I’ve never really put much effort into late season hunting, but this year I have a dog and free time. How do you approach hunting the heavy cover that holds pheasants during the winter? I know that cattails are used as winter cover, but what other things do you look for? Any other late season tips?
Ripley and I thank you. 
my biggest advice would be drive around the the different public areas until you find the one with cord real close to the cattails. FOr me late season birds tend to be more grouped up which can be bad and good. narrow the search by finding the food and cover close together. Also most of my best hunts have come just after a recent snowfall.
Based on what we saw yesterday, they’re a whole lot smarter than they were in October too. We had one rooster walk out and look at us from about 75 yards away and he’s running yet. Couldn’t get him to launch. We saw another one while driving down the road and he flushed when the truck went by. I think all the stupid ones are in the freezer already.
SR
Based on what we saw yesterday, they’re a whole lot smarter than they were in October too. We had one rooster walk out and look at us from about 75 yards away and he’s running yet. Couldn’t get him to launch. We saw another one while driving down the road and he flushed when the truck went by. I think all the stupid ones are in the freezer already.
So true. We were out Friday. Ripley pointed one hard several times, but we couldn’t get it to flush, and it made a safe escape. 
Really depends on where you are hunting. We continue to hunt ditches in Ia and the birds continue to act the same weekend after weekend. Unlike field birds that get chased by hunters often, the ditch birds rarely if ever get hunted. That is my theory. That and the late corn this year gave the ditches a lot of late season bolstering which leads back to my first point. I’ll know even more after this coming weekend.
Hunting into the wind is even more important.
Late season has always been boom or bust for me. You could walk hours and not see a bird and then out of the blue there are 50 plus! One of my most jaw dropping days was 5 years ago, last day of the season. 4 inches of fresh snow. I walked an hour plus to the back of this public area not flushing a bird. Tracks everywhere, but they all kept running ahead. Get to the end of the public area, where it met up with private land and that is where the birds went. I stood and watched as I estimate nearly 200 birds flushed out of there. It was the craziest thing I had ever seen. I couldn’t shoot since it was on private land and they were well out of range, but it was crazy.
So, this brings me to tactics.
Clearly my tactic didn’t work in this case, but if you can get someone out front of you to block, it certainly will put odds in your favor. Had I been hunting with someone else and they came in from a different direction we undoubtedly got some shooting in.
Late season the majority of grasses will not hold much for birds because typically we have had some snow and it tends to get weighed down and really doesn’t provide much cover.
Willows, cattails, shelterbelts and cane are my go-to spots. If you are hunting during a snowstorm or right after, find a shelter break with spruce trees if there are any. I have areas that I have hunted for years and when the conditions are in alignment like that, that is where I head. The birds bury themselves under the trees and stay warm and dry.
I hate cattails. I usually hunt alone, but that is slowly changing now that my kids are getting bigger, so working cattails for me has consisted of walking the edges and then following the dog. Seas of cattails are not my cup of tea and usually you don’t pin the birds down to get shots. Focus on areas where the cattails are narrow, with areas of open water in the middle (obviously frozen), but not just a massive expanse of cattails. You will have a tough time without an army of guys with you.
You will have a tough time without an army of guys with you.
I have had the opposite occur, I think just me and my dog are much more stealthy. I have had much better hunts just me and her than with groups of 5-7 guys
I have had the opposite occur, I think just me and my dog are much more stealthy. I have had much better hunts just me and her than with groups of 5-7 guys
I’m specifically talking if you are walking a HUGE Cattail slough where the birds can just duck around you, hide under the snow, etc. Most of those birds are there, but you miss them unless you have a bunch of guys to get them nervous.
I’ve walked through areas other guys have just gone through and had success too.
If you are hunting alone, focus on smaller pieces of thick cover. A sea of cattails that is 50 acres or more with no open pockets will be tough solo.
Cattails and heavy cover. But pass on the sea of cattails. Look for smaller areas of cattails that are in the middle of a CRP field, near a ditch, or just not very wide. Small enough that if you bump the birds they’ve got to fly and not just run to the side aways. Birds in cattails will either hold very very tight and you or the dog almost need to step on them to get them up, or they will circle back behind you and you never know they are there, or they will flush very wild a long ways ahead of you.
Things like being quiet, hunting into the wind, searching for tracks in fresh snow are important. I am young and in-shape and enjoy getting right into the thick of the cattails with the dog, tough work for sure, but it counts as the workout for the day.
Just like with fishing, any little piece of structure can hold a bird. I have found them sitting underneath cedar trees, or in a clump of grass that is still standing but surrounded by grass the snow has knocked down. Tree lines and shelter belts are quite good, but I find them difficult to hunt by myself, usually the bird flys out the other side and I can’t get a shot off.
Thanks, all. There are some good tips in here.
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