GrizzlyFish Launches at Backcountry Hunters and Anglers 2021 Rendezvous in Missoula Montana

GrizzlyFish had its launch party at the 2021 edition of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers annual Rendezvous, held this past weekend at the historic Fort Missoula grounds.  The reception to our brand, mission and products was fantastic, and we couldn’t be happier with holding our launch in partnership with BHA!

It was an amazing event, held outdoors this year for the very first time (due to Covid-19). We’d definitely vote for making it an all-outdoor event going forward. Of course, if it was held two weeks earlier, we’d have been greeted by several inches of snow!

Roughly six hundred attendees and 40 or so vendors enjoyed two glorious days of Montana sunshine (and the occasional bout of wind & rain showers) in a historic setting that was definitely entertaining, informative, educational and engaging --a celebration of the hunting and fishing life that all BHA’ers revere, respect, covet and protect. Kudos to BHA for all of the planning and excellence that went into pulling off a great event.  The programming was phenomenal, with a strong bent for showcasing the culinary innovation and creativity that goes hand-in-hand with the fruits of harvesting wild game: the Field to Table dinner, Wild Game Cook-off,  the Wine & Whiskey tasting, the Bison BBQ…a serious gastronome’s fete! 

BHA is a hunting-forward organization for sure, as the bulk of the vendor presence, programming and attendees were hunting-focused.  We also found there to be a strong cross-over representation and interest in fly fishing.  GrizzlyFish was a participating partner in the “Fishing Village”, along with Trout Unlimited, Far Bank (parent company of Sage, Reddington and Rio), NRS, Sawyer Paddles & Oars, and Waterworks-Lamson.  Kudos to Far Bank for running the fly fishing casting instruction clinic and competition in the area which was a constant attraction for all comers.

The GrizzlyFish mule deer ring toss game as well as our “Guess the number of spots on the Cutthroat Trout” competition (A separate blog post coming on that!) kept things fun around the booth.  We connected with hundreds of outdoor enthusiasts committed to public lands access and preservation, sold some product, and got lots of feedback and suggestions for future products and partner collaborations.

There was a large draw of BHA members from all over the North America, and it was inspiring to see several young members from BHA's 17 collegiate chapters make the trip out for the festivities.  On Saturday, the local Missoula crowd came out in force, with many families making a day outing of it. It was fun to see the children come out and have some fun, like this little guy who scored on our ring toss game:

If this all sounds like a great reason take a trip to the Pacific Northwest, get in some backcountry time and attend an awesome event, we agree with you, and hope to see you at Rendezvous 2022 !