PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management announces that the spring wild turkey hunting season is about to begin. A special turkey hunting season for youths and paraplegics will be held on April 21 and April 22, and the regular statewide turkey hunting season takes place from April 26 through May 28.

Hours for hunting — by permit only — are from one half hour before sunrise until 1 p.m., and hunters are required to leave the woods no later than 1 p.m. Most turkey hunting is concentrated in the early morning hours; no other game is hunted at this time of year.

Brian Tefft, principal wildlife biologist of DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife, suggests hunters observe the following to help ensure a safe turkey-hunting season:

Fluorescent Orange Yes; Red, White, or Blue No

State regulations require that all users of the state's management areas must wear at least 200 square inches of solid daylight-fluorescent orange material throughout the turkey hunting season. A hat or vest qualifies for the 200-square-inch requirement and also meets the specification that the fluorescent orange is worn above the waist. Turkey hunters themselves are exempt from the orange requirement, but are urged by DEM to wear the protective coloring while walking to and from their calling locations. All users of management areas, hunters and non-hunters alike, should avoid wearing red, white, or blue colors — the head colors of the male turkey — during the turkey hunting season.

Rhode Island has conserved over 46,000 acres of land in management areas offering excellent opportunities for turkey hunters. The management areas include: Arcadia, Big River, Black Hut, Buck Hill, Burlingame, Carolina, Durfee Hill, Eight Rod Farm, George Washington, Nicholas Farm, Prudence/Patience Island, Rockville, Sapowet Marsh, Simmons Mill, South Shore, Wickaboxet, and Woody Hill.