It doesn't take a pheasant long to figure out what's going on once the shooting starts. Birds that were a challenge on opening day become nearly impossible to find and tougher to shoot. It's time to hunt smarter.

Bill Ohde easily combines his personal interest in upland birds with his career as a wildlife biologist. His understanding of what makes a pheasant tick, along with a wealth of field experience, gives him a healthy appreciation for how to hunt the wary rooster once the season is underway.

"During late-season hunting, roosters definitely become runners, and in many cases, they're taking off long before dogs or hunters ever get close to them," Ohde said. "I received a good education on this a couple of years ago. I'd walked onto a public area before daylight to go on stand for deer.

"There was good snow cover on the ground, the area was being heavily hunted for pheasants and I was counting on the bird hunters to drive the deer to me. At about 8 a.m., the pheasant hunters fanned out from the parking lots and roads and I had 12 roosters run right by me in the timber, then flush on the opposite side of the woods. About 20 minutes later, a couple of bird dogs worked the edge of the timber where the birds had been and I caught a glimpse of the hunters. Those guys didn't have a clue they had moved all those roosters that far in front of them."

Those roosters had been through the drill many times. The birds flushed several hundred yards out on the opposite side of the timber because the hunters had been predictable. They had come from the same direction they always came from and the birds knew the escape route. These birds had definitely wised up and stood a good chance of seeing another season.

Whether you're a veteran shotgunner like Ohde or a novice, your first step to a successful hunt this far into the season is always the same. Pick the right place and if there are birds in the area, that's where they'll be. All pheasant habitat is not created equal. Some likely looking fields will be loaded with birds, while similar fields won't. It takes an eye from a pheasant's point of view to decide which fields are worth walking and which are only temporary stopovers for a straggler or two.

The second step to success is the willingness to fine-tune your tactics. Pheasants are paranoid and you stepping on their turf is all the invitation they need to leave. It's up to you to plan your approach accordingly.

Pheasants aren't particularly fussy about where they live as long as there's plenty of cover and food. Oddly, ringnecks will opt for cover over food if they have to choose. Hunting pressure or severe weather may force birds to hunker down in heavy cover for days without eating. But the best areas are always a combination of available sources of food, effective overhead cover and plenty of variation in the fields, high grass, woodland edges, fencerows, drainages and draws. The key is to pick the best available habitat in the woods and concentrate your efforts there.

An ideal situation would be tall prairie grass alongside a grain field. A drainage that supplies water, nourishes the grass and insect-encouraging vegetation is a plus. Combining the best of all worlds virtually guarantees that if birds live anywhere nearby, they'll be calling this spot home.