Walz pheasant hunts with Beretta as campaign makes appeal to gun owners

Sleepy Eye, Minnesota — Carrying a Beretta shotgun, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz trekked through tall straw-like grass for three hours on Saturday for opening day of the state's pheasant hunting season, but didn't get one shot off despite his efforts.

"There's good days and there's great days pheasant hunting," Walz said when the day wrapped up.

Scott Rall, a friend of the governor who he often hunts with, made the sole kill on Saturday. Recovering the body of the birds was a top priority in the instructions given to the hunting party, but no one was able to find the carcass in the thick brush that at some points grew as tall as Walz himself.

Many of the pheasants and animals that did come up out of the tall grass and straw flew backward toward the press. At one point, that prompted Walz to seemingly allude to the 2006 hunting accident involving former Vice President Dick Cheney, in which Cheney accidentally shot a fellow hunter in the face.

"Every vice president joke ever made was about to be made right there. And I was just like this," Walz said as he motioned to taking his gun off of safety.

"Too far," Walz said of one bird that was in his line of sight.

The governor wore Carhartt hunting chaps and an orange vest that commemorated the annual season opener, participating in the hunt in his official capacity as governor. Still, it was followed up with a campaign engagement and came on the heels of a recent campaign announcement revealing a new voting coalition of hunters, anglers, and gun owners.

The new coalition will seek to underscore Harris' support for "traditional activities."

Both Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz have leaned into the fact that they are gun owners recently — all the while continuing to advocate for legislation like universal background checks. In an interview with "60 Minutes," Harris revealed she owns a Glock, and during an event with Oprah Winfrey, the former prosecutor declared, "If somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot."

Walz told CBS News that the Beretta A400 he carried on the hunt was one he purchased when he was shooting a lot of trap. He noted that the feature of the gun had a "kickoff."

"So, when you get old it doesn't hurt your shoulder as much," he said.

On a break to switch out the hunting dogs, Walz had locally sourced venison and a Diet Mountain Dew. He referenced Sarge, one of the three black labradors that led the majority of the hunt.

"Sarge is over here saying I just worked for two damn hours and these guys couldn't even shoot one," he joked.

Walz, who grew up in rural Nebraska and frequents farms and football games on the campaign trail, is seeking to appeal to male and rural voters. A CBS News poll conducted in August shows a gender gap among likely voters approaching 2020 levels.

In the poll, 45% of likely male voters said they would choose Harris, compared to 54% who said they would support former President Donald Trump.

In the poll, women were also more likely than men to see Harris as someone who "fights for people like you a lot."

Walz has previously bragged about being the best shot in Congress when he served in the House.

Reminiscing Saturday about going on previous shoots with his fellow Minnesota congressional delegation, Walz said, "I used to love that congressional shoot, but it was kind of dangerous because it was all Second Amendment guys that didn't really know" how to shoot.

When someone in the hunting party mentioned Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice presidential candidate, Walz asked, "Do those guys shoot?"

Trump does not hunt. CBS News has reached out to Vance's team.

In a statement, the Trump campaign called the Saturday hunt "staged," and Trump campaign co-chair Chris LaCivita said Walz was "bumbling around trying to load his shotgun."