Habitat & Conservation  |  01/14/2020

Bremer to Keynote Life Member Breakfast at Pheasant Fest


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PHEASANT HUNTER DICK BREMER, WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE THE MINNESOTA TWINS PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER, WILL WEAVE SOME SPECIAL UPLAND TALES AT MINNEAPOLIS EVENT FEBRUARY 15

By Tom Carpenter, Editor at Pheasants Forever

Life Members from across the upper Midwest will enjoy a well-known and familiar summertime voice when Dick Bremer, longtime play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Twins, keynotes the Life Member Breakfast at National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic in Minneapolis on Saturday February 15.

What you might not know, though, is that Bremer is a pheasant hunter in his heart – way back, deep down, and as much as he can get out into the field. 

Oh, and he’s a Pheasants Forever Life Member too.


PHEASANT (AND QUAIL) HUNTING ROOTS

Along with ice fishing (makes sense -- the guy stays pretty busy working and on the road from February to October), “pheasant hunting is a passion of mine,” says Bremer. “I’d rather shoot one rooster than any number of deer!”

“My pheasant hunting roots were set in far western Minnesota – Traverse County to be specific,” says Bremer. “My Father was a Lutheran preacher and we lived in Dumont during my formative years.”

“Two retired gentlemen in their 70s – Louie Heidelberger and Albert Gihrke, who was my father’s predecessor at the church -- would take me with them after school. I was their dog,” laughs Bremer. “We did a little bit of walking and a lot of road hunting, and by that I mean we would drive until we saw a bird, roll on past, they’d drop me off, and I’d walk the ditch back to them. I was 7 or 8 then.”

Bremer after a rooster hunt with son Erik.

“When we moved to Missouri and I was old enough to hunt, I started chasing rabbits and quail with a Mossberg .410 at age 12,” Bremer says. So the guy has quail hunting roots too. “When we moved back to Minnesota, goose hunting became big for me in high school too.”

“My first job was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1978,” says Bremer. “I was delighted to be there because it really got me back into pheasant hunting. I’d go for a couple hours every day!”
 

FINDING TIME

“When I came back to Minnesota in 1981, pheasant hunting stayed a part of my life,” says Bremer. In 1983, he became the Twins announcer and has remained with that gig ever since. “I used to go back to Iowa a lot, I’d like to get back out to western Minnesota more, but now I do most of my pheasant hunting in South Dakota. I deer hunt too.”

For birds, Bremer uses his trusty Remington 1187. “I always bring my over/under as a backup gun,” he laughs, “but I like the extra shots in my semiauto.” 

As you can imagine, finding time to get outdoors year-round can be challenging for someone whose intense work schedule mirrors Major League Baseball’s season. “That’s why I hunt, but fall fishing, and of course ice fishing, are my other outdoor staples,” says Bremer.
 

MAKING HABITAT AND HUNTERS

“Habitat is just it,” says Bremer. “We hunt sloughs, grasslands, shelterbelts and cornfields in South Dakota. There’s still prairie grass in the road ditches where we go.”

“But we need hunters too,” he adds. “My dad didn’t hunt much, and I am so fortunate to have had a Louie and an Albert, and rural roots.” 

This post is just a flavor of the tales Bremer is going to weave, and the messages we’re going to hear … and maybe even some “mid-inning memories” of Louie and Albert.

Come listen to Bremer at the February 15 Life Member breakfast from 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Life Members should RSVP to Casey Waterman at 651-209-4995 or online at lifememberbreakfast.eventbrite.com. If you’re not yet a Life Member, why not pull the trigger now so you can make the breakfast? If you sign up between now and the breakfast, contact Joe Long at jlong@pheasantsforever.org or 651-209-4938 to attend.