Season: October - February
For full season details, click here
ESPNOutdoors.com rating (1-10): 7
2007 harvest: 47,017
Sq. Miles: 8,729
Deer/ sq. mile harvested in 2007: 5.4
2008 Outlook: The greatest part about hunting in New Jersey and the main reason for their high deer/square-mile ratio is the number of deer they allow each hunter to take.
All zones allow harvest of two bucks during the six day firearm season. As many as six bucks can be taken in all zones by hunters who hunt all the regular and permit seasons with a shotgun, bow and muzzleloader.
And 70 percent of the deer hunting zones in New Jersey have unlimited antlerless deer bag limits during the archery seasons and most of the firearm special permit seasons.
Their total numbers were way down last season (as low as they have been since 1991-1992) but the quality of deer taken seems to be improving. Five of the eight all-time category leader deer harvested in New Jersey have been taken within the last six years.
Most of the fall off last season was because the antlerless deer harvest was down. They've made a few regulation changes to offset that drop, so the harvest numbers should improve this season.
Kyle Carter