DEM: Shotgun Deer Hunting Season Open, Wear Orange

PROVIDENCE — You may not think you look much like a deer, but the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) warns you shouldn’t take any chances and wear wear solid, daylight fluorescent orange in State management areas and parks during the shotgun deer hunting season, which opens today.

All hunters, including archers, are legally required to wear 500 square inches of solid, daylight fluorescent orange clothing during the shotgun season. Waterfowl hunters hunting from a boat or blind, over water or field, and when done in conjunction with decoys are exempt from the orange requirements. Archers are exempt from wearing orange in areas of the state that are limited to hunting by archery-only, the DEM reminded the public in an announcement Friday.

Aside from hunters, all other users of State Management Areas and designated undeveloped State Parks, including but not limited to: hikers, bikers, and horseback riders are legally required to wear 200 square inches of solid daylight fluorescent orange, according to the DEM.

According to Mass.gov, deer are not colorblind but they lack the ability to detect colors like red and orange from green and brown. “Wearing blaze orange will not matter to the deer, but may save your life,” the website reports.

Deer hunting season is scheduled by four zones in RI:

RI Deer Management Zones

Zone 1 (Saturday, Dec. 7, through Sunday, Dec. 22.): Barrington, Bristol, Central Falls, Charlestown, Cranston, Cumberland, East Greenwich, East Providence, Jamestown, Johnston, Lincoln, Middletown, Narragansett, Newport, North Kingstown, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Providence, Smithfield, South Kingstown, Warren, Warwick, West Warwick, Westerly, Woonsocket.

Zone 2(Saturday, Dec. 7, through Sunday, Dec. 15): Burrillville, Coventry, Exeter, Foster, Glocester, Hopkinton, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Richmond, Scituate, Tiverton, West Greenwich.

Zone 3: Patience and Prudence Islands

Zone 4: Block Island (New Shoreham)

• From Thursday, Dec. 26, through Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, hunters may hunt only on private lands for antlerless deer in Zones 1 and 2. The statewide bag limit is two antlered deer, and no more than one antlered deer can be harvested in Zone 3.  The bag limit for antlerless deer is three in Zone 1, and two antlerless deer in Zone 2 and Zone 3.
• The season for shotgun deer hunting in Zone 4 (Block Island) will be open on select weekdays through Feb. 21, 2020, as published in the state’s 2019-2020 Hunting and Trapping Abstract. Hunters should call the New Shoreham Police Department at 401-466-3220 for check station information. There is an unlimited bag limit for antlerless deer on Block Island.

Deer hunting hours are the same this year as in prior years: one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. For more information on seasons, bag limits, zones, and regulations, review the 2019-20 hunting abstract.

All deer hunters are required to obtain written permission annually for all deer hunting on private lands. DEM has developed a courtesy card, available on the DEM website, for hunters and landowners to sign that gives the dates for permissions and contains A Hunter’s Pledge regarding principles of conduct. DEM encourages private landowners to allow hunters to hunt deer on their property, where feasible, during deer hunting seasons as this is a sound management technique that benefits deer habitats and regulates population growth.