The reality of hunting today is that many sportsmen are faced with a simple choice: Head for a preserve or forget bird hunting altogether. The best preserves offer action that's truly close to chasing wild birds.

A friend of mine who lives in the Midwest looks down his nose at the mere mention of shooting game birds on a commercial hunting preserve. I find his attitude to be rather odd since he thinks nothing of hunting pheasants in South Dakota, where pen-raised birds have been introduced among wild birds. My friend also fishes in streams full of trout that were put there by fish hatchery personnel.

Even with all this said, I envy him for his attitude toward hunting preserves and wish I too could hunt nothing but birds that are born and grow up in the wild. I am quite fortunate in that I enjoy opportunities to travel to other states and even other countries in pursuit of various game birds, but just as often I either hunt a commercial game farm closer to home--or I don't hunt at all.

Hunting preserves have become increasingly popular during the past few decades as bits and chunks of rural America have disappeared under the foot of money-hungry developers, many of whom could care less about the preservation of anything that has to do with nature. Rabbit and quail coverts my father and I hunted only 20 years ago now lie buried deeply beneath housing developments.

Commercial hunting preserves are licensed by the states in which they operate, and their seasons usually run from the first of October through March of the following year. The six-month season enables hunters to spend additional days in the field before and after regular hunting seasons. About 1,500 commercial wingshooting preserves operate from coast to coast in America, and they range in size from less than 100 acres to hundreds and even thousands of acres.

Most states have hunting preserves; some have more than others. Texas is near the top with 80 places to shoot while other states such as California, South Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, Wisconsin, New York and South Dakota have upwards of half that many.

Other big hunting preserve states are Iowa, Alabama, Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota, Texas Missouri and Mississippi. The states with the fewest number of preserves are Hawaii and Delaware, with one each.

There are those who believe hunting preserves thrive only in states where there are lots of people and very little open land for them to hunt on, but residents of states such as Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, North Dakota, Idaho and Oklahoma know this is far from true. For a state-by-state listing of wingshooting destinations throughout America, see a publication called Black's Wing & Clay (800/260-7323).

Having shot every type of game bird offered by hunting preserves from coast to coast, I have come to a number of conclusions. One is the fact that the quality of shooting ranges from extremely poor to quite close to the real thing.

Some game farms cater to lazy or inexperienced hunters who go out and shoot tame quail that have to be kicked from the grass by their guide. Even then the birds fly no more than a few yards before landing. The shooters blaze away and go home happy if they hit a couple of birds.

Some hunting preserves operate on a high-production basis, and management strives to make everything as convenient and as easy as possible so they can run the maximum number of bodies through each day. Birds are planted only minutes before the "hunt" begins and are often shot close to the vehicles used to haul the shooters to the field.

I suppose such operations have their place in the scheme of things, but experienced wingshooters are well advised to avoid them like the plague.

A smaller percentage of the game farms across America offer shooting capable of challenging the most experienced of hunters. Those places do such an outstanding job of simulating the real thing, I have to keep reminding myself of where I am.