Pheasant times.

[guythathunts]

I have been hearing more and more people talking about hunting ringnecks only in the morning and at night. I have always hunted them all day and have done well. Do you hunt only the frist and last few hours of the day? Why? The last guy I talked to, I asked him why and the only answer he had was "That is when it's best" . He didn't know why that was his answer. Just curious as I have been noticeing this more and more. Chime in with any insite.

[Mayfly]

All day is good and can be good but......your friend has a point.

Evening can be great.

If you can find an area where there is a lot of birds locate the food source and find out where they roost for the night. As dark approacjes the birds will flock out of the feed and into the roosting/bedding areas. You will see this on any evening driving around in pheasant country. The birds will begin to move. You'll see them flying through the air from field to field. You'll also see them come out to gravel roads to pick rock and that is another reason you may just see more birds.

In the morning it is the exact opposite. You can still catch the birds on roost.

In the afternoon a lot of the birds will find a corn field and just sit right in the middle. This will be more apparent when the corn is cut. Find a field that is cut and that holds birds on a regular basis, pull over and glass it with some binocs. They sit out there all day and eat corn, drink tea and play pheasant games....that was the joke whem I was younger. But its the truth. You'll see them running around having a good 'ol time. You probably have never seen it before because the corn is still there or you've never looked.

So that is why a lot of guys who live out in those birdy areas choose to only hunt the first and last hour. If it is your back yard it makes sense rather than bust your but all day.

[Buster]

Tim's explanation is right on the money from my experience. I can't tell you the number of times I've worked fields across from standing corn and on my way out late in day have had birds flying back into grasslands right in front of me in large groups. Nice to know I wasted the last 2 hours/miles. 

[Mayfly]

Sometimes ya think it would be nice to have a blind set up in the crp just waiting for them!

 

[Synic]

My father (retired) has changed his hunting habits to match this basic scenario and has great luck.

Original article:  http://www.dccl.org/information/pheasant/pheasant_hunting_basics.htm

Daily Movements Back up

Hunters can greatly improve their success by understanding the ring neck's daily movement pattern. Cover that typically holds lots of pheasants in morning and evening, for instance, may hold only a straggler or two in midday. Although movement patterns vary in different habitat types, they’re fairly consistent in a given area, barring bad weather or exceptionally heavy hunting pressure. The most common scenario is as follows:

Just after sunrise, pheasants fly or walk out of their roosting cover, stopping to pick up gravel on the way to their morning feeding area, which is usually some type of crop field. After feeding for an hour or two, they move to loafing cover, such as the grassy fringe of a crop field, or they return to their roosting cover. They go out to feed again about an hour before sunset, then settle back into roosting cover for the night.

In most cases, daily movements take place within a surprisingly small area, usually no more than one-half mile in diameter. In some habitats, however, ring necks move even less than that. For instance, they may stay in a "dirty" (weedy) cornfield all day, because there’s plenty of food and ground cover. Similarly, they may stay in their roosting area all day, if there are enough weed seeds to provide adequate food.

A period of extreme cold or a heavy snow may keep the birds holding tight in dense cover for several days. Heavy dew, however, will keep birds out of the grass. On a warm winter day, they often stay out all day long, scratching for food. When hunting pressure is very heavy, they spend more time in thick cover than they otherwise would.