Shooting pheasants from cotton fields

1pheas4

1pheas4

Moderator
This video moves a bit fast but it's goes to show you how versicle Ring-necks are. These are wild pheasants in Mexico/bumped from cotton fields. Nice site. Even better to know pheasants are thriving in areas south of the border.:thumbsup:

http://youtu.be/kbEvju51FaM


P.S.--mods; I know this video is tied to an add so remove this thread if necessary. Just trying to pick things up a bit around here:)
 
Man a mexicali hunt is definitely on my list. I've talked with these guys they are pretty conservation minded. Mexicos limit is 8 roosters a day but these guys limit clients to 4. They said its possible to limit on pheasant (4), quail (20), and doves (30) each day if you like hunting hard.
 
quail hound said:
Man a mexicali hunt is definitely on my list. I've talked with these guys they are pretty conservation minded. Mexicos limit is 8 roosters a day but these guys limit clients to 4. They said its possible to limit on pheasant (4), quail (20), and doves (30) each day if you like hunting hard.
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Do you know when their season is? To be honest a pheasant hunt in Mexico never did anything for me but it would be something different. I just looked at another video and there too they're flushing/shooting all wild roosters. Tempting my friend;)
 
Cotton stubble used to be where it was at here also. I here stories of big SD style drives in the cotton and piles of roosters. Now the plow follows the pickers in the field.
 
Their season starts in September if I remember correctly and runs through January I believe.
 
quail hound said:
Their season starts in September if I remember correctly and runs through January I believe.
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How's it work with dogs and guns? Do you bring your own or use theirs? Sorry about all the questions. The video got me thinking a bit:D
 
They take care of all the paperwork for you if you wish to bring your own guns and dogs.

You might be interested to know that the mexicali birds are said to be the purest Chinese stock in North America. They were directly imported by Chinese workers building the railroads and have been no other releases down there since.
 
quail hound said:
They take care of all the paperwork for you if you wish to bring your own guns and dogs.

You might be interested to know that the mexicali birds are said to be the purest Chinese stock in North America. They were directly imported by Chinese workers building the railroads and have been no other releases down there since.
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I believe it. I was watching another video from down there. The birds fly very strong, very fast. It's a beautiful site! I'd post the video but I don't want to push much luck with add videos. lol

A wild pheasant hunt down there may be something I'm going to do in the near future. Particularly if the Dakota's have another down year.
 
Great video and post!

I would have never thought birds would be in cotton fields?
Is there any edible part of a cotton plant for phez?

Maybe it offers excellent cover due to the briar like thorns.....?

Would love to travel there!
 
HighBrass68 said:
Great video and post!

I would have never thought birds would be in cotton fields?
Is there any edible part of a cotton plant for phez?

Maybe it offers excellent cover due to the briar like thorns.....?

Would love to travel there!
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From what I understand they still farm "old school" down there relying on cultivation nor than spraying leaving a buffet of weed seeds even in a cotton field. Also there is usually a grain field near by but i believe the cotton stubble provides the type of mid day loafing cover pheasants love.
 
Let's see if I can sneak one more in here before the mod's crack down on me:D

Towards the end of this video the birds really get flushing. All wild birds.:)

http://youtu.be/rwTePCOv3-s
 
I hope the mods step in soon. I don't know if I can take watching any more of these videos. Shooting pigeons for the dog just isn't cutting it. :D

Come January, Mexico will probably seem pretty inviting.
 
Speaking of the dog, I didn't notice any 4 legged kind...unless I just got caught up in the action. Be tough to get the running cripples. That was some tall habitat, I'd think twice about being a driver with all them blockers. For me it's all about the dog(s).
 
Everything on YouTube is advertising.:)
If not direct it's YouTube advertising soooo...........?

