Anyone hunt pheasants in El Centro area?

R

Rick Zisch

New member
My dogs are itching to grab a few pheasants. Anybody heard much about the possiblities around the El Centro region? Are farmers open to approach? Opinions about the available pro outfits appreciated also. I wouldn't mind the caged approach just so they don't require stepping on to flush. Thx.
 
I thought dfg has almost like a walk in program down their on some farm land that they stock with pheasants. There are also a few WA's and NWR's in that area with wild birds, San Jacinto, Salton Sea, and Sonny Bono I believe. Good luck, let us know if you find any.:cheers:
 
Imperial Valley does have some native birds. I've seen them. . . but I haven't during the pheasant season. I won't hunt that area until I can find the time and motivation to really get to know the area and the people who work there in hopes of getting some good private land to hunt on. I know the farmers can be approachable if you meet with them at the right time. I had a neighbor who found his way into the graces of those in the know. It gets hit hard down there on the opening weekend of any season. The DWU fields are a zoo on opening weekends, they get planted, I wouldn't bother until later and during the week. The ditches hold native birds, both pheasant and quail. But you'll have to work for them. From what I've heard it's also pretty good for pheasant just north of Calexico.

Triple D ranch provides hunts for plants and natives from what I understand. I haven't tried them myself yet. Their reviews are good from what I've seen.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I mean to hunt pheasants down there and it can be productive if one does their homework. It's just that the quail hunting is so good closer to home for me. The IV is a change of scenery and pace for me someday. I just might make it down there this year but I have a feeling it will be hard to gain access at this point of the year.

San Jacinto area in Riverside is closer for me and I'm planning on getting an angle started in that area. . . when I don't want to drive a bit further to hunt quail and chukar. I need to call the DFG at San Jacinto to see how the pheasants and snipe are doing there this year. At some point in the last couple of years they didn't even have a pheasant hunt except for juniors. But that was an exception.
 
Rick,

Here's the link to the map of the upland fields in the Imperial Valley, which will be planted with pheasants by Desert Wildlife Unlimited and open to the public free of charge during the CA wild pheasant season (might be a few doves flying around as well):

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/uplandgame/docs/2012_GAME_FIELDS_LETTER.pdf

As mentioned above, it can be a zoo on the opener. Although I have never hunted these fields, I imagine hitting them up after the opener -- perhaps even during the weekdays when there is less pressure -- might be something worthwhile, especially if you have good pheasant dogs (which the vast majority of casual pheasant hunters do not). There are always a few planted roosters that escape the opening weekend craziness.

I believe these fields are also planted a few times throughout the wild pheasant season. Might be something to add to your to-do list if you can sneak in a weekday hunt -- but probably don't want to rely on the fields exclusively as your only option. Mix in a trip to one of the nearby wildlife areas for wild birds and perhaps a visit to a well-run preserve -- and that collectively sounds like a good time.
 
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I'm going to head down there on my birthday Nov 13. It's on the Tuesday after opening weekend. I'm gonna hit the cover along the ditches with my dog, he loves going through the nastiest cover. I just really hope the snake training I gave him works! :eek:
 
El Centro Pheasants

I finally got to try out a place in El Centro that actually was much better than I had expected. Perfect cover for birds. Very few other hunters and lots of room. My short hairs had a great time and we've already booked another weekend. If you get a chance you guys should check out this guy's outfit. Sounds like this is only the second season of operation (capheasanthunts.com)

Rick
 
Rick Zisch said:
I finally got to try out a place in El Centro that actually was much better than I had expected. Perfect cover for birds. Very few other hunters and lots of room. My short hairs had a great time and we've already booked another weekend. If you get a chance you guys should check out this guy's outfit. Sounds like this is only the second season of operation (capheasanthunts.com)

Rick
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Talked with the gent on the webpage before at Bass Pro - sometime towards the end of summer. Seems like a good guy. Seems like he loves hunting pheasant. Glad to hear that you had a great time out there. How were the birds themselves? They're planted, right?
 
El Centro Pheasants

The ones we hunted were planted but had great tails and looked and flew remarkably like wild birds. He does have an area for all wild birds too that we may try next time to see if we can tell any difference. I agree this guy is very enthusiastic about pheasants and has quite a bit of pheasant hunting experience/knowledge about the western US. His dogs are pretty amazing too (they found 4 birds mine couldn't).

Rick
 
GunninIt said:
Talked with the gent on the webpage before at Bass Pro - sometime towards the end of summer. Seems like a good guy. Seems like he loves hunting pheasant. Glad to hear that you had a great time out there. How were the birds themselves? They're planted, right?
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That's good to hear. I would love to hear reports about his native bird hunts too sometime. Regardless, I going to try that outfit at some point in the near future. It seems like everyone's been happy with it so far.

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I went out to hunt the DWU fields last Tuesday (11/13) for a while in hopes of successfully accomplishing a clean up hunt. No luck in two of the fields we hunted. We did end up seeing one rooster pheasant in Wister's Finny Ramer unit right on the edge next to an alphalpha field. Couldn't hunt it of course because Wister closed the pheasant hunting again this year.

There were also lots of Gambles quail in irrigation ditches right next to the paved roads. I did take the dog out along there to push them in so we could hunt them. That worked for one covey where I managed a double before they headed back to the road. But the other covey hunkered down in a thick bush that even my dog couldn't get into. They wouldn't move. We could see them just feet away as they sat there and looked at us. I was rather impressed with their bearing. They simply refused to flush while my dog ran around and around those bushes looking for a way in. They won my respect!
 
i grew up in el centro and unless too much has changed the big secret on cagey wild roosters is that they roost in mexico and migrate north to eat. go west of calexico along the border. look for brushy land in mex. opposite alfalfa on the north. no hotspot, its miles of area all the way to open desert. oh and go with #2 shot and a full choke after opening day cause you are not going to get real close.
 
I was checking out Capheasanthunts.com the other day. Looks like a pretty nice preserve there in El Centro.
 
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