With a little extra effort and some old-fashioned savvy, hunters can usually coax late-season pheasantsinto the skies! Photo by Mike Gnatkowski.

Point to the opening day of pheasant season on the calendar and many wingshooters will feel flushed because it is such a blast.

Truly, the first few weeks of the season are ripe with excitement and great hunting action. Birds are plentiful and haven't been hunted for months, so they fly great and provide plenty of fun days afield.

Unfortunately, the intense action at the first of the season is short lived. Birds quickly become acquainted with hunting pressure and the methodology of the wingshooting clan. The birds adapt and success becomes harder. Couple hunting pressure with other changing natural factors and the late season can become quite frustrating at times. The birds don't fly well and sometimes don't even seem to exist at all. However, by changing tactics, hunters can get the drop on birds, get them in the air, and have good success in the late season.

To have the greatest success, one must first understand some of the changes that occur by the time the latter part of the season rolls around. Focusing on the birds' adaptation to these conditions is the key to success.

There are three major changes during the season that affect pheasants. They are food sources, habitat conditions and pressure. All of these intertwine to create an entirely different hunting scenario later in the season.

Food sources are not static; they change with the seasons. Early in the season, there are usually a wide variety of favorite foods, including small grain row crops, weed seeds and possibly even some insects if the weather is mild. But as these sources diminish, birds are forced to move around to find alternatives.

The habitat undergoes plenty of change too. Grasses and other vegetation that stood tall and thick early in the year, often die, dry up and are laid down by wind. Places that offered an abundance of shelter and security before, now are flat and of little protection.

Finally, factor in pressure. Obviously, hunting pressure plays a big part. Add to that the fact that the habitat no longer offers as much shelter, and now the pheasants are much more susceptible to natural predators.

Pheasants often move into thicker cover and even into wood lots in some areas to find protection from the elements and predation. They quickly adapt to hunting pressure from man and often sit tight in thick cover or run along the ground and skirt hunters' attempts to get them airborne. This is the time when hunting savvy and varying methods will come into play.

FIND NEW AREAS
One of the easiest ways to have success in the late season is obvious. Find new areas to hunt. Obviously, birds that haven't been hunted are going to be much easier to bag. Although it sounds improbable to find unhunted birds later in the year, it can be done with some legwork and knowledge.