According to Gregonis, three of the best state-owned forests supporting turkeys are Cockaponset State Forest between exits 7 and 8 off Route 9 in Haddam; Naugatuck State Forest at Exit 24 off Route 8 in Beacon Falls and Oxford; and Natchaug State Forest along Route 198, in between Eastford and Chaplin.

Other good options include the MDC Colebrook/Hogback Dam hunting area off Route 20 north of Riverton and the Pease Brook Wildlife Management Area in Gilman at Exit 22 off Route 2.

For more information on turkey- hunting seasons and licensing, call the Connecticut Wildlife Division at (860) 424-3011, or visit the division’s Web site at Dep.State.CT.US.

For lodging and travel information, call the Connecticut tourism department at 1-800-282-6863.

NEW HAMPSHIRE
During surveys conducted last August, the Granite State’s wild turkey population was estimated to be about 33,000 birds. Turkey flocks continue to expand in the more northern and eastern areas of the state. But the southwestern portion of New Hampshire, where the original re-introduction occurred in 1975, holds the largest population.

New Hampshire hunters enjoyed a record harvest during spring 2006 with a total of 3,559 turkeys taken in the month-long season. This represented an increase of 516 turkeys, or a whopping 17-percent jump from the previous year. The harvest was comprised of 1,229 jakes (about 35 percent) and 2,303 adult toms (at 65 percent). During the fall of 2005, archers tallied 168 hens and 129 gobblers, for a total of 297 turkeys.

In many towns, according to Theodore Walski, Turkey Project leader for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, the number of gobblers harvested continues to increase. The 2007 season should be similar to last year’s, especially in the towns of Bath, Haverhill, Plainfield, Weare, Claremont, Concord, Cornish, Alton, Walpole and Westmoreland, which had the highest gobbler harvests last spring.

Most of these towns lie in the western half of Grafton County, which borders the Ammonoosuc River Valley, or within the Connecticut River valley. The smallest turkey harvests are in the White Mountains, where turkey habitat is marginal.

Hunters have roughly 265,000 acres of public lands available. But Walski said the best turkey hunting opportunities are on private land, particularly around the fields and forest edges associated with farmland. Walski did say that hunters could have good luck in the various U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood-control areas such as the Hopkinton-Everett Lake Project on Exit 5 off I-89 in Henniker; the Blackwater Dam Project along Route 127 in Webster; and the Franklin Falls Dam Project along Route 3A between Bristol and Franklin.

For more information on New Hampshire’s turkey-hunting seasons and licensing, call the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department at (603) 271-3511, or visit their Web site at NHFishAndWildlife.com.

For lodging and travel information, call the New Hampshire tourism office at 1-800-386-4664.

RHODE ISLAND
Last year, Rhode Island held its 21st spring turkey-hunting season. During the month-long season, turkey hunters harvested 234 birds -- a 13- percent increase over the 207 birds taken during the 2005 season. This harvest includes six birds shot during the early junior hunter and paraplegic hunter seasons held in April. Thus, the hunter success rate was about 20 percent.