My sources tell me that the past few years there has been a good hatch in the NW at harvest. They died due to extreme heat. The tell tale is how they survive over the next two months with heat, food and moisture. Keeps fingers crossed.
I was just out in west central when a friend was finishing up harvest, and they saw a lot of pheasants in the wheat. Some of them were pretty good size also. I saw 2 broods along the edge of one field they were cutting in.