One thing that you will learn over time is that these birds know how to survive. They have a brain smaller than the size of a pencil. If you hunt only one way, or one type of cover you are missing out. There are few things that can be taken for granted with them. Their behavior sometimes seem to change some what from year to year. Last year I hunted our 4 month long season with just a 20 gauge. Cover was a little better than years past and they let you get really close before flushing all season long. Not the typical towards the end of season flush far out and you need need a little more gun.
As for the wind, it's doing all kinds of funny things in sharptail country. Hunt what looks good, if you always hunt with the wind to your back you can get along ways away from the truck. We don't have the luxury of having two vehicles and parking a couple miles away. Some times you would have to walk over 30 miles to the next road. The flat lands hold sharptails, but in my experience the rolling and rougher country hold more.
There's nothing for sure with any of these birds. Visit with others and hear their stories. Everyone of them can help you learn more. As for the biologists, some are good and some are not. I happen to work with quit a few. There's not a lot of them that I would place a lot of confidence in what they say. They spend a little time in the field, but don't get off the beaten path. I find talking to the people that make their living outdoors have the best information, ex.ranchers, rural school bus drivers, guys working in the oilfield. even the spray plane pilots have great info.
One thing I do find interesting is you don't see much about the types of grass that the sharptails prefer. Think that makes much of a difference? I sure do.