PROVIDENCE — For safety reasons, visitors and hunters must wear solid, daylight fluorescent orange when in state management areas and undeveloped state parks during the shotgun deer hunting season, which opens Saturday. At least 500 square inches of solid, daylight fluorescent orange material must be worn.
For all hunters and management area users, the orange clothing should include a hat and vest worn above the waist and visible in all directions. An orange vest that’s 20 inches long by 25 inches wide has 500 square inches of surface area.
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 shotgun season for deer in state management area runs through Sunday, Dec. 20. From Saturday, Dec. 26, through Saturday, Jan. 2, hunters may hunt on private lands for antlerless deer. Deer hunting hours are from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.
More information on hunting seasons, bag limits, zones and regulations, maly be found in the Rhode Island Department of Management’s 2020-21 hunting abstract at dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/fishwild/pdf/huntabs.pdf.
— Sun staff
