I grew up in South Georgia hunting wild birds. I could go around the woods lines on our farm and find a covey about every 300 yards. Those days are gone. Of course , I had rather hunt wild quail. There is nothing like wild birds getting up in your face and all flying together in one direction in maybe one or two waves. Its easy to get a double or triple because they are generally all flying in the same direction. Released birds will go in as many different directions as there are birds. Wild birds are also easier for me to hit because they fly hard and fast and require a fast swing which I do better than having to wait on released birds.
The reason we shoot released birds is because the wild birds are not available. Fortunately, I get to shoot a few wild birds each year. Typically, I will hunt wild birds for a while and then go shoot the released birds. There are two keys to good released bird hunting. One is getting good birds from a reputable producer and the other is using a flushing dog to make the birds fly. After raising a family in Atlanta I moved back to South Georgia to bird hunt and for the last 20 years I have bird hunted one or two days a week during the season. So I have killed many wild birds and tons of released birds. Being an old South Georgia boy bird hunting is not bird hunting unless it is behind an English Setter or English Pointer, preferably a Riprap (black and white English Pointer). You put the birds out the easiest way. Have someone drive the truck and thrown out 5 to ten at a time at least 300 yards apart. My flushing dog is an English Pointer that in years past I would not have keep. But he is perfect with my other steady dogs because after holding the point for awhile he will push the birds and that combination is about as good as you can do today. When I first moved back to bird hunt I had the birddog of a lifetime, Prince did everything well and on my command would push the birds for me and yet hold the next point until I released him again. Heaven won't be heaven without a Prince there.
I hear people say how much easier it is to kill released birds than wild birds. If you don't shoot well, that may be true, but in my experience it takes less to knock down the smaller wild bird than the larger released bird. A released bird can carry off more shot and die unfound later. Also, my poor swing does better with the fast birds that require shooting before they are behind a tree or bushes. I shoot a 28 gauge side by side and sometimes a 410 or twenty side by side. My gun of choice is the 28 gauge because I like a light weight gun. In my early years it was a 870 Wingmaster pump sixteen gauge or a Browning sweet sixteen. But today it seems unfair to shoot quail with more than a 28 gauge and two shots.
