While most experienced hunters prefer using dogs rather than calling pheasants, there are a couple of enthusiasts who enjoy taking down these birds by using various calling procedures. Some use hawk calls (make the pheasant crouch down) and then wait for a flush.

Calling should be done in the late season as this is when the wild roosters will run on you if you do not have a dog. If you don't plan on hunting alone, it is recommended that you focus on fence lines by walking them with one of you on each side.

By doing so, the pheasants will most likely run down the fence line in front of you and your hunting buddy.

Even if you will not get the same results as you would do with a dog, this still is a viable method.

Some say that calling using a cock pheasant call is not very efficient due to the fact that even in the situation when the pheasants actually answer to the call, you will obtain nothing more than knowing where they are as they will not come towards you at all.

Pheasant calling should be done at specific times throughout the day, like in the late morning hours and one hour before dark. In some cases they will respond enough times in order to triangulate on them as long as they are not spooked. The situation applies to stocked pheasants, not wild birds. Don't expect a pheasant to respond to a call just like ducks do. Using a mallard tone might do wonders out there on the hunting field as it sounds just about the same as a cockbird, in order to convince the birds to come towards you.

Some recommend using a short reed pheasant call as it is considerably more versatile in comparison to a regular flute and provides great help when flagging and using decoys. It is advisable using a pheasant call whenever you are scouting in a new area early in the morning as you will save a lot of time that you would normally spend for finding the area where the birds truly are. Earlier in the season is also a good time to use it as there is no snow for tracks to be seen and only by calling you can figure out where the birds are hiding.

Avoid using a pheasant call whenever there are other hunters around because they will most likely come running if you get the rhythm and sound just about right. Whenever you use a pheasant call, do not overdo it - you should give one-two squeaks every five minutes or so in order to get the attention of the birds. A poorly blown hawk cry in most cases is nothing more than an alarm for the birds so practice before heading out to the hunting field.