TFL Shotgun Fest 2026 is coming to central Minnesota this July, and this year two shotgun Hall of Famers are teaching the clinics. Steve Gould joins Nick to walk through the whole weekend.
On this episode, host Nick Larson brings back Steve Gould, creator of the Target Focused Life YouTube channel and part-owner of the Alexandria Shooting Park, to preview the second annual TFL Shotgun Fest. The event runs Friday, July 24 (development day plus VIP night) and Saturday, July 25 (the main shooting day) at the Alexandria Shooting Park in central Minnesota.
The headline this year is the talent. Corey Cruz, a two-time national champion, world champion, and National Sporting Clays Hall of Fame inductee, is running sporting clays clinics. Richard Marshall Jr., a 35-time All-American and multiple Grand American winner on the trap side, is running trap clinics. Both are kept small on purpose: five shooters per session, half a day, real range time and real feedback. Del Whitman is on-site doing gun fittings.
Beyond the clinics there are manufacturer demos where you can get hands-on and actually shoot a rack of different shotguns, an Upland Gun Company booth with a new RFM shotgun to see, and over $10,000 in prizes, including a custom 250th-anniversary shotgun for high overall. Then there's the unconventional stuff Steve's crew is known for: the Can Cannon Challenge, the Benelli AI Challenge, and the Wheel of Shotgun Fortune. The day closes with an Annie Oakley tournament and a social hangout.
There's a thread running under all of it that matters more than the prize wall. Steve talks about how people are starved for in-person connection, and how an event like this is really about getting folks who love shotguns in the same place for a weekend.
We also get into Steve's first trip to Italy and the Benelli and Perazzi factories, the Minnesota high school trap tournament that ran 7,700 kids through the range, a good stretch on barrel length and gun fit, and the ShotTracker training tool that might one day track a flushing grouse. Clinics, camping, and tickets are limited, so check the website for current availability.
Chapters:
0:00 - Meet the Hall of Fame Clinic Pros
2:00 - Welcome Back: Steve Gould, Target Focused Life
2:35 - MN High School Trap and 7,700 Young Shooters
7:00 - A New Sporting Clays Course at Alexandria
8:15 - Inside Steve's Italy Trip: Benelli and Perazzi
17:15 - Shotgun Fest 2026: The Big Vision
18:30 - Clinics With Corey Cruz and Richard Marshall Jr.
19:15 - Del Whitman Gun Fittings and VIP Night
20:15 - Prizes, the 250th-Anniversary Gun, and Challenges
23:20 - Why People Are Craving In-Person Again
26:50 - How the Weekend Works: Friday and Saturday
27:50 - Manufacturer Demos: Get Hands-On With the Guns
30:20 - The RFM Venus 20ga Grouse Gun
31:30 - Barrel Length, Balance, and Gun Fit
37:00 - A New RFM Sporting Clays Shotgun (First Look)
40:40 - Year One to Year Two: What Changed
44:50 - Small-Group Clinics and How They Work
48:10 - Annie Oakley Tournament and Awards
50:10 - Camping and Lodging in Alexandria
52:20 - Shotgun Find 2.0 and the ShotTracker Tool
Resources & Links:
Target Focused Life on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TargetFocusedLife
TFL Shotgun Fest tickets & clinic registration: https://www.targetfocused.life/shotgunfest
Alexandria Shooting Park (camping & booking): https://shootasp.com
Shotgun Find (Steve's shotgun research tool): https://shotgunfind.com
Support the show:
The Birdshot Podcast is Presented By onX Hunt.
Use code BSP20 to save 20% on your onX Hunt subscription.
Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/birdshot (from $5/month, and you get Birdshot can coolers and stickers as a thank-you).
Follow the show:
Instagram: @birdshot.podcast
Website: https://BirdshotPodcast.com
Listen:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/17EVUDJPwR2iJggzhLYil7
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/birdshot-podcast/id1288308609
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkIF3w6P9rkuciwX-jEMG3g
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
