Canada’s Largest Hunting Festival Celebrates Tradition & Community

Every October, we celebrate Alberta’s hunting heritage and help inspire new and seasoned hunters to walk the land and experience the importance of conservation and community.

Taber Pheasant Festival first took flight in 2011, and it has grown to be Canada’s largest hunting festival.

This 8-day long event is a way to connect. It bridges rural communities with hunters. It introduces non-hunters to the importance of hunting culture. It inspires landowners to improve habitat to help nature thrive. It helps participants to connect with the food on their plates in an environment that promotes, celebrates, and nurtures a bright future for hunters, rural communities, and conservation.

The opening weekend matches trained mentors with youth or novice hunters to teach rifle safety and shooting techniques during the Novice Shoot. This event is for all ages who are eager to learn about the pheasant hunting community.

Hunters vie for up to three coveted lottery-style hunting time slots at the event. With over 5,100 pheasants released at 40 locations, hunters have the odds in their favour to harvest their two birds per day limit during their hunt time. As the hunting time slot draw has grown in popularity (only a 20% chance of being drawn randomly), so has the raffle for three guaranteed hunting time slots at the following year’s Festival—not to mention the raffles for several exceptional hunting firearms also sell out every year!

And it wouldn’t be a hunting Festival without food. And we love food! Throughout the week, Festivalgoers are well-fed at a Hunters’ Lunch, Game to Gourmet Culinary Tasting, and Celebration Banquet. Participants can also take in a scotch-tasting and a sausage-making event.

No wonder this Festival won the 2015 Tourism Alberta Award for Outstanding Sustainable Tourism.