The gorgeous birds were imported from China to the Panhandle almost 100 years ago. Roosters wear a brilliant coat of many colors, topped by a pluming tail up to 2 feet long.
Hens are a drab brown.
They have adapted, expanded their range and are now among the most prized quarry in Texas. The season opens the second Saturday in December and runs for two full weeks, giving hunters 16 days to hunt. But the vast majority of hunting is during those first two days. Hunting is usually in large groups, with a line of hunters and dogs working through grain fields or along brushy fence lines, flushing some pheasants and pushing others toward a line of blocking hunters at the end of the field. Pheasants will often run ahead instead of flushing, until they see the blockers.