When it comes to the best counties in Maryland for hunters, Washington and the previously mentioned Garrett and Allegany form the heart of fall turkey hunting. All three counties are mountainous in nature and are interlaced, with plenty of farms that make for excellent fall hunting. All three also contain lots of public land, many of which are open to turkey hunting.

In Allegany County, Warrior Mountain and Billmeyer-Belle Grove wildlife management areas are two of the top public lands.

In Garrett County, Mt. Nebo WMA and Garrett State Forest lands are some top choices, while your top choices in Washington County are Indian Springs, Prather's Neck, and Sideling Hill WMAs.

In addition, all three counties have large state forests that are also open to hunting during the fall season.

The 2008 fall turkey season will take place from Oct. 25 through November in Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties. It is illegal to bait for fall turkeys, use recorded or electronically amplified calls, or motorized or electronic turkey decoys.

By law, any area is considered to be still baited for 10 days after removal of the bait.

Fall turkey hunters may use rifles, handguns, shotguns (loaded with No. 4, 5, 6s, or a solid single projectile), crossbows and vertical bows.

NEW JERSEY
The Garden State utilizes a lottery system for turkey permits. For this year's fall season, hunters had to submit their applications for the between Aug. 1 and Sept. 7. Those picked have already been notified.

This year's season will run from Monday, Oct. 27 through Saturday, Nov. 1. Hunters may harvest a bird of either sex.

The Division of Fish and Wildlife divides the state into 22 hunting zones and issues a certain number of permits for each zone, based on what that zone's turkey population can handle. This system also lets hunters get a look at which zones traditionally produce the best harvest. (Results of each spring and fall hunt are posted on the DFW's Web site.) This enables you to pick a zone that offers you the best chance for success.

There's no doubt that the spring season turkey is more popular than the fall season, mainly because of the fall deer season and all of the other types of hunting available to hunters in autumn. For the past 11 years, New Jersey has offered a fall turkey season, but it's been slow to catch on with hunters, mainly for the reasons just mentioned.

The record fall harvest occurred in 2001, when hunters downed 258 birds -- a total well above the 173 turkeys that hunters have averaged since 1997, when the fall season began.