Anyone ever do this ?
What I would be interested in is raiseing and
releasing them back in the woods .

My father in law used to, as part of it he got some discounts/help from the state. Not sure if the program exists in MA as this was upstate NY. Worth a call to the folks in Franklin however.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

A friend of mine raised two dozen pheasants (I believe he needed a permit, but not positive) and released them on the several hundred acers of farmland and swamp behind my house.

...the owls, hawks, coyotes, and fox ate very well for about a week.

These raised birds were not street smart. They had access to excellent cover but most of the piles of feathers we found were on the outside edges in the sunny spots and out in the middle of wide open fields.:smash:

Does anyone know of a way to raise them to be more cautious?

24 birds isn't that many to begin with...
but obviously better than none...

having watched a few video's by the pro's that
were raising thousands of birds....one thing
they mentioned was never letting the birds see
the people rearing them because it makes them
not afraid of man. Chicks learn to flee danger by
the actions of a good mother and that gets passed down
to future generations.....without the mother is hard to do.