Smaller is Better: The Joy of Pheasant Hunting in Small Groups

I’m not a huge fan of large, South Dakota-style pheasant drives. Outfitters like using them to maximize the number of people hunting and to ideally kill limits quickly and efficiently. However, as productive as they are, I often worry about safety. Participants typically work toward other hunters, and while they’re told to only shoot up in the air and keep guns pointed in a safe direction, when roosters flush everywhere, things can get a little hectic. Often, with multiple hunters shooting at the same birds, you can’t even tell who shot what. Inexperience is another concern, as it may be the only time some folks hunt all year (I know outfitters who’ve admitted to showing participants how to load borrowed guns).

During big pheasant drives, the simple joy of dog work also takes a backseat. Instead, dogs—wild with excitement—run helter-skelter flushing and retrieving birds amidst banging shotguns. I love watching the dog trail the bird, the anticipation of the flush and the ultimate retrieve, and you can’t enjoy that as much during a 20-man pheasant drive. For all these reasons, I often prefer hunting in smaller groups. For those who feel similarly or have no choice but to hunt in a small band, let’s discuss strategies.

PLOT YOUR PATH

Pursuing pheasants with two or three hunters and a dog or two has its disadvantages—namely manpower. With a smaller group, you must carefully pick and analyze the covert you’re planning to hunt and determine how to hunt it effectively. You’re not hunting a 200-acre standing cornfield or an expansive wheatfield without a sizable group of hunters. Instead, concentrate on more manageable pieces of ground you can cover more thoroughly.

When examining a piece of cover, first contemplate surrounding habitat types, private land boundaries, time of day, weather, water, wind direction, sun, hunting pressure and other variables. Apps like onX Hunt are a godsend, as they help identify public and private land (and its owners) and can help you plan your hunting strategies. OnX shows how big a property is, its access points and terrain features like ravines, gullies and waterways. In places like North Dakota, where land not posted is open to hunting, it reveals where you can and can’t hunt. More and more North Dakota property owners are e-posting their property, so onX is a blessing.

Opening-day pheasants don’t know the difference between public and private lands, but they learn quickly. After a couple days of pressure, birds figure out escape routes. Rather than plowing right into a field and watching pheasants scatter to private-land safe havens, pinpoint public-private boundary lines in your mapping app. Then, chart a course that keeps wily birds on public land where you can hunt them.

Many public hunting and walk-in areas have designated parking areas. That doesn’t always mean you must use them. Pheasants can hear very well, and they get used to hearing slamming truck doors, dogs barking, gun breeches clanging shut and hunters talking. When this happens, they’ll simply slip quietly out the far side of the field without anyone seeing them.

PUSH TOWARD EDGES

On a particularly memorable hunt, our group was about to head into a walk-in field in South Dakota. I explained how we should walk to the very south end of the covert before turning and heading into the obviously prime part of the field. A new member of the group said, “I think we should head this way,” as he pointed to the middle of the field.

“How many times have you hunted this field?” I queried.

“This is my first time,” he said.

“Well, I’ve hunted it probably a dozen times,” I countered.

We quietly moved toward the south end of the field as a group with the dogs at heel in single file. Then we spread out, turned parallel to the private boundary and headed toward the field’s center. Probably two-thirds of the way across, we came to a drainage ditch, hesitating as the Labs plowed into the cattails. A cottony flurry filled the air as the dogs rooted around, then all hell broke loose. Roosters pinned against the drainage ditch came blasting out of the cattails to a roar of gunfire. Birds tumbled everywhere, and a very surprised 8-point buck with cattail streamers trailing off his rack blasted right between two hunters.

We stood for several minutes as the dogs rooted around in the dense cover and found all the birds. We were more than halfway toward our limit.

Edges, whether blatantly obvious or subtle, are critical when hunting pheasants. These can be the difference between cut corn and standing corn, between a grass field and wheat stubble or along a road or trail. Ditches, rivers, streams and lakes also provide well-defined edges that will force pheasants to fly when pinched between the two cover types, and I’ve shot plenty of roosters in a pair of waders. Fence rows and shelter belts are great examples of edges that a pair of hunters and a dog can cover. Often, hunters can utilize an edge as a blocker, almost like an additional hunter.

Pheasants gravitate to edges at certain times of day. Early and late, birds often move toward the edges of cover next to favorite food sources. Pheasants will migrate from expansive, grassy fields, standing corn or shelterbelts where they roosted to edges that abut harvested crop fields (corn, bean, wheat or milo). Then, they’ll quickly dart out to fill their crops before retreating to thick roosting cover. They come out to the edges of roads to pick gravel, too.

COURSE ALONG CORNERS

As good as edges are, corners are even better. Whereas edges can funnel on forever, with pheasants slipping in and out, corners are dead ends. Herd and pinch pheasants into a corner, and they have nowhere to go.

Once, we were pushing a grass field in Kansas next to a short, harvested wheat field that ended at a pasture. We were most of the way through the field and hadn’t moved a bird. However, 100 yards from the corner and the end of the field, my friend Larry, to my right, began bending toward me and away from the field’s edge.

“Hey,” I said, “stay up next to the edge of the field right up to the corner.”

