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This weekend’s mild temperatures in Madison left moods soaring at the Pheasants Forever’s fifth National Pheasant Fest and Convention in the Exhibition Hall at the Alliant Center.

The Fest made its first appearance in Wisconsin following events in Bloomington, Minn., Omaha, Neb., Des Moines, Iowa and St. Paul, Minn.

“This is the first Pheasant Fest that we’ve held where the temperatures are above zero,” said Bob St. Pierre, Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever director of marketing and public relations.  “And now we have a plus-40 degree day.”

Just how the weather will impact attendance, St. Pierre isn’t sure.

“People have cabin fever, so will they want to get out and go to an outdoors show, or will they want to get out and go ice fishing?”

Based on the Madison-area population, St. Pierre expects something north of 20,000 people will attend the three-day event, which concludes at 5 p.m. Sunday.

The impact on Madison’s economy is going to be significant, regardless of the weather, according to St. Pierre.

Corey Andler, of DeForest, and Lisa Sahagian of Madison, arrived at the Fest Friday afternoon to find a puppy. Andler is a pheasant hunter and an angler, while Sahagian arrived curious to know what the show was all about.

“I was surprised,” Andler said. “They have everything here, not just dogs and pheasant-hunting information.”

Home-schooled Katelyn, 12, and her younger brother, Dylan, 10, arrived from Lodi with their mother, Nancy Peckham.

“Every day is a class day,” Nancy Peckham said. “So we can take time off now and then.”

Two other students came to the Fest with their grandfather, Gary Mobley of Baraboo. Jack, 8, and Cole, 6, of Sauk City, made the Youth Village their first stop. They tried casting for plastic fish.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but there’s a lot here so we’ll get in as much as we can,” Gary Mobley said. “I was impressed the moment we walked into the hall.”

It wasn’t only kids who tried shooting, for instance, for the first time.

Kim Kohls, of Elgin, Ill., tried her hand at shotgunning upland birds on a simulation machine — with the help of Department of Natural Resources hunter education specialist Brenda Von Rueden.

“I’m a dog handler and trainer; my husband is the pheasant hunter,” Kohls said. “We’re here for the weekend.”

The winter bash provides anyone who enjoys the outdoors a chance to long for other seasons, such as fall hunting, summer dog training or spring habitat planting and management.

The event is presented by Cabela’s, a hunting, fishing and outdoor gear outfitter whose nearest major store and shipping center is in Prairie du Chien.

Unlike some sports shows that focus on a particular game animal, Pheasant Fest tries to be an ecological event, touching upon habitat, a host of other species, outdoors activities somewhat removed from pheasant hunting and gear to enjoy the outdoors.

“First of all we’re here because Wisconsin rises to the top when it comes to memberships in conservation organizations,” St. Pierre said. “Dogs is the number one attraction, but we take hunters, and others, through a complete outdoors adventure, and more. We start with understanding habitat, training dogs, shotgunning, being an ethical hunter, putting a pheasant in a skillet and remembering the hunt and other outings with art, such as photography and taxidermy.”

Even renewable energy is taking a major spot along with ring-necked pheasants and bobwhite quail, another game bird helped along by Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever.

Billed as the first-ever Renewable Energy and Wildlife Habitat Forum, displays, roundtable discussions and a dozen seminars are giving show-goers a chance to decide if biofuel plantings can also be home to wildlife, including pheasants and other species.

Nancy Whitehead of Idaho was selling her dog photography book, In the Field, at her booth.  Her dog was by her side.

Some dog breeds — there were 34 kinds at the show — were represented at booths.

Janet Veit, and her husband, Brian Schumacher, of La Crescent, Minn., were hosts at the booth for the American Pointer Club.

“We’ve been busy already,” Schumacher said an hour after the show opened, “telling people about pointers and the fact that they can be show dogs, family dogs and hunting dogs.  People have stopped by with questions about other breeds, too.”

Among the grass drills and other planting equipment, Jeff French was talking about outdoors clothing. Representing Carhartt clothing for Gander Mountain of Kenosha, French was optimistic that the economy would not have a negative influence on sales at his booth.

“We have things right here for ladies, kids, men, accessories and even some free give things to give away as people walk past. This is a specialized show and people who stop know what they want and they seem to be willing to buy, too. I don’t think the economy is going to impact this a bit.”

Regardless of whether one’s interest is food, learning how to cook food, booking a turkey hunt, admiring taxidermy work, training dogs or planing a South Dakota pheasant hunt, the Pheasant Fest seems to be where the action is this weekend.

“If you’re a hardcore pheasant hunter, this is heaven,” St. Pierre said. “If you hunt pheasants once every two years, this can be heaven, too.”

And if you’re a kid, it’s like a candy store.

Source: Madison.com

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