2003-2004 RI Hunting Dates

Here are the dates for the upcoming hunting seasons:

Small Game: 10/18/03 - 11/28/03 & 12/15/03 - 02/28/04
Deer (muzzle-loading): 11/01/03 - 11/16/03
Deer (shotgun): 11/29/03 - 12/07/03
Deer (archery): 10/01/03 - 01/31/04

A couple of new requirements: 1) 200 sq. inches of orange is required all season. During shotgun deer all users are now required to wear 500 sq. inches of orange. 2) 200 sq. inches of orange is now required during mourning dove and turkey season (dates below):

mourning dove: 09/27/03 - 10/13/03 & 10/18/03 - 11/23/03 & 12/31/03 - 01/15/04

turkey: 04/29/04 - 05/27/04

here is the link to dem's website for the dates:

www.state.ri.us/dem/programs/bnatres/fishwild/pdf/hunttabs.pdf

Enjoy and be safe

:oMike

[Jisch]

500 sq inches? I don't know if I have that much skin area. Perhaps I'll tow an orange banner next time I ride Arcadia. ::)

Seriously that means you have wear orange pants right?

John

According to the hunting folks 200 sq. inches generally means wearing a hat (or in our case a helmet cover). Of course a vest or jacket also would meet this. 500 sq. inches means wearing a hat and vest/jacket. Now my guess is that if you actually measured them they would not actually meet the sq. inch requirement, however, that is besides the point.

I don't worry about the 500 sq. inches since I no longer ride during shotgun deer ( at least not during daylight). Just too dangerous in my opinion and besides it's only for a week or so.

Some other tips I have learned over the years:

1. Tie a bell somewhere on your bike. The more noise you make the better.

2. Ride in groups and stay together.

3. Avoid dawn and dusk rides since that is when deer and hunters are more active.

4. Cars (or in most cases trucks) parked at trailheads generally means there are hunters somewhere down the trail. Use another trail. Also hunters generally aren't in great shape and thus don't tend to be out in some of the more remote areas of Arcadia.

5. I make it a point when meeting up with hunters to say something polite. This goes a long way to avoiding confrontations, since some hunters believe that they are the only ones who should be in the woods this time of year.

If anyone has any other tips/ideas please share with the rest of us. Thanks.

Mike ;)

[Richie Rich]

Good info. I guess I can take a week off from riding also.

Rich