@Russ16 - I think Woodcock are the only “Wild” upland bird left in NJ (excluding waterfowl). Quail & Pheasant extinct since early 2000s - only pen raised/released birds, the State even closed the Quail season years ago and more recently CLOSED Riffed Grouse as they are now extremely rare. I bought a pointing dog in the 1980s and think I hunted some of the last Wild Quail and Grouse into the 1990s. But, some very good duck & goose hunting as well as Sea Suck hunting off the Coast.
My Son and I started to travel to South Dakota just to hunt wild pheasant and it is worth the drive —- they are Nothing like the Pen raised birds. Once in a while we catch a decent woodcock flight and get into birds for a few days and that’s great —-when it happens. For me, its worth traveling to States with decent populations of Wild Birds (Texas, Montana, Wyoming etc..)