08/24/2026
Pheasants Forever to put Wessington Springs in spotlight for ‘Opening Day’ film: Community plans to ‘Roll Out the Orange Carpet’ as national project captures South Dakota pheasant tradition
Wessington Springs and its opening-day pheasant traditions will be in the national spotlight this fall when Pheasants Forever brings its “Opening Day” film project to the community for South Dakota’s pheasant opener.
Bob St. Pierre, chief marketing and communications officer for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and the familiar voice behind the organization’s “On the Wing” podcast, will spend opening weekend in Wessington Springs filming the community, its hunters and the traditions surrounding one of South Dakota’s biggest weekends of the year.
St. Pierre, who joined Pheasants Forever in 2003 and has become known by many as “the voice of Pheasants Forever,” is also the host of the “Opening Day” film series. Each installment uses a different place and group of people to tell a larger story about hunting, habitat and the relationships built around opening day.
He has filmed previous installments in Minnesota and Michigan, while a Missouri film shot last year is set to be released this year. But St. Pierre said he was deliberate about waiting before bringing the project to South Dakota.
After all, this is the place he calls “pure and simple the pheasant capital of the world.”
And when it came time to tell South Dakota’s story, he chose Wessington Springs.
Read more at the link https://www.truedakotan.com/feature-newsletters/pheasants-forever-put-wessington-springs-spotlight-opening-day-film
