News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462

DEM ANNOUNCES DATES AND SEASONS FOR HUNTING SMALL GAME AND UPLAND MIGRATORY BIRDS

PROVIDENCE - The 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 that begins this year on Saturday, October 20. Seasons and bag limits for small game were set following a public hearing that was held in June. The 2007-08 Hunting and Trapping Season Abstract summarizes various laws and regulations affecting wildlife and specifies season dates and bag limits for game species. The Abstract is available from all license vendors as well as DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife offices in Wakefield and West Kingston and the Division of Licensing in Providence.

Small Game Hunting

The legal shooting hours for all small game, which includes ruffed grouse, pheasant, bobwhite, rabbits, hare, squirrel, and fox are sunrise to sunset except on October 20, when legal shooting hours are from 7 a.m. until sunset. The season for raccoon opens on October 1, with legal shooting hours from 6 p.m. until midnight. Hunting hours for coyotes, which have no closed season, are one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.

The season for ruffed grouse, Ringneck pheasant and bobwhite quail opens on October 20 and runs until November 30. The pheasant season re-opens on state lands after shotgun deer season on December 10 and runs until January 20, 2008. The season for rabbit, hare, squirrel, and fox opens on October 20 and closes on February 28, 2008. State lands are closed to small game hunting during the shotgun deer season — December 1 through 9 — but re-open for small game hunting on December 10. Private lands are closed to small game hunting during various portions of the private land deer season, from December 1 through 16, from December 29-30 and from January 5-6, 2008.

The daily bag limits for small game are consistent with previous years, as follows: pheasant (2), bobwhite (3), ruffed grouse (1), rabbits (3), hare (2), 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. A permit consists of six pheasant tags that allow hunters to harvest six pheasant, with the requirement that each bird be tagged immediately upon taking. Hunters will be allowed this year to purchase an unlimited number of permits. The cost of a pheasant permit is $15.50 with the funds from the program used to acquire pheasants and assist in habitat management projects across the state.

According to Brian Tefft, Principal Wildlife Biologist with Fish and Wildlife, the Division plans a pheasant-stocking program that will result in the release of 5,000 Ringneck pheasants on the wildlife management areas. This season 80% of these pheasant will be stocked between opening day and November 27, with the remainder of the pheasant stocked during the late season that begins on December 10 and runs through January 20, 2008. The expanded pheasant stocking program/season has improved pheasant hunting opportunities and bird habitats in the management areas. Tefft adds that sportsmen should enjoy excellent hunting opportunities for Ringneck pheasant and other upland species again this year.

Pheasant stocking will occur at several locations on major wildlife management areas including Arcadia, Great Swamp, Carolina, Durfee Hill, Black Hut, Buck Hill, Sapowet, Nicholas Farm, Big River and the Eight-Rod Farm management areas. Pheasant stocking will occur periodically from opening day through the end of the season. Hunter check stations have detailed maps of the best hunting areas available in the management areas. In Tiverton, both Sapowet and Eight Rod Farm wildlife management areas are closed to Sunday hunting.

Upland Migratory Bird Season

Seasons and bag limits for Rhode Island migratory game birds are established following guidelines set by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Hunting for mourning dove in the first segment began September 22 and will run until October 7 with shooting hours from noon to sunset. The season for dove reopens on October 20 and runs until November 18 and again from December 26 to January 10, 2008. Shooting hours during the last segment are from sunrise to sunset. The daily bag limit for dove is 12 birds.

Woodcock hunting opens on November 1 and closes on November 30, with a daily bag limit of three birds. The season for rails and common snipe runs from September 1 to November 9. Hunters are reminded that federal law requires that migratory bird hunters must use a shotgun that is capable of holding no more than three shells.

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. Significant habitat management projects, involving plantings, brush mowing and forest management activities designed to improve early successional habitats have occurred, according to Tefft, which have added significant wildlife habitat diversity in the management areas.

Check Stations Open

Small game check stations will be open for hunters using the Arcadia, Great Swamp, Carolina, and Durfee Hill management areas on the weekends of October 20 and 21, October 27 and 28, November 3 and 4 and November 10 and 11. All hunters must check in and out of the check station prior to hunting small game in these areas. All game harvested is recorded by the check station operators. The data assists the Division in obtaining information on hunter effort and game harvested. The check stations are staffed by knowledgeable DEM Fish and Wildlife staff who provide valuable information on hunting in the state management areas and can answer questions from the public. No special permits are required to hunt small game other than a valid 2007 hunting or combination license. Special permits are required to hunt waterfowl at Great Swamp and hunt in the Burlingame Park North Camp area.

Hunting licenses are available from various license vendors throughout the state and the Division of Licensing at 235 Promenade Street in Providence. A resident hunting license costs $18, 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.

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 which is worn and visible above the waist in all directions during the period from October 20, 2007 to February 29, 2008 and, during the spring turkey season, from the last Thursday in April until the end of May. Throughout the shotgun deer season all users of state management areas 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.

For further information, hunters may contact the Division of Fish and Wildlife at the main office in Wakefield at 789-3094 or at the Great Swamp Field Office in West Kingston at 789-0281.