"In the late season," Kruse added, "the pockets of cover are usually holding more than one bird, and if one flushes before you get in range, they'll all go. It can be frustrating when you see 15 hens and a half-dozen roosters flush well out of range because you were scolding your dog, trying to hold it back."

Kruse never passes up a parcel of cover no matter how small or sparse it looks.

"You never know," he said. "In the late season, you never want to overlook those little dime-sized sloughs. They may be only 25 yards in diameter, but there may be a half-dozen hens and a few roosters hiding there because no one has pushed them out of this obscure piece of cover. If you've been walked by 100 times, yet never been stepped on, where are you going to hide?"

So how should hunters proceed during the late season to ensure success? From the start, hunters need to consider their surroundings, according to Kruse.

"When I first walk up to the field, I look at what the land is offering up," he said. "I always want the wind in my face and will go to great lengths to hunt under that situation. When I just can't get the wind directed right at me, I consider this an adverse situation, but there are times when I have to hunt with the wind at my back, so in a situation like this I know there are going to be less opportunities to shoot because pheasants will be flushing farther out and getting out of range too quickly.

"But there are always birds that flush in range, and if you have a decent dog, you will get some shooting opportunities even when you can't work a piece like it should be worked," Kruse continued. "At least that's the way it is when you have plenty of birds like we do now. When the numbers are down and the hunting is tough, you have to work a spot with everything in your favor if you want to drop some roosters. These days, with our good bird numbers, you're going to have more opportunities, even in the late season."

So the ideal setup for a late-season hunt, as far as Kruse is concerned, is a field that is from 40 to 100 yards wide where you can have eight hunters with a dog on each side of each hunter. So four dogs in front of eight hunters, and if there are enough bodies, you have two hunters posting the end of the field. But what if a dog gets onto a running rooster? Not everyone is going to chase that dog.

"True," said Kruse. "You don't want to get out in front of the other hunters, so everyone picks up the pace a little so you can let the dog run the rooster a little while, about 20 to 30 seconds. That's usually all it takes to pinch a rooster with that many guys and dogs. If the bird gets too far out, bring the dog back and re-form the line. I super-stress safety when I'm in the field. You'll either catch up with that bird early or you're going to have to catch up to him later. Never jeopardize your safety by getting out in front of the other hunters. That's just too dangerous."