Taber Pheasant Festival back in 2024

Times Photo by Trevor Busch. MARKSMENSHIP: The 2024 Taber Pheasant Festival (Oct. 19-26) kicked off on Saturday morning near Fincastle Lake with the traditional Novice Hunt, where young or inexperienced hunters train with mentors and hone the skills necessary to become successful upland game hunters. On Monday, hunters participated in the Town of Taber Hunter’s Lunch, which was followed by the Game to Gourmet Culinary Tasting. On Tuesday there was the Harvest Your Own: Tips and Tasters event, and upcoming events include a Scotch Tasting tonight and the Taber Pheasant Festival Celebration Banquet and Timed Auction on Thursday evening.

By Jasper Tumblod
Taber Times

Experience a new side of Alberta that connects with the hunting lifestyle and see firsthand the value of habitat, conservation, and collaboration. The award-winning Taber Pheasant Festival offers both pheasant hunting and culinary activities. And of course, having a good time. The festival runs Oct. 19-26.

What are the activities? 

A little over 5,000-plus pheasants are within designated reserved hunting sites. This includes the regular hunts and the other program novice shoot. Ranging from game to gourmet culinary events, scotch and wings night, even banquets with a silent auction, including a free lunch for a day. 

The Novice Shoots and Regular Hunts 

The Novice Shoots took place Saturday in the Municipal District of Taber near Fincastle Lake. It was divided into morning and afternoon sessions. You are not required to own a shotgun or ammo to participate. There was a variety of shotgun sizes available, as well as all necessary ammo. Participants have the opportunity to shoot at a pheasant, and while they hope that everyone gets home with at least one bird, there are no guarantees. Instructors show you how to properly clean and transport harvested birds.

If you are a first-time hunter seeking a licence to hunt in the Novice Shoot, you must first complete a hunter education program. Once your training is completed, participants must bring the following four items to the Novice Shoot: a WIN card, a wildlife certificate, a valid upland game bird licence, and a pheasant hunting licence. Because this event takes place during regular pheasant hunting season, all standard hunting restrictions applied, including a two-bird limit and leaving one wing attached for identification.

Regular pheasant hunts are relatively comparable to Novice Shoots. Registration runs from June 3 to June 17. Each hunting party can have up to four hunters and a drawn location. To participate in the event, all hunters must have a WIN card, a wildlife certificate, a valid game licence, and a pheasant licence. Only successfully drawn sportsmen and their hunting parties may engage in regular hunts. This occurs between October 21 and October 26.