I think you would be nuts to go with a guide for NY, CT or MA. The serious hunters in VT have also been tagging a fair number of birds. NH and ME are a bit more dicey, simply because they don't have as many birds. RI is more of a plain old crapshoot, mainly because the darn state is so small that actual hunting ground (public or private) is scarce.

If you want some more details about NY, CT or MA, drop me an email. But personally, I think if you hunted public land on any of those states for one entire week, I think you could easily harvest a bearded bird. Maybe not a nice 3-year old tom, but a bearded bird