R.C. - If you say they stock the birds behind houses in WMA who am I to argue; this is MA and there are houses everywhere but if I thought they were releasing birds too close (-500 ft.) to houses I'd be calling the district office. Glad to hear you have a couple of good dogs; hope they qualified and learn to find a few more birds for you next season. I just pal along with my not quite a backyard breed, ill trained llewellin setter a few days a week and shoot lots of birds.
P.S. The Filson comment was meant as a hint to hit the heavy cover where they excel; buy your gear at walmart if you like but my Filsons have served me well for over 30 yrs. and have stopped everything from briars to #6's. If they weren't the best they wouldn't still be in business after about 100 yrs.