Theses birds are wild animals and by this time of year they have seen it all before. In situations where the birds are in sparse cover or in areas that have a smaller area of concentrated cover around plowed fields, birds likely will not hold long enough to get a shot-the cover isn t thick enough to offer the birds security. Even without the crunchy snow odds are any hunter would not have been able to get close enough to get a shot off. Once December s snow falls, birds that are observed near fencerows or thickets around sparse cover are difficult birds not to spook. The best chance to get a shot at these birds is to place another hunter on the escape route.
Posting is always easy when the area is adjacent to a nearby road and the walk isn t very far.
The willingness to post a spot, many times comes down to who s got the freshest legs or who didn t stay up until three a.m. in the morning on Friday night. Some hunters simply can t hoof it through a quarter mile of knee deep snow, they ve been relying on the 4x4 to get to those spots and are a little out of shape. One trick to posting a spot is to determine which side will be the drive side and which is going to post. The choice shouldn t be based on who gets there first, but determined by which side of the cover allows a concealed approach to the pheasant holding cover. Naturally they re gone, which isn t a surprise to anyone, post or no post they fly away.