Fam­i­ly-friend­ly activ­i­ties in the Min­neso­ta Deer and Turkey Clas­sic Wild Trails Kids Zone includ­ing a BB Gun range, and a trout pond.

Be one of the first 30 kids each day to stop by the Nation­al Wild Turkey Foun­da­tion (NWTF) booth dur­ing the show — and you will receive a slate call!

HAWKS & FALCONS ON DISPLAY IN 2025!

Here’s your chance to meet a ded­i­cat­ed group of sports­men and women who par­tic­i­pate in the ancient art and sport of fal­con­ry. Asso­ci­a­tion mem­bers will be in the Wild Trails Kid Zone dur­ing the 2025 show to share their pas­sion for birds or prey with live birds on site, and pro­vide infor­ma­tion to help us come togeth­er to enhance con­ser­va­tion and ethics for the cur­rent and future gen­er­a­tions of fal­con­ers. Birds will be teth­ered on perch­es and han­dled by asso­ci­a­tion members.

Got Youth? The Min­neso­ta Deer & Turkey Clas­sic Aims to Enter­tain ‘Em!

NWTF BB Gun Shoot — Locat­ed on the 2nd Lev­el Mezzanine

The Min­neso­ta Deer & Turkey Clas­sic has sev­er­al focal points: impres­sive antlers, top-notch sem­i­nars, and world-class hunt­ing experts and celebri­ties. But one over-rid­ing theme remains core to the even­t’s mis­sion: Edu­cat­ing and enter­tain­ing the next gen­er­a­tion of hunters.

Youth hunters are the future of deer hunt­ing and oth­er out­doors sports, and the Min­neso­ta Deer & Turkey Clas­sic has anoth­er impres­sive line­up in its Wild Trails Kid Zone. The 2025 event runs Fri­day, March 14 through Sun­day, March 16 at the Can­ter­bury Park Expo Center.

“This is a show for the whole fam­i­ly, espe­cial­ly kids,” said Eric Mey­er, show man­ag­er. “We’re very excit­ed about all the free youth activ­i­ties in our Kids Zone again this year, and they’ll be going strong all three days.”

A1 Archery is spon­sor­ing the Kids Archery Shoot, and staffers from the shop will be on hand giv­ing first-time shoot­ers a bow-and-arrow tuto­r­i­al. Under instruc­tor super­vi­sion, youth shoot­ers will have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to grab a light­weight bow and pop some bal­loons and take oth­er short-range shots.

A1 staffers will teach begin­ning archers how to dis­tin­guish if they have right or left eye dom­i­nance and just have fun. A1 usu­al­ly has some hunt­ing videos for kids on hand, too.

A1’s Kid’s Archery Range

The Nation­al Wild Turkey Fed­er­a­tion is giv­ing a Slate Call to the first 30 kids who vis­it the orga­ni­za­tion’s booth each day of the show. The NWTF gang also will super­vise a youth BB gun shoot where kids can test their shoot­ing skills by plink­ing some tar­gets. Pick up some infor­ma­tion on NWT­F’s youth pro­gram, Jake’s, while visiting.

Across from the NWTF booth, kids and adults alike should check out the World Slam of Turkeys dis­play to iden­ti­fy all six sub­species of North Amer­i­can wild turkeys. Pick up an infor­ma­tion sheet on the nat­ur­al his­to­ry of these remark­able game birds, then take a quiz to test your learning.

Speak­ing of shoot­ing, kids of all ages have enjoyed the rub­ber band shoot spon­sored by Trail Life USA. Fire up some rub­ber bands, test your skills, and make some noise click­ing targets.

Aspir­ing pro anglers among young atten­dees should vis­it the trout pond. A small dona­tion to the non­prof­it Fish­ing for Life is encour­aged for trout fish­ing and all fish are released back into the pond.

Trout Fish­ing

The Min­neso­ta Fal­con­ers Asso­ci­a­tion will be on hand with live birds for 2023, and young­sters can stump them­selves at the Min­neso­ta Deer Hunters Asso­ci­a­tion booth where staffers will dis­play an Ani­mal Skull Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion Challenge.

While there, kids should con­sid­er sign­ing up for one of MDHA’s pop­u­lar fork­horn camps dur­ing spring and sum­mer 2025.

Final­ly, Out­door News will offer infor­ma­tion and the chance for youth 18 and under to join the Junior Pro Team.

Check the event map for all the booths and exhibits for the Wild Trails Kids Zone.

Min­neso­ta Deer & Turkey Clas­sic is look­ing for­ward to a great turnout for these free activ­i­ties again this year.

Hours for the 2025 Min­neso­ta Deer & Turkey Clas­sic are Fri­day, March 14 from 1 to 8 p.m.; Sat­ur­day, March 15 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sun­day, March 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

S.A.F.E. Archery Chal­lenge using nerf style equipment.

A‑1 Archery is proud to offer intro­duc­to­ry archery at the Min­neso­ta Deer & Turkey Clas­sic! Instruc­tors will give a hands on expe­ri­ence shoot­ing a bow at a tar­get and learn­ing prop­er form and tech­nique. We will teach archers how to dis­tin­guish if an archer has right or left eye dom­i­nance and have a ton of fun! Join us for a great time!

We’ll also have an inter­ac­tive and edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ty for kids to take a quiz focused on iden­ti­fy­ing the “world slam” of wild turkeys, as well as iden­ti­fy­ing furs and skulls from var­i­ous animals.

The T.I.P. Wall of Shame will be on dis­play in the Kids Zone

MINNESOTA DEER & TURKEY CLASSIC SPONSORS