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MN Gov. Walz hunts pheasants in Sleepy Eye
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz came out for the 2024 pheasant hunting opener in Sleepy Eye early Saturday morning. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard has the full story.
SLEEPY EYE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Pheasant season opened Saturday morning in Minnesota and Governor Tim Walz spent part of his day on the hunt.
"We've been doing this for a long time," the governor said to the group joining him as he started his morning catching up with some old hunting buddies.
2024 pheasant opener unlike all previous years
"Welcome to the 2024 season opener for the state of Minnesota," said the Department of Natural Resources officer initiating the hunt.
Walz has hunted pheasants every season as governor, but the crowd at this year’s safety briefing was much more crowded than usual because of his Democratic vice presidential candidacy.
Secret Service agents and a small media contingent surrounded the governor in a sea of orange before he took his Beretta A400 into the field.
The governor and his crew got started right at 9 a.m. For the first 25 minutes, the group made its way through a lot of thickets without any luck, but the governor was clearly enjoying his first day on the hunt.
First rooster spotted
Minutes later, they spotted the first pheasant of the day.
Hunter Scott Rall took down the rooster, but it disappeared into the brush.
Three black labs spent all their energy chasing down birds for another 45 minutes, but the team only spotted two more roosters and didn’t bag any.
"You guys are doing your job," Gov. Walz told the dogs. "We gotta do ours."
One pheasant flew behind the crew, making it unsafe to shoot.
And the governor held his fire when the second appeared too young.
Hunting campaign connection?
The Harris-Walz campaign announced the launch of Hunters and Anglers for Harris-Walz on Friday as an outreach mainly to rural hunters and fishers.
The NRA once gave Walz an A rating as a legislator, but he now gets an F because of his support for some gun control measures after the Parkland High School shooting.
The governor ended this hunt empty-handed and headed back out to the campaign trail, hoping for success in his hunt for the White House.