When Larry had almost reached the corner, a dozen pheasants flushed where the fields merged and crossed in front of us. I picked out two roosters and dropped both. I quickly cracked open my 20-gauge over/under and stuffed in two more shells. I thought I caught movement from the corner of my eye, and when I turned, another rooster flushed behind me, which I promptly dropped.

I waved to fellow hunter Jim Goodwin to bring his dog over.

“What are you looking for?” he asked.

“A rooster I shot,” I replied. “It wasn’t hit as hard as the other two.”

“You mean you shot three roosters with a double barrel?” he queried.

I could only grin. Had Larry not walked right to the corner, I might not have gotten any.

WATCH THE WEATHER

Weather can greatly affect how pheasants behave and the habitats they choose to occupy. On bluebird days, birds are out and about, relying on their exceptional hearing and sight to warn of approaching danger. They’ll often sun on the edge of thinner cover, and because they’re likely to see you long before you see them, stealthy approaches can be tough.

In inclement weather—especially with strong winds—pheasants that can’t hear or see as well hold tighter in heavier cover, and a small group has better odds of getting within shotgun range. When possible, work into the wind for your best chance at a shot, and be ready to shoot quickly. A rooster with a tailwind is almost impossible to lead appropriately.

Beyond being miserable to hunt in, rain causes pheasants to hunker down in heavy cover and give off little scent. Your best bet is waiting for the sun, as birds will be out and about then, especially toward the evening.

Like wind, snow boosts hunting odds. In late fall and winter, cover is a priority. While pheasants can go several days without food, they can’t survive without cover. Part of the Midwest’s pheasant country lies within the Prairie Pothole Region, where many waterfowl are raised on waterfowl production areas and in cattail marshes and sloughs. Ringnecks take full advantage of this habitat, too, hunkering down in the cattails when inclement weather hits. With a blanket of snow on top, pheasants can endure some nasty, cold conditions. Meanwhile, these areas offer a small cadre of hunters the perfect opportunity to corner concentrated roosters.

Pick a manageable pothole a few hunters can surround and be patient. Turn the dogs loose and let them do their thing. Pheasants may be reluctant to leave their cozy hide, so give dogs ample time to root them out. Be conscious of wind direction, as birds will usually try to fly with the wind. And be mindful of the nearest covert the birds are likely to head to so you can be in position to intercept them.

The main draws of mega pheasant drives are the pomp and circumstance, the hoopla and the camaraderie. Yet, there’s something to be said for a hunter, his buddy and a few aging hunting dogs just doing their thing. It’s a simple alternative, and one that can still be very effective.

RINGNECK RETREATS

• A trio of states to consider for a pheasant hunt this fall

Fortunately, Midwest hunters have many options when planning pheasant trips. For some, decent hunting may be a short drive away. But, if you’re planning a serious trip, the following three states should be top of mind.

SWEET SPOTS

South Dakota yields more pheasants every year than all other states combined. There are more hunters, too. A great option for freelancers is hunting later in the year. There’ll be fewer birds, but also fewer hunters, and your chances of obtaining permission to hunt private property increases. Remaining pheasants also move back into the best cover on walk-in areas and waterfowl production areas (WPAs).

Steer clear of prime areas between Mitchell, Gregory and Winner and around Pierre and Chamberlain, unless you know someone or are willing to pay. It’s great hunting but overrun with hunters. Instead, try north and west. There are fewer pheasants on the west side of the Missouri River, but walk-in areas and WPAs don’t see nearly as many hunters.

ROUGHRIDER REFUGES

North Dakota has fewer pheasants than South Dakota, but fewer hunters, too. Weather matters greatly, as severe winters devastate bird populations. The 2022 drought provided a double whammy, but despite a severe winter in 2022–2023, pheasant numbers seemed to rebound in 2023. Now, a mild winter in 2023-2024, followed by a dry spring, has the stage set for outstanding hunting in the Roughrider State this fall.

Southern counties along the South Dakota border east of the Missouri River offer ample public hunting opportunities in the PLOTS (Private Lands Open to Sportsmen) program and an abundance of WPAs. Good pockets of birds also exist near Lake Sakakawea and Bismarck, and I can confirm that roosters were strutting all over the place on a trip to Devils Lake this spring.

HAWKEYE HUBS

Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife biologist with Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR), says the state doesn’t have the number of walk-in properties that others do, but those it has are high quality. He says Iowa has more than 300,000 acres of public lands—including more than 30,000 acres enrolled in the walk-in program—offering a mix of grasslands, brush and woods. Many lie within prime pheasant territory in north-central, northwest and west-central Iowa north of I-80. Most walk-ins are relatively small, but bigger public-land options include Spring Run Complex Wildlife Management Area (Dickinson County), Union Hills Wildlife Area (Cerro Gordo County) and Chichaqua Bottom Greenbelt (Polk County).

The Hawkeye State has had several good winters in recent years that have favored pheasants and yielded increased harvest numbers (around 300,000 birds), making Iowa the third-highest state in terms of pheasant harvest. Bogenshcutz says Iowa had another mild winter last year, but that was followed by a wet May. Only time will tell what kind of hatch occurred.