In my state of Pennsylvania they still have live pigeon shoots. Here in the estern part they are held on private property. They shoot the boxed birds and have the tower shoots for pigeons as well as pheasants. I have watched the boxed pigeon shoot and Destry is right, it is hard, you don't know which of the 9 traps the bird is going to be released and you have to use 2 shots whether it's a kill on the first or not.
The only wild game bird in level flight that is faster than a pigeons speed is a few of the duck species, teal and canvasback.

A squab is a young pigeon that has not left the nest yet, and like any other bird, what they eat determines how they taste.

Shooting barn pigeons is one thing, but shooting at or into a flock of mostly racing pigeons is wrong. Those birds are not to be compared to barn birds. The are raised mostly for racing and a fair amount of money is placed on them. All of these birds are banded, and if they are in a race will have a rubber slip on numbered band on the opposite leg and that goes into a clock when they reach their loft. Some of these birds have been clocked at a mile a minute. Also some of these birds get confused, lost, and wind up with feral pigeons. Some will only stay until they re-coop and some won't go home at all.

David