Jim Sciascia is the DFW's chief of Information and Education. Concerning the state's fall turkey season, he has his fingers on the pulse of what is happening and where.

"I think the prospects look good this fall for several areas, including the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area (WMA), located in Morris County's THA 7, and Maskells Mill Pond in Salem County (THA 20). In addition, one excellent prospect for the fall includes Sparta Mountain WMA in Sussex County (THA 7).

"I mention Sparta Mountain not only for its sizable turkey population, but also because nearly 1,000 acres were added to this WMA within the last year or so, thus giving turkey hunters much more elbow room and subsequently a much better opportunity for a quality hunt," he said.

Sciascia also wouldn't hesitate to recommend Weldon Brook WMA, also in Sussex County (THA 7). But he said hunters also tend to overlook some great hunting opportunities to the south.

"Though we mentioned Maskells Mill Pond WMA in Salem County, areas like Thundergut Pond WMA in Salem County (THA 20) rarely get the publicity they deserve. That particular WMA has an excellent population of turkeys and is another of the WMAs that have had recent acreage additions. These additions are often in the hundreds of acres," he said.

Additionally, for the last few years, the poult count in and around the region of Indian Springs WMA has been good to excellent. This is one WMA that offers plenty of elbowroom in addition to an excellent population of birds.

How did fall turkey hunters fare last season? Sciascia said a strict accounting is difficult, but overall harvest rates are slightly down.

"The fall harvest for the last two seasons has been down, but a lot of variables can affect the total harvest. For instance, we know fall population estimates have been stable during the last five years. The number of permits issued has also been relatively stable, though they (the permits) did decline last year by about 10 percent.

"Consequently," he said, "we have no way of knowing how many hunters obtained permits as opposed to actually going out and hunting. It's possible that weather for the one-week season could affect harvest totals by keeping hunters out of the woods due to wet or excessively hot conditions. We just don't know how those adverse weather conditions would affect turkey activity patterns."

Finally, Sciascia said New Jersey's only efforts at promoting the fall turkey season are directly connected to turkey hunting in general, including the spring season.

"We (the division) really do not have a program aimed directly at promoting the fall turkey season. The only thing we do is to conduct our annual Youth Turkey Hunting Day where youngsters participate, usually for the first time, in turkey hunting. Thus, one can logically figure that if youngsters decide they like turkey hunting, they will usually take advantage of the fall season as well as spring season," Sciascia said.

Undeniably, if Garden State turkey hunters had their druthers, they'd open the entire state to fall turkey hunting rather than only some of the northern THAs and two in the south.

MARYLAND'S FALL SEASON
Hunters in Maryland were asked whether they wanted to "expand" the fall season from its current one-bird for one-hunter bag limit, and all of them said essentially, "Nah, leave it the way it is."

Unusual? Not according to Bob Beyer, associate director of Maryland's Game Management Program for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

"Unlike New Jersey, when a hunter takes a bird during the fall season, even though there is a one-bird limit, in Maryland, that single bird is subtracted from the total hunters may harvest during the spring season when they can take more than one bird," Beyer said. He added that hunters were also concerned about the potential for over-harvest should the fall season be expanded.