Trampled by Turtles’ Dave Simonett discovered his love of hunting from the radio

Dave Simonett called into a radio program to thank its host for playing a song by his Duluth-based band, Trampled by Turtles.

During the call, host Bob St. Pierre of the program “FAN Outdoors” on KFAN, invited Simonett, who is the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band, to go pheasant hunting. The opportunity introduced Simonett, 45, to his favorite outdoor hobby: upland bird hunting.

“I found the people in that world have such a huge love for the land and the game,” Simonett said of his first upland bird hunting trip about seven years ago. “Nobody does more to protect it than the hunting community and that surprised me.”

Upland bird hunting, which is the pursuit of nonwaterfowl game, has taken Simonett to southwestern and northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas for pheasants and grouse.

His favorite part of the hunt, he said, is being able to spend time with his two dogs Hrbek, a mutt he adopted from a rescue, and Maxon, a German wirehaired pointer.

“I talked [a trainer] into trying to train Hrbek to be a bird dog and it miraculously worked,” he said. “Hunting people are pretty particular about breeds and he’s a mutt, but he’s a great retriever and it’s been a great partnership.”

We asked Simonett, who lives in Minneapolis and is on the board of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, more about his outdoor hobby. His responses have been edited for clarity and length:

A: I’m what they call an adult onset hunter, but that’s become pretty much my passion in the outdoors.

I find a connection to the natural world that’s a lot deeper than any other activity I’ve tried. When I’m hunting, it feels more like I’m taking part in the process out there rather than simply observing it and I think as an adult it was a new experience for me.

It’s a whole new level of being outside.

Q: How did your first time upland bird hunting go?

A: I had a really wonderful first experience, not just finding birds, which we did, but I got a wider perspective on the activity in general. Like the families involved and the traditions they have. For people that don’t hunt and me spending most of my life like that, it was almost like a peek behind the curtain because I don’t think [the sport is] terribly accessible if you didn’t grow up doing it.

Q: What have you learned about yourself from hunting?

A: I’ve been humbled a lot, which is good. One of my philosophies is it is important to keep learning new things as you get older. But it’s really hard to do and it’s really hard to admit that you don’t know anything and be dumb and bad at it. So that was a good lesson for me to go through. Also, it’s really exposed me to one of the biggest passions in my life now, which is conservation.

I’ve always had that abstractly in my mind, but [hunting] really gave me concrete ways to do work in that space. Not much is more important to me than conserving our natural places.

Q: What was your best day outside? What was your worst?

A: My best day, it was probably the first time that my whole family [including his wife and three middle-school-age children] went into the Boundary Waters. That’s one that I really celebrate. My kids were pretty little paddling canoes about seven or eight years ago.

Q: What’s your favorite place to be outside in Minnesota?

A: I would have to say the Boundary Waters. We’re pretty lucky to have that space, honestly. It’s such a gem.

Q: What’s an outdoor activity you wish you knew how to do?

A: I’ve never been on an elk hunt. I really want to do that in the Rocky Mountains. I have a lot of friends that do that quite a bit and it sounds pretty intense and rigorous and very backcountry. I’d be excited to see all that.

Q: You’ve been given the chance to go on your dream outdoor adventure: What is it, and what three people would you bring with you?