The hunting preserves I've seen have been useful for training dogs, period. The habitat was poor, the birds were poorly conditioned and naive, and the shooting was unsporting. In my opinion they aren't places where you can even start a kid with a clear conscience.

There is a "luxury" preserve in Oregon where they give an award for shooting five different species (the "Little Five" I guess?). All are cative-reared birds. You might as well get an award for buying every item off a shelf at KMart. Pathetic!

As for HomelessjOe's desire to kill raptors to increase game bird populations, it would be about as helpful as killing hunters. We knew you weren't a biologist just by reading your post... you didn't have to tell us! I'm thinking you should try reading a study, just one, about DDT bioaccumulation and persistance, THEN share all you know. Just a thought....