I have two RSAs, regulated shooting areas. One is 600 + acres that is managed for max. dove, quail and angus beef production. Three years ago we peaked with over 20 coveys of quail. Had a down turn last two years due to greatly increased hawk predation. Looks like we may have a dozen coveys this year. When I started there were no covies on the farm. Doves number into the hundreds up to maybe a thousand on the roost.

Second area is managed for ducks and crawfish. Strange combination I know. In fact the crawfish seem to be about a break even proposition but the ducks are worth the effort. Last year we shot over 200 ducks on a limited hunting basis. I also suspect another 100 plus were poached by people I grew up with. If we really wanted to max the duck harvest it might go 500, but I do not need to hunt that hard anymore and many of my old friends have no other place to hunt and easily get a few birds. So I pay to release enough birds to give us all a place to go.

But I am the only person I know who has been lucky enough to have this setup. No doubt we all would love to have land of our own to manage and hunt. Unless you started buying land back when Johnson was President it just cost too much to do these days. A few will get land from family but most will have to rely on goodwill and a kind farmer.

To many, both of these areas are preserves. In fact they are tightly controlled hunting areas that allow me to harvest far more birds than I would ever be able of harvesting otherwise. They are safe to hunt and have plenty of fairly wild birds.

When my sons started hunting quail I did not have enough birds for them to hunt so we went to a preserve. We shot 30+ birds in a few hours. Some were very easy and some are still flying. The boys loved it. We will return once each year as longs as I am alive if I can manage it. Success is vital to keeping a young sons interest. I want my sons to be hunters and will put them in as many postive places to hunt as I can. They will come to understand fair chase and the thrill of the outing in time. Right now I want them to enjoy seeing game and seeing their game bags with a few birds in them.

So call it 10% true preserve and 90% RSA.