By Marc Murrell

January marks not only the first month in a new year, but also the last month in which you can chase Kansas' pheasants.

Chasing them is the easy part; catching them is a whole other story. They've been pursued high and low for a month and a half, and by New Year's Day the dumb ones are in freezers or someone's favorite stir-fry recipe. The remaining roosters have Carl Lewis thighs, and they put those muscles in high gear at the first sight or sound of danger.

But hunters willing to go after these track stars can still manage to bag some birds, and even shoot limits of the colorful cocks. Here are a few tips to put more birds in your bag before our 2004-05 season comes to a close.

I'd neglected pheasants most of the season, instead hunting waterfowl relentlessly. Duck season having closed, I decided to give the upland birds one final shot, and so I loaded up my black Lab, Magnum, and headed to a CRP tract nearly a quarter-section in size.

As I walked down the middle of the field, Magnum zigzagged in front of me. He'd get a little birdy and take off on a tangent, and I'd call him back in the direction I wanted to go, figuring the bird was hundreds of yards ahead and way off course. We flushed a few birds, all well out of range. The good news was most of them simply flew to the outer reaches of the same field and settled back down into the thick grass.

A bit baffled, I paused for a rest as I watched my Lab take off on another jaunt. That little trip shortly flushed a rooster that would have been within shotgun range had I followed the dog. The look he gave me after hearing no shot made me think I was the dumber of the two of us, so I decided to just follow his lead for a change.

His game of follow-the-leader was impressive. In just a few short hours he managed to flush dozens of pheasants within shotgun range. Unfortunately, many of them were all brown - exciting, but still illegal. It wasn't long before we started working the edges of the cover, and when he'd get hot on a trail near the perimeter, we would try to push the running bird to a corner or an area where thick grass met sparse. The results were usually a tight-sitting flush and it wasn't long before a four-rooster limit lent welcome heft to my game bag.

Kansas shotgunners can collect their share of ringnecks late in the season, but not in "easy" spots. Smart wingshooters will opt to hit the thickest cover in their hunting areas first. Photo by Marc Murrell

Pheasants in this scenario will typically do one of two things. The first I experienced first-hand as a .410-toting 9-year-old three decades ago: flushing wild. My dad and I, along with a family friend, had just pushed hundreds of pheasants into a nearby field that still had a big strip of standing corn. The field had flooded during harvest, and the farmer didn't bother with what was left.

I had little idea what was in store as my dad took me to one end with specific instructions to stay right there. They went to the other end to start walking. A box of .410 shells caused my vest to sag as I quivered with the excitement of being left to fend for myself and the thought of shooting my first pheasant.

It wasn't long before pheasants started rocketing past me. I started shooting a single-shot and reloading as fast as I could. I never touched a feather until I nearly emptied my pockets. Dozens of birds had flown past me when one finally managed to run into a few stray pellets and colorfully crumpled in the nearby stubble. Even with a couple of shells left in my pocket, and more birds filing past, I couldn't take my eyes off my prize. I never fired another shot.

My dad arrived on the scene worried that, with all the shooting, I had killed my limit, his limit and our friend's limit, too. He could only laugh as he looked at the pile of empty hulls from the barrage and I proudly pointed to my first rooster.

The second possibility may work to a hunter's advantage, too: If a pheasant detects a blocker's presence, it may double back on its own track and get pinned. Hunters should proceed slowly and methodically, pausing briefly to startle any tight-sitting roosters into flight. In this case, a close-working bird dog is a huge asset that can provide prime opportunities for easy shots as the birds hold until kicked.

Although wearing blaze orange isn't required for pheasant hunting, it's a good idea, particularly in a blocking situation. Wear a cap or vest for maximum visibility.