I go back twice a year. I usually wait until at least the 3rd weekend and then go back in December. I have a guy that charges me $75 a day for access to 800 acres and I rent a fully furnished house for $35 a night per hunter. There still are a few ways to still get good hunting cheap but most of them don't advertise and are by word of mouth, i.e hutterite colonies.The amount of people in the early season is terrible. December is a good time to go out there. Most of the people have forgotton about pheasant hunting with all the holidays around and there money is tied up with Christmas, traveling, etc. Besides it getting very cold in December. By December mast of the birds are bunched up and it is not unusual to see groups of hundreds of birds, but they are very skitish by this time of year. Most places that charge offer a a discount at the end of November into December, that may be a consideration if you want to cut down on the cost. One thing to consider is it takes a trip out there or two to get familiar with the land, Most guys figure what and when to hunt after a trip or two, that's a huge dissadvantage to living so far away. I live in Colorado and am looking for a partner to go out there with me in November to share some gas expense if anybody is interested.