place wasn't safe BEFORE these recent riots and we strive never to go to downtown Minneapolis/St. Paul".......
Man, I personally find these to be wild takes. I live in a suburb of Des Moines, so definitely not coming from a big city nor have I ever lived in a 'big city', and we walked from our hotel to the convention center as well as to surrounding bars, restaurants, dispensaries, and breweries. Not once did my wife or I feel unsafe and we didn't see or experience any "lawlessness" i.e. ICE agents. I understand not wanting to come to MSP if you're someone of color or that even remotely resembles someone of color for fear of having your constitutional rights violated but the "lawless protestors burning the city down" narrative that some people are pushing is ridiculous and it sucks that people missed out on an extremely fun weekend because of it.
I'm just reporting what the people I spoke to told me. I viewed on TV, for days, instances of violence, "citizens" throwing chunks of ice, trash etc. at Government agents. It was a violent protest as far as I'm concerned. In this country we have a process for becoming a citizen. Tens of thousands of immigrants did not follow it. Now there's a lot of bitching and whining because they are being called to task for it. That's a fact. In the words of a smug, snarky FORMER President, "actions have consequences". Amen to that. I personally don't give a s--t if there's disagreement on that. I hesitated to report on this in the first place because of the reaction I felt would come from some. You didn't let me down. America first and forever. End of story!!
I was pretty respectful in my response and simply stated what I actually witnessed while walking miles all over the twin cities. We met and got to have really good discussions with people I had only ever seen in videos or on social media, attended the Saturday night banquet (we even won an auction item!), and had an all-around blast. It’s a shame that others didn’t get to have a similar experience and I guess I didn’t realize I had insinuated “America second and other countries first” like you seem to think I did
