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News Release RI Department of Environmental Management 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908 (401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462
DEM ANNOUNCES SMALL GAME HUNTING SEASON DATES AND LIMITS PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Fish and Wildlife announces that Rhode Island's small game hunting season opens on October 15. Beginning on that date, all users of state management areas, and all hunters statewide, must wear at least 200 square inches of solid daylight-fluorescent orange material through the end of the season, February 28. The fluorescent orange has to be worn above the waist, and must be visible from all directions. Hunters during the shotgun deer season must wear a total of 500 square inches of fluorescent orange.Small Game Hunting The legal shooting hours for most small game, which includes ruffed grouse, pheasant, bobwhite, rabbits, hare, squirrel, and fox, are sunrise to sunset except on October 15, legal shooting hours are from 7:00 a.m. until sunset. The raccoon season begins on October 1 at 6:00 p.m. 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, ringneck pheasant, and bobwhite quail, the end-date is December 2; for rabbit, hare, squirrel, and fox, February 28, 2006. The pheasant season re-opens after shotgun deer season on December 12 and runs until January 15, 2006. The small game season will be closed during the shotgun deer season, from December 3 to December 11, and will remain closed in Bristol and Newport counties until December 19. The daily bag limits for small game are consistent with previous years: pheasant (2), bobwhite (3), ruffed grouse (1), rabbit (3), hare (1), and gray squirrel (5). There is no bag limit for fox or raccoon. Pheasant Permits and Stocking Pheasant hunting requires the purchase of a pheasant permit at a cost of $15.50. The permit fees will be used to enhance the existing pheasant stocking program, allow for a longer season for pheasant stocking, and help pay for habitat improvements on state lands. Hunters can purchase up to two permits, each containing six pheasant tags that allow hunters to harvest six pheasant, which must be tagged immediately. According to Brian Tefft, principal wildlife biologist with the Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Division will release 5,000 Ringneck pheasants on wildlife management areas from opening day through January 15. About 80 percent will be stocked during October and November. Pheasant stocking will occur at Arcadia, Great Swamp, Carolina, Durfee Hill, Black Hut, Buck Hill, Sapowet, Nicholas Farm, Big River and the Eight-Rod Farm area in Tiverton. In Tiverton, both Sapowet and Eight Rod Farm wildlife management areas are closed to Sunday hunting. State wildlife management areas are in excellent condition for the start of the hunting season, as a result of planting food and cover plots and other habitat management activities designed to improve wildlife habitat. According to Tefft, significant habitat management projects involving brush mowing and forest management activities designed to improve early successional habitats have occurred, adding significant wildlife habitat diversity in the management areas. Upland Migratory Bird Season Seasons and bag limits for Rhode Island migratory game birds are established in accordance with guidelines set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The first segment of the mourning dove season opened on September 24 and will run until October 10, with shooting hours from noon to sunset. The dove season will reopen on October 15 and run until November 20 and again from December 28 to January 12, 2006, from sunrise to sunset, except on October 15 when it begins at 7 a.m. The daily bag limit for dove is 12 birds. Woodcock hunting opens on November 3 and closes on December 2, with a daily bag limit of three birds. The season for rails and common snipe, already open, runs to November 11. Federal law requires migratory bird hunters to use a shotgun 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. HIP permits are available at all hunting license vendors in the state at no cost. Check Stations Open To assist DEM in gathering information on hunter effort and game harvested, all hunters using Arcadia, Great Swamp, Carolina and Durfee Hill Management Areas on weekends through November 6 must check in and out of check stations at those management areas and record their harvest. Special permits are required to hunt waterfowl at Great Swamp and hunt in the Burlingame North Camp area. Hunting licenses, pheasant permits, and abstracts that summarize the hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits by species, are available at various license vendors throughout the state and at DEM's Licensing Office at DEM Headquarters, 235 Promenade Street in Providence. The abstract is also available on DEM's website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on Fish and Wildlife on the Regulations page. The fee for a resident hunting license is $18, with all money collected going into a special restricted account used specifically to fund the state's wildlife restoration program. These funds benefit both game and non-game species. 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 main office of DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife in Wakefield at 789-3094 or the Division's Great Swamp field office in West Kingston at 789-0281 for further information. -30- |
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