For Release: September 25, 1998

Contact: Brian Tefft 222-1267 or 789-0281

PROVIDENCE - The RI Department of Environmental Management's Division of Fish and Wildlife has set the seasons and bag limits for the Rhode Island small game hunting season, which begins Saturday, October 17.

The legal shooting hours for most small game, which includes partridge (ruffed grouse), pheasant, bobwhite, rabbits, hare, squirrel, and fox, are sunrise to sunset, except on October 17 when the hours are 7 a.m. to sunset. There are exceptions. The raccoon season begins October 1 at 6 p.m.; raccoons can thereafter be hunted at any hour. Hunting hours for coyotes, which have no closed season, are one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.

Season end dates differ. For ruffed grouse and quail it is January 15; for pheasant, January 31; for rabbits, hare, squirrel, raccoon, and fox, February 28. As in past years, all small game hunting stops during the shotgun deer season which runs from December 5 to December 13, except in Bristol and Newport counties where it will remain open. Daily bag limits for small game are consistent with previous years: pheasant (2), bobwhite (3), ruffed grouse (1), rabbits (3), hare (2), and gray squirrel (5). There is no bag limit for fox or raccoon.

According to Brian Tefft, principal wildlife biologist with DEM's Fish and Wildlife Division, DEM plans a pheasant stocking program that will result in the release of about 4000 pheasants at major wildlife management areas between opening day through the end of November. Pheasant stocking will occur at several locations including Arcadia, Great Swamp, Carolina, Durfee Hill, Black Hut, Buck Hill, Sapowet, Simmons Mill Pond, Nicholas Farm, and Big River Management Areas.

The state management areas are in good condition for the start of the hunting season as a result of extensive food plot plantings and other land management activities designed to benefit wildlife. "Significant habitat management projects involving brush mowing and forest management activities have occurred that have added significant wildlife habitat diversity in the Arcadia and Great Swamp Management Areas," Tefft said.

Season and bag limits for Rhode Island migratory game birds are established following guidelines set by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The mourning dove season, which opened September 12 from noon to sunset daily until October 4, will reopen October 17 at 7 a.m. and run, thereafter, from sunrise to sunset until December 2. The daily bag limit for dove is 12 birds.

Woodcock hunting opens November 6 and closes on December 4, with a daily bag limit of three birds. The rail season, already open, runs to November 20. The snipe season, also open now, runs to December 4. Federal law requires that migratory bird hunters must use a shotgun that is capable of holding no more than three shells.

Federal law also requires all hunters to carry a Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP) permit while hunting migratory game birds this season. HIP permits are available at all hunting license vendors in the state. "The new HIP permit program is intended to provide better information to fully understand the impact of hunting on wildlife resources which is critical for the effective management of those populations," Michael Lapisky, DEM's Deputy Chief for Wildlife Resources, said.

To assist DEM gather information on hunter effort and game harvested, all hunters using Arcadia, Great Swamp, Carolina and Durfee Hill Management areas on weekends between October 17 and November 8 must check in and out of check stations and record their harvest. "The check stations are staffed by knowledgeable DEM Fish and Wildlife technicians who disseminate valuable information on hunting in the state management areas," Tefft said.

No special permits are required to hunt small game other than a valid 1998 hunting or combination license. Special permits are required to hunt waterfowl at Great Swamp and to hunt in the Burlingame North Camp area. Hunting licenses, as well as the hunting and trapping season abstract which summarizes various laws and regulations affecting wildlife and specifies seasons and bag limits by species, are available from various license vendors throughout the state and DEM's Licensing Office at 235 Promenade Street, Providence. A resident hunting license is $9.50, with all money collected going into a special restricted account used specifically to fund the State's wildlife restoration program. Hunters are advised to check with local authorities before hunting in unfamiliar areas, as municipalities may impose additional restrictions on hunting within their boundaries.

Hunters may contact the Fish and Wildlife Division's main office at 789-3094 or 222-3075 or the Great Swamp field office in West Kingston at 789-0281 or 222-1267 for further information.

All users of state management areas and all hunters statewide are reminded that they must wear at least 200 square inches of solid daylight fluorescent orange material above the waist and visible in all directions from October 17 to February 28. Hunters during the shotgun deer season must wear a total of 500 square inches of this material. "This requirement is a vital part of the state's hunter safety effort and has been proven to reduce the incidence of hunting accidents," Lapisky said.