MASSACHUSETTS
With a population of approximately 20,000 birds, wild turkeys are doing well in the Bay State. In fact, the spring bag limit is two bearded birds.

A rather small state with some six million people occupying a land base of just over five million acres, the Commonwealth still has a respectable amount of public land open to hunting. There are about 600,000 acres of open space in outright ownership or under publicly held restrictions. That is more than 11 percent of the state's landmass. Included are nearly 100,000 acres of wildlife management areas open to hunting. Hunting is also allowed within most state forests and state parks.

Some of the best turkey habitat and hunting opportunities are in the western part of the state along the Connecticut River valley and areas to the east, where hunters will find some big blocks of public land.

The Western District, for example, has 48 WMAs ranging in size from the 5,354-acre Chalet WMA in Cheshire, Dalton and Windsor to the 54-acre Farmington River WMA in Otis. Most WMAs cover several hundred acres, however, and offer prime hunting opportunities.

There are also several state forests where turkey hunting is allowed, including Stafford Hill WMA in Cheshire, the Hiram H. Fox WMA in Chester and neighboring towns, Peru WMA in Peru and Windsor, the 7,500-acre Monroe and Haley state forests, Pittsfield State Forest and October Mountain State Forest, which covers more than 14,000 acres.

In the Valley District, the Herman Covey WMA in Belchertown and Ware contains over 1,400 acres of good turkey habitat, and Satan's Kingdom WMA in Bernardston and Northfield covers over 1,700 acres.

Colrain, Tolland and Granville state forests also offer good hunting opportunities.

The Central District has plenty of opportunities, too. Barre Falls WMA in Barre covers over 10,500 acres, while the Phillipston WMA in Phillipston and Barre offers another 3,383 acres. In all, there are over 70 WMAs in the district.

Maps and directions to state public hunting areas as well as general hunting information are available by contacting MassWildlife at (508) 792-7270, or by visiting the agency's Web site at http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfwrec.htm

VERMONT
With an estimated population of 40,000 birds, the Green Mountain State has one of the largest turkey populations in New England. Hunters are allowed two bearded birds during the spring hunt. The annual harvest has been running between 3,000 to 4,000 birds the past few years, which is one of the highest harvests in the region.

Some of the best habitat and hunting is in Vermont's southern foothills, the southern and central Champlain Valley and the eastern foothills regions. Some of Vermont's 85 WMAs, 38 state forests and 56 state parks, all of which are open to hunting with some exceptions, as well as a large chunk of the Green Mountain National Forest's 400,000 acres, are found in these productive turkey regions.