In the video I see corn, wheat, sorghum and Cotton. Looks like great cover. Wonder where the pheasants nest?
Cotton seed is a great food source and is widely used as a livestock supplement in the USA.
Winter weather would not be a factor down there neither would be Spring Storms. Dry climate works well for pheasants as long as there's a consistent water source. [notice the irrigation]
I believe these are wild pheasants, bet there's plenty of scrub land type habitat in the non irrigated areas, got to have some good nesting for that many birds.
AND, bet there's some serious predator control.:cheers:

Make sure you guys take a lot of pics, videos, notes of you trip, and have a blast in Mexico.:thumbsup:
 
I asked about nesting cover mnmt and I was told they have a fallow rotaion in their cropping leaving ample nesting cover each year.
 
quail hound said:
I asked about nesting cover mnmt and I was told they have a fallow rotaion in their cropping leaving ample nesting cover each year.
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QH, just so those who don't know what that is, can you get into some detail about "fallow rotation" and what it is that they are doing to keep their wild bird #'s up. All in the name of educating the masses. lol;)

Thanks brother:thumbsup:
 
Basically their rotation includes wheat, sorghum, Sudan grass, cotton, sunflower, safflower (to a lesser extent), corn, livestock grazing and a full year of fallow (no crops just left to grow wild). I don't remember exactly how often but basically after a field had been cropped for X amount of years they will let live stock in to graze the crop residue then till it in the winter and leave it to grow wild for a full year until they plant it again the following spring or winter.

Someone here with a bit more farming knowledge than I can probably explain and elaborate on the subject.
 
quail hound said:
Basically their rotation includes wheat, sorghum, Sudan grass, cotton, sunflower, safflower (to a lesser extent), corn, livestock grazing and a full year of fallow (no crops just left to grow wild). I don't remember exactly how often but basically after a field had been cropped for X amount of years they will let live stock in to graze the crop residue then till it in the winter and leave it to grow wild for a full year until they plant it again the following spring or winter.

Someone here with a bit more farming knowledge than I can probably explain and elaborate on the subject.
Click to expand...

Thanks for explaining QH. It's nice/neat to know people still practice farming this way. I had no idea it was still in use.:confused: Thanks again:cheers:
 
For the last 30 or 40 years the prevailing wildlife literature said that wild pheasants are dependent on cereal grains to strive in the wild, and that the wild pheasants can't survive well in hot or humid warm weather and minerals like calcium are needed for their survival. This theory is also taught in wildlife management courses.

The healthy wild and growing Mexicali pheasant population basically debunks or disprove those theories. This clearly shows that wild pheasants can survive and reproduce in other warn or southern parts of the country.

QH, gave us some great background information on the Mexicali pheasant and why they are successful. The links below give more information on that area:

www.finandfeathersafaris.com/Baja/Program2.htm

huntandgofish.com/?adventures=hunters-only

If the Chinese workers came from southern China near Shanghai which is on the 30th parallel (the 30th parallel is the same as Mexicali or Houston, Texas a warm climate) the ringneck pheasants they brought over to Mexicali may have been genetically conditioned to deal with a warm climate. We need more authentic wild ringneck (P. c.torquatus) wild directly from southern China and directly from the bush.

Now back to cotton, I can't tell you how many times I have shot at pheasants over cotton (both harvested and unharvested) in the Texas panhandle.
Wild pheasants need undisturbed nesting cover (more than cereal grain) for the hens for about 40 days in the spring time or early summer or late summer, a variety of crops can provide that window of nesting opportunity.

In Mexicali, 65 degree ground temps are reached in late Feb. or early March and cotton can be planted by the end of Feb. and by June cotton is growing and providing cover and an abundance of insects. In addition to that, the week to three week old chicks need cover and insects and that is where cotton plays a big part in wild pheasant production, the fat juice worms and insects the cotton produces when chicks need protein for growth.
There are parts of the corn belt with low pheasant numbers and parts of the panhandle with lots of cotton and a surprising number of wild pheasants.

Look carefully at the background of the main photo taken at an outfitter in Tulia, Texas, notice the cotton field in the background:

http://www.tulecreek.com/ins_outs.asp
 
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