I live in central texas and am trying to turn my ranch into our little upland game preserve. So first question is; in central texas is it legal to hunt pheasants all year around? i know there is still a season for quail but im not sure about pheasant. Also any guidance on habitat for quail and pheasants would be great

There is a season for pheasant as well but if these are preserve birds then that's a different ball game.

You can apply to Parks & wildlife for a game preserve license. I dont believe they are hard to get. Our Bird dog club usually has to get a temporary license to have a field trial. For the pen raised birds that is... As for habitat LOTS of tall grassland food plots along with trees. Your mortal enemies will be hawks and racoons and such. They see pen raised Phez as candy.

You can legally hunt quail on your property anytime, as long as they are banded. During quail season, if you bag MORE than a limit, they must be banded. A preserve license would be needed if you were charging people to hunt there. The game warden in my county gave me this information personally. To be safe, I would contact the warden in your area and check with him. Pheasant should be the same. There are many people on here that can give you advice about establishing birds on your property, if that is what you would like to do. It is difficult at best. I've tried it but with little or no success. For me, it's going to be put and take. Good luck and be safe.

ReelTexan is correct all birds that are hunted on a preserve that are also game birds must be banded. More especially if more than a limit is taken. On our 1st field trial a GW did come out and inspect all the Phez we had and all shot birds for bands. I am positive if one was missing from a bird we would have been fined. He was a nice guy though, he actually hung out and watched the trial.

Here is a link that gives you the RIGHT info about the preserve license, it has nothing to do with charging someone to hunt, you must have the preserve license if you are hunting them out of season. This is not a county by county thing, it is state wide.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/lic...Information.pdf

And here is another link for the actual application.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/licenses/media/PWD_348_Private_Bird_Hunting_Area.pdf

Good call CCBIRDDOGMAN