PROVIDENCE, RI – It’s archery and small game season, and the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) reminds users of state management areas and undeveloped state parks to wear 200 square inches of solid, daylight fluorescent orange clothing in those areas.
Wearing bright orange articles of clothing is mandatory during the designated hunting seasons. This winter, DEM reports it has received many reports of people not wearing orange outdoors during hunting seasons. Recreational users of these areas – including hikers, birdwatchers, and people walking their dogs, who don’t wear orange are putting themselves at risk for accidental shootings, injuries, or worse. An orange vest that’s 20 inches long by 25 inches wide fulfills this requirement during small game season. An orange hat also fulfills the 200 inch requirement for this time of year, the DEM announced in a recent statement about hunting season safety.
“As first responders, DEM wants to prevent terrible tragedies from ever occurring,” said Division of Law Enforcement Chief Dean Hoxsie. “Wearing a minimum of 200 square inches of fluorescent orange during hunting season is mandatory, it’s not an option. As we start 2023, we ask all users of state recreational areas to recommit to wearing the appropriate amount of bright orange clothing when using these areas. Currently, archery and small game season is open, so wearing a minimum of 200 square inches of fluorescent orange is required.”
Combined, the United States and Canada experience around 1,000 hunting accidents a year, with about 10 percent of these resulting in death, according to the International Hunter Education Association, according to the DEM. In around 75 percent of the cases, victims were not wearing any fluorescent orange, were mistaken for game, and shot by a hunting partner. During the shotgun deer season, archers and waterfowl hunters are exempt from wearing orange in areas of the state that are limited to archery hunting only and waterfowl hunters hunting only from a boat or blind, over water or field, and when done in conjunction with decoys.
Hunter education is offered as part of DFW Hunter Education Program. Safety training is required by law in Rhode Island for beginning hunters. To date, more than 40,000 people have completed a hunter safety course, helping to reduce hunting-related accidents in the state and elsewhere. A complete schedule of hunter educational offerings is available here. For more information on seasons, bag limits, zones, and regulations, review the 2022-23 Hunting and Trapping Abstract.
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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