Habitat selection of Elliot's pheasant (Syrmaticus ellioti) was studied in spring, summer, autumn and winter in Guanshan National Nature Reserve, Jiangxi, China, from October 2009 to November 2010 and July to November 2015. Seventeen ecological factors were measured across 126 sites used by S. ellioti by direct observation in six sampling transects. We identified 27 sites used in spring, 46 used in summer, and 53 used in autumn and winter. The results of principal component analysis revealed that the key factors influencing the habitat selection of S. ellioti differed as the seasons changed: six principal components explained 77.54% of the total variance in habitat selection during spring, and the first principal component, accounting for 19.88% of the variance, was positively related to herbage coverage, herbage quantity, and herbage height; seven principal components explained 74.68% of the total variance in habitat selection during summer, and the first principal components, accounting for 14.56% of the variance, was positively related to arbor quantity; and seven principal components explained 78.02% of the total variance in habitat selection during autumn and winter, and the first principal component, accounting for 18.29% of the variance, was positively related to shrub coverage, herbage coverage, herbage species, and herbage quantity. Six ecological factors (vegetation type, slope orientation, slope degree, shrub height, herbage height, and distance to water) had no significant effect on habitat selection (P ≥ 0.05). Other ecological factors showed significant differences between any two seasons, as determined by the X² test and one-way ANOVA. The Fisher linear function discriminated S. ellioti seasonal habitats as follows: F_spring = -0.043×Herbage quantity+0.088×Leaf litter coverage+0.241×Arbor coverage+0.039×Elevation-0.043×Arbor quantity-21.787; F_summer = -0.024×Herbage quantity+0.119×Leaf litter coverage+0.272×Arbor coverage+0.039×Elevation-0.024×Arbor quantity-27.629; F_{autumn and winter} = 0.099×Herbage quantity+0.159×Leaf litter coverage+0.208×Arbor coverage+0.031×Elevation+0.099×Arbor quantity-22.895. The canonical scores revealed that the habitat selection of S. ellioti showed clear differences but also some overlap at different life stages. Stepwise discriminant analysis revealed that herbage quantity, leaf litter coverage, arbor coverage, elevation, and arbor quantity were the critical factors distinguishing habitat selection during the different seasons. The predicted classification accuracy of the model was 80.3%. Availability of food was the primary factor influencing the habitat selection of S. ellioti during the breeding and wintering seasons; however, availability of shelter was the main factor during the brood period.