Exactly Battue.
Our spot wasn't so good on Thursday morning. The birds were congregated in a tree belt on neighboring property, and only a few found on our side of the fence. My only shot of the day was a rooster that erupted between me and my Labrador, somewhere between 8-12 feet away from me. I recovered from my initial surprise, let him get out to 10-15 yards and folded him up with one shot. I saw a few other single birds, mostly hens, and had no other shots presented. My partners each took a bird as well. One was dogless and while in a pinch point that the birds frequently use, shot a bird flying towards him which was put up elsewhere, probably by a hawk. The other had a pointer, who moved by his reckoning, about 200 birds from a low spot in the grass (The dog probably bumped one or two birds, which by their flight caused the rest to burst out of cover. It was incredibly still Thursday morning.) and he was able to scratch one down from some distance and get it in hand.
Birds will do what they will do, generally based on numbers and tactics and weather and cover and pressure both over time and at the moment. This "late season, educated birds need tighter chokes and heavier shot" is all simply theorizing. My own experience is that late season pheasants are more frequently found holding tight in heavy cover. Then again, I actually go pheasant hunting on average a couple of times a week from September through March, instead of sitting in a recliner thinking about it.
IC and #6's will do the best for the most, day in and day out. Very very few people can shoot well enough to make the longer shots consistently, and anyone who can doesn't need advice on it from the 'fire.
