STATE PARK HUNTS
Another place where the lottery system is used to choose hunters for limited-participation hunts is in state parks. As in other portions of the state, hunting is not permitted in most state parks, which has allowed growing deer numbers to cause problems with habitat. As a result, the lottery system has been employed to select participants for hunts of short duration -- hunts which have been very successful in bringing down the numbers of deer in parks where deer are literally eating themselves, and other wildlife, out of house and home.

One park that has just recently begun opening for limited hunts is Monmouth Battlefield State Park. Located in Monmouth County on the site of the Revolutionary War battle of Monmouth, the park is opened only for the six-day firearms season and a one-day shotgun hunt.

Monmouth Battlefield State Park is mostly open fields and wooded forest on flatlands.

During the 2007 season, a total of 36 deer were downed -- 12 during the six-day firearms seasons and 24 during the one-day shotgun season.

A trio of state parks and forests of interest to muzzleloaders include High Point State Park (DMZ 67), Stokes State Forest (DMZ 1) and Worthington State Park (DMZ 3) -- all three of them located in the mountainous northwestern portion of the state.

Of the three, High Point State Park is the only one that is a lottery hunt, and also the only one that is a DMZ all to itself. High Point lies in the northwesternmost portion of the state and borders New York. It is a rugged area of mountains, interspersed with fields and open areas ideal for the tree-stand hunter.

The 2007 season saw a total harvest of 139 deer, all taken during the muzzleloader season, the only season this park is opened for hunting.

Stokes State Forest possesses the same type of terrain as High Point. Stokes lies completely in Zone 1 in the state’s far northwestern corner and is a prime area for muzzleloader hunting. During the 2007 season, Zone 1 hunters accounted for a total of 547 deer. In addition, youth hunters took 20 deer during the one-day youth hunt. Many of these deer were taken from the Stokes State Forest section of the zone.

The third prime muzzleloader area is Worthington State Forest and, like the previous two areas, it is a mountainous region. Worthington is located in Zone 3, farther south than the other two areas.

It borders the Delaware River. Worthington is part of the Water Gap National Recreation Area, but is managed by the state.

Like Stokes, Worthington is only part of Zone 3; however, a large number of the 576 deer taken in the zone were taken by hunters on the state forest.

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS (WMAs)
With the price of gas at all-time highs, many hunters are looking for places to hunt deer closer to home. One of the best values is the 350,000-plus acres that the DFW oversees.

Tracts of land measuring from a few acres to thousands of acres are available to hunters at no cost other than their hunting license.

One of the most popular WMAs in the south-central part of the state is Colliers Mills WMA. Colliers Mills contains 12,662 acres of scrub pine, briars and swamps located in Ocean County. One of the oldest WMAs in the system, it produces deer consistently every season.