Guns often say to me, “I shot really well at the start of the season, but now I’m not hitting as many birds.” But it may surprise readers to know that a drop in form isn’t uncommon. The reason is simple. The birds become stronger flyers as the season progresses and conditions are tougher, too. December pheasants are at peak performance on the wing and they do take more focus and fieldcraft to shoot consistently — and it’s also worth taking your location into account. The topography of a shoot and the weather conditions can leave a shooter feeling very disheartened.
It’s a difficult thing to stand at the bottom of a steep valley attempting to shoot high pheasants. As