Just spent four days hunting. The most birds I have ever seen and I have not missed a year since 1997. It was unreal and with the number of hens I saw, a mild winter makes next year promising as well.
If I wanted to hunt at sun up, prior to pheasant hunting, and I generally knew where they were, how would I hunt them that early? Where would they be 30 minutes after sun up? Is there a daily migration to food, water, etc?
We hunt within 3 miles of a guy that releases birds and see or kill maybe 1 tame a year. He doesn't release on the scale a major operation would and road hunters from Sioux Falls get most of them.
We clean birds at the end of each day, leave whole with leg intact, and ice. We transport home, wash birds thoroughly, cut off leg, and vacuum seal for freezing...