On the west wall of my basement, just above my cluttered desk and to the left of my thermometer collection, stands a grouping of 8x10 photos that my family has unpretentiously dubbed the "wall of fame." The wall chronicles many highlights of our days in the field, and occasionally I glance at the glass-housed memories and drift back to days gone by.

Dakota pheasant hunters Dale Simpson and Mike Hall take a break on the tailgate after a late-season hunt that yielded good action and birds in the bag. The period immediately after a light-to-moderate snowfall is a great time to be in the field. Photo by R.A. Simpson.

In the mix of individual pictures and memories, I can readily point to several periods or times that, although some may have escaped the camera, tend to stand out from the others. For instance, the 1977 fall flight when scores upon scores of northern mallards rained down upon my home waters like a gift from heaven. Or the unbelievable largemouth bass bite on Jones Lake in the early 1990s when 5-pound-plus fish were commonplace. There also are the archery seasons of 1993 and '94, when there seemed to be a good buck around every corner on my father-in-law's farm.

And of course, there's the latest addition to the old memory bank -- the late-season pheasant hunting witnessed in the Dakotas this past year. Quite honestly, I've never seen anything like it. If you were allowed the privilege to take part in that winter bonanza, it's a memory that will not soon be forgotten.

Last year's late-season hunting was beyond the scope of imagination; many shells were spent in its celebration as pheasant numbers charted into unknown realms. It was probably the only time you will ever hear me say that late-season hunting was . . . well -- easy! I really hate to use that word in regard to winter longtails, but there were so many birds stuffed into the Dakotas last winter that even late in the season it was more of a shoot than a hunt.

I remember working a half-section of heavy CRP just after Christmas that was so full of birds, my wife's cousin said he couldn't drive around to block with the pickup windows down, or he would have everyone's limit inside the truck before the hunt even began.

As we enter into the final innings of the 2008 pheasant season, having passed the halfway mark in both the North and South Dakota seasons, prospects for another book-busting year look very good. Will hunting be easy? Probably not. These are still late-season longtails, and we all know how tough a bird those are compared to the shortspurs we were chasing two months ago. That was a barrel shoot compared to the hunt that is upon us. While tactics and locations have to be amended, there's still an amazing amount of roosters out there for those of us who love to chase them.

Pheasant hunting has entered a new era in the Dakotas. Populations and harvests are at levels seen only in their dreams by a few veteran hunters. With current CRP and habitat issues now on the front burner, we are all holding our breath for the future. But for right now, the birds are here and my advice is to enjoy the good hunting while you can.

Besides, who ever thought that we'd be talking about a harvest number close to a million birds in North Dakota? And South Dakota doubled that tally with a harvest of more than 2 million birds last year! For most of us, pheasant hunting has never been better, and although many birds have already hit the deck this season, plenty of ringnecks still remain.

I love late-season hunting. Don't get me wrong -- opening day is magical on the prairie, but after that, give me some cold weather, a cattail slough and a rocks-in-the-pocket wind, and I'm all smiles. That's when the real hunt begins.