Pheasant Fest 2008

[tybo]

Who's going? I went last year in Des Moines and it was a pretty cool experience. This year it's supposed to be even bigger so I'm pumped to see what they'll have there.

[lawdog]

where/when is it?

[bigdog]

St. Paul at the River Center. Jan 18 (starts at 1pm) to Jan 20th.

Will be there the 18th.

[Northland Sportsman]

I hope to go but will have to see if I can make the trip to St. paul. It sounds like a lot of fun and neat stuff to look at and do.

[tybo]

Lawdog, it's a hunting show put on by Pheasants Forever. It will have all sorts of seminars, vendors, etc all related to Pheasants and to some extent Quail, grouse, etc. The PF website will tell you more. Everything you could ever want to find out about hunting birds.

[UGUIDE]

I have been to 2 now and I won't miss a day. You can buy a 3 day ticket on line for $40 and get a free PF hat ($16) and a 1-year membership worth $30. The habitat info is priceless and this years show is their 25th Annivaersary so all the exhibits should be excellent.

[Trapper4]

Looks plenty cold next weekend. Good weekend to hit the Pheasant Fest. I'll call up the brother and kids tonight. Never been to one but my brother wants to go check it out.

[Tom7227]

I'll make it easy for you guys.

Check it out at

http://www.pheasantsforever.org/page/2008pfestvideo.jsp

[bigdog]

For those of you that are attending. From what I read if you contribute $20 to the Build a Wildlife Area campaign at the show you get a stuffed Raven puppy, a calendar and a shell box from Federal. Your $20 becomes $60 through matching grants to buy public hunting lands.

This is a great chance to give a little back and get something in return, both for yourself and the rest of us that rely on public hunting opportunities.

If you are able, a $500 contribution gets your name on a monument at a newly purchased public area. It makes a pretty nice legacy for those that count on public land.

[CodyDawg]

I will be down there on Friday and am volunteering for part of Saturday. Hope to see some of ya down there.

[brittman]

Hope its not the Sportsman's show in disguise. Those have long since failed my needs for learning and entertainment ... rather be ice fishing ...

Cold weather should drive 'em in droves to the PF event

[CodyDawg]

This is not a sports show. Will there be some vendors there? Sure, but the seminar list is the difference and there are good ones. Come down and give it a run, it only costs $10!

[BLACKJACK]

 Originally Posted By: brittman

Cold weather should drive 'em in droves to the PF event

NOT!!! I was thinking about going, I was interested in some of the habitat seminars but with highs predicted for -6 on Sat I think I'll just stay home and work in my heated shed.

[brittman]

Grew up in ND. Back in the late 70s we had over 30 days where the temp never (not once) exceeded 0F.

For those that have to - You can park under the RiverCentre if you park in a garage and have a remote starter - I think you will make it.

My son wants to go so we will stop this evening on our way to an daughters hockey tourney in Owatonna. Wonder what I can do during the off time

[yakfisher]

Six below is nothing, if the season was open I'd be out chasing pheasants. I remember in ND during the winters of 96-97 and 97-98 a couple of stretches of 20+ days that never got above 0 degrees.

[Blaze]

Wow, what a zoo! Spent 4-5 hrs at Pheasant Fest and there was tons of good stuff, and some...well...typical sportsman show vendors. It really showed me how big of a business the pheasant industry is. Ended up spending a pile of cash between my wife finding some Mennonite furniture from IA at a killer price and I got a great insulated kennel cover for the pooch. Who knew?

Anyway, I loved the dog area - great to see a ton of different breeds - some common, and a few unusual breeds you don't see much. All in all, a great event for anyone who loves chasin' roosters.

[Augusta]

I had a good time as well, was kinda disappointed in the farm program forum though. I did get a nice deal on a pair of Danner Pronghorn boots, $100.00. I was happy.

[brittman]

It was very much a Sportsman type show. Now I have no reason to go the others. Still it was fun:

+)a couple of very good shooting areas for the kids

+)$20 build a WMA donation. Should have purchased 3 or 4 in exchange for what you received

+)son wanted to join ... he is now a jr member

+)some nice art

[muc33]

I attended the first in the cities a few years ago, haven't been able to attend any since but know many who have. What a neat event. My favorite memory is watching Scot Storm paint on of his Legacy series.... true beauty.

[UGUIDE]

Brittman, for the casual attendee that is just loking at the exhibitors the PF Fest would look like many other Sportshows. I stopped going to those a long time ago. For the person interested in gaining habitat knowledge or dog knowledge let alone look into getting a dog or talking to various breeders, the show is 2nd to none. this is my 3rd show out of the 4 they have had and they just keep getting better all the time. I attended all 3 days from start to finish and attended mainly seminars and could not get around to all the sessions that interested me. The experitise on habitat and bird dogs was top rate. Politically speaking there was a Forum on FarmBill 2007 status and some of the top participants were congressman Collin Peterson, Senator Tom Harkin and Senator Amy Klobachar.

My hats off to PF on putting together a first rate conservation expo! I look forward to 2009 if they start to do some every year.

[brittman]

Sure. But those habitat seminars could have been run at say Arrowoood Resort without all the vendors and hoop-la. The MN NWTF just had their state convention this past weekend with less ...

Casual attendees appearred to outnumber the serious by about 100 to 1. I had Friday evening available with my son - for about 2 hours. We enjoyed the dog area too. I missed Rick Smith by a litte bit - maybe next time.

Still I would rather see the proceeds from all of this go to PF than some private enterprise. If they managed to add to their membership - even better.

[UGUIDE]

Well, to be honest I was initially turned off when I got there and not that motivated by seeing guys selling nuts and beef stick,etc. But after going to some seminars and attendiung Farm Bill forum and seeing Gov officials duke it out it got a little more interesting. PF is a great and powerful influence in local areas not to mention national goverment agendas. I'll support anything that helps them grow.

[Snag]

My Dad and I went on Friday afternoon and sat in on the Rick Smith and Tom Dokken seminars. They were both very good. My Dad is getting a Griffon this spring and he got to talk to the guy who trained the VC stud that his pup will be out of. Definitely worth the price of parking and admission. I was surprised to see Dokken's dog jumping up at him. He wouldn't put his paws on him, but he would get excited and jump up by his face. He showed a slick way of teaching over, back and quartering using place boards.

[CodyDawg]

We had a great year this year, attendance was 29,802 and 2,000 new members signed up. There was a lot of things to do, if you chase roosters you could find something to interest you there.

[fishtrapgirl]

Thought Pheasant Fest was pretty cool. Lots of stuff to see.

My dogs: 2 new collars, gear bag, and water bottles.

Husband: Super Black Eagle II shotgun from Reeds

Me: didn't get a darn thing