Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Fish & Wildlife
The Heislerville Wildlife Management Area in Maurice River Township, Cumberland County is expansive at 7,670.4 acres, encompassing a diversity of habitats including diked salt hay meadows, freshwater impoundments, tidal marshes and oak-pine uplands.
The Delaware Bayshore hosts the largest concentration of migrating shorebirds in the Western Hemisphere. The birds stop here to feast on the protein-rich eggs of horseshoe crabs, which are spawning on the sandy beaches in May and June. Thompsons Beach and Moore’s Beach, located within Heislerville WMA, provide prime observation spots for wildlife watching. Red knots, ruddy turnstones, dunlin, sanderlings and semi-palmated sandpipers flock to Delaware Bay during their flight from South America to the Arctic. Visitors can park in the parking area and walk the mile through the salt marsh to the beach on the old road that once led to the community of Moore’s Beach.
An active peregrine falcon nesting tower is located to the west of Moore’s Beach. Visitors can also see northern harriers, red-tailed hawks, sharp-shins, kestrels, ospreys and bald eagles. Snowy and great egrets, great blue herons, clapper rails and glossy ibis feed along the creeks and impoundments, and the mudflats team with dowitchers, willets, black-bellied plovers, dunlin and a variety of other shorebirds.
Diamondback terrapins come ashore in July to lay their eggs, and this is one of the best spots to see the fall hawk migration in full swing.
Anglers can fish for white perch, catfish and striped bass in the Maurice River and surrounding tidal creeks. Crabbing is a popular activity, especially along the dikes surrounding the impoundments. Crabs, weakfish, bluefish, fluke, sea bass, black drum and sharks abound in Delaware Bay. Rental boats, bait and tackle and boat ramps are available at some of the small, private marinas located in Heislerville and Matts Landing.
Pheasants are stocked during the small game season, providing an exciting opportunity for upland game hunters. Turkey Hunting Area 22 is a good choice in the higher forested sections of this WMA. Deer are not plentiful in DMZ 34 but are increasing in numbers as habitat improvement work is completed. The extensive salt marsh and freshwater impoundments provide nesting, resting and wintering locations for thousands of migrating waterfowl. Black duck hunting is superb and green-winged teal, widgeon, gadwall, brant, mallard, mergansers and pintails are abundant. Although the numbers of light geese have diminished here due to changes in migration pattern, they can still be encountered from October through April. Railbird hunting along the Maurice River is a local tradition. Mute swans and gallinules remain in the impoundments year-round.
Owned by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, the Wildlife Management Area System is comprised of more than 360,000 acres in 122 areas throughout the state, which is more than 44% of New Jersey’s state-owned public open space. WMAs are maintained and supported with funding from hunting and fishing license sales, the Federal Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program and the Wildlife Habitat Supporter Program.
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WMAs are patrolled by NJ Fish & Wildlife Conservation Police Officers to ensure public safety. If you see violations while visiting a WMA, please call the 24-hour DEP hotline at 877-WARN-DEP (877-927-6337).
