The Lazy J

Hunting always takes preparation, pheasant hunting especially so. Pheasants are creatures of habit, and by understanding and anticipating their movements, you can increase your chances of bagging an impressive specimen.Pheasants generally spend their nights in roost sitesgrassy areas of short- or medium-height. They leave these areas before sunrise and head for areas with plenty of gravel and grit. Pheasants eat these small pebbles prior to dining to help with their digestion. By 8 a.m., they’re enjoying a hearty breakfast of insects, soybeans, corn, and/or seeds.If you make it out when shooting hours start at 9 a.m., you’re likely to still catch the birds feasting. Around that time, though, pheasants begin seeking cover for the day, moving from the edges of fields to densely-covered areas like wetlands or standing corn. Once there, the pheasant will remain there until late afternoonunless, of course, you and your dogs arrive to aggravate him. If this happens, the pheasant will simply run deeper into the corn, making it difficult for hunters to run the birds out of large corn fields. Instead, concentrate on grassy fields or ditch banks. Also, keep your fingers crossed for good weather, as pheasants will retreat into deeper cover during bad weather conditions.Birds move back to their feeding areas in the late afternoon, making this the second-best time of the day to track them down. After this time, shooting hours end, and both pheasants and hunters head home for the evening. The next morning, the pheasant wakes up, shakes himself off, and starts all over again.When planning out your pheasant hunting trip, always make it a point to think like one of the birds. You should find your daily averages much improvedand nothing tastes better than the taste of success.