For some Minnesota pheasant hunters, the season begins when the last four weeks of the season is all that remains.

By then, the heavy hunting pressure that was common during the early season has dwindled considerably, right along with the amount of available cover. Crops are picked, fields are plowed for next year, and the only decent habitat during the late season is what has been protected by CRP, CREP, WMAs and WPAs.

It's great that we have CRP and CREP protecting habitat that produces more pheasants, but only the hunters with the right connections have the ability to hunt the private property where those federal programs are providing habitat. Fortunately, the hunters on the private property are pushing birds, and some are going to be pushed back into the public hunting areas, and in the late season when these spots aren't getting constantly pounded by hunters, those who choose to venture out onto public hunting lands can have some good hunting.

Of course, the roosters using the public hunting cover won't be easy to flush within range. Which is why many hunters don't find the late season appealing. Too much of a challenge. Too much walking and not enough shooting. Birds flushing too far out. And it can get cold or snowy, and that can make for a miserable hunt if the birds aren't flying or are flushing out of range.

But then there are always the hard-core hunters. With each step, there is the potential to flush a rooster in range. Every pocket of grass and every sliver of cover have the potential to hold a rooster, and as long as the season is open, anytime is a good time to be chasing pheasants.

"Hunters who get out in December realize that those roosters are going to act a lot differently than they were earlier in the season," said Steve Kruse, one of those hard-core hunters who pushes birds right up until the bell rings to end the fight on the last day of the season.

"People say those pheasants are getting smarter," Kruse said, "but they're just getting conditioned. During those last few weeks of the season, the stupid little things you did to spook birds earlier you could get away with and still shoot some young first-year roosters. Those birds are gone, and the roosters that are left won't allow you to make those same mistakes."

Those same mistakes consist of pushing a field with the wind at your back, or slamming vehicle doors when you get to your hunting spot. Some hunters, like Kruse, believe holding the dog back in the late season will mean less roosters flushing within shooting range.

"You can tell when a dog has picked up the scent and the bird is running," Kruse said. "The dog will pick up some speed and follow the zigzag pattern that bird is running in, and you need to stay with that dog, within reason. You don't want to be running after the dog. But you don't want to hold the dog back, either, like you might do earlier in the season when a lot of the roosters are holding tight. In the late season, the roosters are the runners, and the only way you get them to flush in range is to let the dog have a little bit more freedom to chase the bird. And stay with the dog."

Kruse said the problem with a pheasant flushing out of range is that it's usually not just one bird that goes -- it's a bunch.