Good stuff here. If there's one rule of thumb I've learned, it's that there are no rules of pheasant hunting set in stone, & if there were, roosters wouldn't play by them anyway.
But you simply MUST be "sneaky around pressured birds", unless you're actively using sound to move them somewhere you're more likely to be able to then put the sneak on them. I define "pressured birds" as birds that have been hunted 1 time. If they've been hunted more than once, they're seasoned veterans. Hunting a spot in a manner the birds haven't seen a 100 times. Minimize talking, & when you must, get close enough to almost whisper. Hand signals to other people & to dogs. Rely on e-collar or quiet-ish whistle to correct dog. And yes, if possible, hunt "into the wind".
Obviously, unless you're an older parent or grandparent, it's virtually impossible to actually walk to AND FROM school, up hill both ways, in a blizzard every day. Similarly, hunting into the wind is impossible all the time. Luckily, "into the wind" is a relative term. I'm VERY content if the wind is a cross-wind, or any angle 90 degrees or less from straight in my face. If zig-zagging will make this possible, then do it. If swinging wide with the wind AROUND (avoiding) a particular spot is reasonable in order to hunt it back "into" the wind, then do it.
But, for me, playing the wind is almost exclusively for sound masking purposes, & the lighter the wind, the more effort I make to play the wind. I've found that my dogs smell birds just as well regardless of wind direction. An experienced dog will figure out how to hunt in many different situations. If the wind is strong enough, say 18-20 or higher, I don't particularly care which direction it's from. The noise of wind rustling the cover & the wind's whoosh itself, will mask walking/hunting noise of both dog & hunter. But....if hunting down-wind....thou shalt not speak, slam your bolt closed, or make any other "unnatural" noises that the wind will carry to the ears of a rooster a mile away. If hunting down-wind in a strong wind, an experienced dog will most likely tend to get out there a little ways & then hunt back roughly toward you, nailing them that way. It's actually kind of fun, because you stand the chance, with a proper flushing dog, to get some birds flushed more or less AT you.
I think for less experienced dogs, though, hunting into the wind is probably easier & more effective. When I have a new dog next fall, I'm sure I'll be reminded of this the hard way.