SquadFest! Man, if you weren’t there you missed out. By now I am sure you’ve seen what an overwhelming success it was via social media, but I wanted to give one more recap for anyone out there who has been living under a rock. As Nick Costas put it, “Squadfest was such a cool event. It was great to see a lot of my close friends that I don’t see a lot outside of hunting season. The calling competition was unreal. Hearing the best of the best go at it on stage was unreal. It is amazing what those guys can do.”
When you walked into the event after the shuttle dropped you off you probably didn’t know where to begin. Do you watch whichever calling contest was going on? Check out the merch in the storefront? Visit the call vendors? Grab a beer and a hot dog? Maybe listen in on whatever the Big Honker podcast guys were talking about with whoever their guest for the hour was. Or perhaps you just wanted to rub elbows and get to know some other like-minded waterfowlers from all across the country.
If you spent time around the tent you’ll know the calling contests were phenomenal. It was truly a world-class event that was very enjoyable to watch. I heard several comments to the effect of “I didn’t think I’d like contest calling but it ended up being my favorite part.” The Niccum brothers, Cory and Jody, started us off Friday night winning the two-man meat contest. Then, Saturday, the open meat was won by Tyler Heaton- and the open goose was won by Robbie Iverson. I think everyone had a great time sitting in the tent and watching the best callers in the world go head to head.
Aside from the calling, the food was top notch and the beer was ice cold. The call vendors were there getting folks rigged up for waterfowl season, along with Divebomb having their big sale. I know a great pile of decoys left the warehouse that weekend. The big highlight for many people was the new product sneak peeks from Divebomb. They have some pretty sweet stuff coming down the pipe here soon including backboards, goose flags, and even a spinning wing decoy.
If you took the time to mingle with other guests, you may have finally gotten to meet in person some of those folks you’ve followed on social media for years but never shook hands with in real life. In a rare occurrence, the DM’s were foregone for an actual lively conversation with people you’ve only digitally known- sometimes for years. Maybe you swapped hunting tales, told each other your favorite band stories, and swapped phone numbers pledging to organize hunts with each other as friendships that may have never come to fruition were brought to life after meeting at SquadFest.
Dr. Doug Osbourne of Osbourne Lab gave a very interesting and informative yet informal presentation on waterfowl during the Saturday afternoon of the event and had all eyes under the tent tuned in on him and his teachings. You could tell off the bat that the crowd wanted him invited back next year for another round of teachings.
It was a weekend that was without regret and by the time it had come and gone, we were already looking forward to doing it again next year.
I reached out to Ashur Tolliver and Cade Trickey now that everyone has had some time to reflect, and here is what they had to say:
“SquadFest weekend was absolutely incredible! Over 6 months of hard work & planning went into this event to set it up for success, but being the first one we had no way to gauge how big it is was going to be. By the end of the day Saturday, I think everyone’s expectations were completely blown away and all attendees seemed to have an absolute blast! Needless to say, we are very excited for the future of this event!” – Ashur Tolliver
“Man, for the first Squadfest ever… I’d say it was pretty epic. We couldn’t have asked for a better turnout. It was great getting to shake hands and talk to people in person with no masks or restrictions.” – Cade Trickey
As you can see, the guys from Divebomb were obviously very pleased with the way the weekend turned out! Having so many passionate waterfowlers, in one place, at one time, with no egos, just guys being dudes hanging out. There were plenty of stories told, true or otherwise, friendships kindled, and lifelong connections made. Many of the conversations revolved around the longing for colder weather and big bunches of ducks and geese doing it right.
As many of us have already started looking forward to Squadfest ’22, I have all the confidence that this event will be even bigger and better, moving towards being the premier waterfowl festival in America. Here is what Divebomb owner Cody Stokes had to say, “It was a great gathering of like-minded individuals coming out of a time Of isolation and lack of camaraderie. Not only did it strengthen our brand but I think it strengthens the waterfowl community in general. Looking forward to seeing everyone again in 2022 and hopefully meeting more new people.”
Will we see YOU at the 2022 SquadFest Presented and Hosted by Dive Bomb Industries?
