Buongiorno Beretta

I'm looking forward to testing the Beretta Perennia pictured in this fantastic ad running on Page 3 of Pheasants Forever's Fall Preview issue.

I depart for Italy on Tuesday. I will be one of five American guests traveling to Milan compliments of Beretta for their international press day. I'm not sure how many other countries will be represented at the event, but I'm pretty darn excited to be flying the Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever flags on this adventure. The NRA's American Hunter, The Outdoor Wire, and InterMedia's various hunting and shooting titles will also be in attendance based upon the email addresses I've seen on my itinerary.

This trip has all come together in the last two weeks. Mark Herwig, editor of the Pheasants Forever Journal, was first approached with the opportunity, but an already hectic travel schedule and expired passport opened up the trip to me. Yes, I went out and bought a lottery ticket that day - no such luck at hitting the Power Ball though.

I don't have a very detailed schedule of events, but here's a rundown of what I do know:

Tuesday & Wednesday: I fly for many hours while trying to sleep, read, and catch up on some writing. I arrive in Milan where my hotel is located.

Thursday: Beretta's International Press Day. I'm told that some new models of shotguns will be debuted in the morning during a press conference. As a public relations guy, I'm curious about conducting a press conference with so many different languages in the room. In the afternoon, the assembled journalists will have an opportunity to field test each of the new Beretta models with some clays action. My fingers are crossed for trap or skeet; the duck tower eats me alive.

Friday: Beretta Factory Tour. For over 15 generations and 500 years, the Beretta family has been manufacturing firearms. I will get a sneak peak of this company's secret recipe of modern technology and old world craftsmanship.

Undoubtedly, Beretta's goal for underwriting the travel of dozens of journalists for a press event like this is to attain editorial coverage in the publications each journalist represents. It's a good tactic. I've employed the same strategy in orchestrating Pheasants Forever destination hunts and conservation forums each fall. Such events provide an opportunity to see Pheasants Forever habitat projects and CRP acres, while wrapped around the fun and camaraderie of an exciting hunt.

As you can imagine, I'm pretty pumped for whatever the next week holds in store. I have only been "across the pond" one other time and that was a similar whirlwind 4-day adventure to Rome with two co-workers while I was at the St. Paul Saints Baseball Team. Seeing Milan and the Beretta factory is no doubt a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I've personally been shooting a Beretta shotgun for the last three seasons. I like it a lot and shoot it well, but I'm not quite in love with it yet (check out my blog: "I'm Just Dating My Shotgun" for further explanation). I'm eager to try out Beretta's Perennia III over/under which happens to be the very shotgun featured in Beretta's current advertisement running in the Pheasants Forever Journal. Beyond that, I'm optimistic this adventure will foster new relationships between Beretta and Pheasants Forever's conservation mission. Undoubtedly, it'll produce a story I will be excited to tell. Stay tuned. Ciao!