Cold Front Pheasants

“Learn the patterns, and you may fill a daily bag quickly then get back home to the comfort of the fireplace sooner. Do things right, and you may enjoy the best bird hunting of the year.”

- Wes David

Northeast wind slapped me in the face as I struggled to break through deeply crusted snow. Flexing my fingers inside the heavy gloves helped me maintain feeling in the tips. My bird dog Timber didn’t seem to mind at all as he skimmed along on top of the crusted snow, sniffing for pheasants. I had to pick up my pace just to maintain shooting position.

On the plus side, the pheasants were holding tight to chosen cover, and no doubt to conserve calories in the bitter cold.

They didn’t break until Timber was on top of them, and once a ring neck did fly, numb face and fingers were quickly forgotten as I raised shotgun to shoulder, found the pheasant in flight, and squeezed the trigger.

There is nothing like a warm, early fall day spent kicking pheasants from tall grass, cut cornfields, and scattered brush. I truly enjoy that time in the field with my dog. Before the weather turns nasty, pheasants may be seen from afar milling around feeding and scratching in the open.

It’s not uncommon for me to get a little mesmerized, just strolling along in the warm sunshine watching the dog work.

But when the clouds move in and the air cools, the pheasants stop meandering and gather in the best feed to gorge themselves. These are the days I enjoy some of my best shoots.

The birds instinctively know they need to feed harder before they have to wait out a storm, and I zero in on areas with high-protein grain, corn, and peas. I’ve found plenty of birds scavenging near grain bins, cereal crop piles and similar locations. I’ve even found them burrowing underneath tarps stretched overtop of piles of grain.

If there’s good cover, pheasants rarely venture far from easy feed, and this is especially true now.