Late season hunting provides for beautiful birds, challenging walks, and the best memories in the uplands. Simonson Photo.

By Nick Simonson

Late season pheasant hunting is by far my favorite.  The throngs of people have disappeared from the landscape as colder, snowier, and windier conditions generally keep the fair weather uplanders inside watching football on the weekends.  Access to places both public and private – with the demands of deer season now subsided – is far more open and landowners are often welcoming once their tags are punched, and the holidays are upon us.  Taking the time to introduce yourself and explore those relationships and options is well suited for this time of year.  But late season pheasant hunting isn’t just a walk in a winter wonderland, it requires changing some things from early fall, adding some layers to deal with the chill and dialing things up a bit in terms of effort to make those possibilities a reality.

Shot & Choke Tweaks

With a fully developed pelt of feathers, rooster pheasants are at their brightest and most beautiful in this final month of the season.  Many times, we joke that a shot which seemed on point was unable to penetrate the iron long underwear those late season roosters must be wearing underneath all that plumage as they fly away unscathed into the winter breezes.  This phenomenon often results first from first birds getting up at a farther distance, startled by the crunch of refrozen snow or careless conversation, and surviving other hunters and their dogs this far in the season, making the far-out shot pattern a bit less effective as the birds rise.  Thus, tightening the choke on a shotgun from modified to full, and dropping a shot size, from six to five or five to four, can help provide a tighter pattern and bigger pellets which arguably do more damage when they connect with those fully dressed late-season roosters.  Consider upping your salvos and giving yourself a gift of a premium pheasant load for the late season, or even going from a 2 3/4-inch shell to a three-inch shell, patterning these changes out to see the effectiveness firsthand.

Learn to Layer

Early season pheasant hunting conditions often allow for the option to shoot in long-sleeved shirts and a vest, or even in those warm afternoons, just a tee shirt.  Odds are with the pattern established this fall, those days are far behind us and cold temperatures will require some layering up for the season-ending outings for upland game.  Today’s thermal layers are far more efficient and thinner than ever before, allowing for the addition of base layers on top and bottom that don’t bulk a body up.

Remember too that late season pheasant hunting is a game of staying in motion, and that heat is readily built through the physical activity required to get birds up.  So as layers are added, have a plan to shed them as activity levels ramp up and warmer conditions allow. It’s better to have more to start and take them off as needed, as you can’t put on what you didn’t bring with, and the cold should never end a hunt with all the options available.

Love the Work

Finally, pheasants are often found in the deepest of places this time of year, and late-season roosters will hole up in the thickest cattail sloughs and the gnarliest brushy cover to stay warm and away from predators of both the furred and firearms-toting varieties.  This means meeting them on their turf is a requirement for success and busting through slough-edge snowdrifts and stomping cattails are part-and-parcel with a late season hunt.  Be ready to put in the extra physical effort that December roosters demand.  Go back to the layering drawing board after each late season hunt to determine how much clothing is needed, and what get up allows for the best high-stepping through reeds and brambles to get those birds in the air this time of year.

With these tips in mind, late season pheasant hunting will likely become a favorite for you as well.  The hunting spots are more open, and with the right changes the hunts can be amazing as bunched-up birds flush by the dozen.  Make the adjustments to firearms and shells along with clothing, and get ready to do a little extra work for those long-tailed birds of late season…in our outdoors.