Local police and Secret Service surround the area as Minnesota Governor and Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz takes part in the annual Minnesota Governor's Pheasant Hunting Opener, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, near Sleepy Eye, Minn. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via AP)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz carried a shotgun and tramped through tall grass as Minnesota's pheasant hunting season opened, giving the campaign a chance to highlight the governor's rural roots and love of outdoor sports.

Neither Walz nor Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan managed to bag any pheasants as they hunted near Sleepy Eye, a town about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of Minneapolis. One person in the governor's own party shot a bird, while nobody in the lieutenant governor's group did, but six birds were harvested among other hunting parties that participated in a community luncheon afterward, the governor's office said.

“They can hide, they can get under the grass,” Walz could be heard saying as they searched for one downed bird.

The campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris has been openly confronting the question of whether some men are reluctant to vote for her because she’s a woman. Key supporters are starting to make more direct appeals to male voters, hoping to overcome sexism — and apathy — as Election Day approaches. Harris disclosed during her debate with former President Donald Trump last month that she's a gun owner.

On Friday, the Democratic ticket announced the launch of Hunters and Anglers for Harris-Walz, a national organizing program to engage sportspeople, conservationists and rural voters in key states.

The Trump campaign mocked the outing, accusing Walz of “desperately attempting to make up ground with male voters.” The campaign's statement also falsely said there were no guns in sight during the hunt, calling it “a sign of the future under a Harris-Walz administration.”

While it's true that a 36-second video clip from MSNBC tweeted by the Trump campaign didn't show any guns, it was recorded before Walz and his party had donned their blaze orange safety vests and hats and and headed into the field after a safety briefing from a conservation officer. They held their shotguns raised to avoid endangering the energetic pointers and Labradors that tried to sniff out birds for the hunters.

While Walz had a top rating from the National Rifle Association during his 12 years in Congress, he changed his positions on gun issues after a series of school shootings. As governor, he signed legislation in 2023 expanding background checks for gun transfers and a “red flag law” allowing courts to temporarily take firearms away from people judged to be in imminent risk of harming themselves or others. His wife, Gwen, has been a champion of gun safety legislation.

“Sorry Tim, men aren’t voting for a gun grabber,” the Trump campaign tweeted from an official account.

The Minnesota Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener has been a tradition since 2011, patterned after the state’s older fishing and deer season opener celebrations. It rotates through host communities in the pheasant country of southern and western Minnesota.

Walz went hunting the morning after attending a football game in Mankato, where he was once was an assistant coach.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024