Pheasant Stocking Begins this Weekend for Public Hunting on Management Areas

Published on Thursday, October 10, 2024

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will begin stocking pheasants this week for the 2024-2025 hunting season. DEM stocks pheasants to provide public hunting opportunities on select management areas throughout Rhode Island. After the youth weekend of October 12-13, stocking occurs twice weekly at most locations October 19 until early December and once weekly through the end of December, depending on weather. Hunters can check DEM’s pheasant stocking webpage for timely updates on stocking locations.

The 2024-2025 pheasant hunting season runs Oct. 19, 2024, through Feb. 28, 2025, with a daily bag limit of two birds. Hunters 15 and older must be in possession of a RI hunting license and game bird permit. Youth hunters 12 to 14 must have a junior hunting license and a game bird permit and be in the immediate company of a fully licensed adult 21 and older. A full list of pheasant hunting rules and regulations can be found in the Rhode Island Hunting and Trapping 2024-2025 Regulation Guide. Hunting licenses can be purchased online on DEM’S Rhode Island Outdoors (RIO) portal.

Weather permitting, the 2024-2025 pheasant stocking will be conducted overnight to be first available on:

*Special youth weekend

** Weather permitting

Upon the release and establishment of pheasants in North America in 1857, pheasant hunting has a long tradition in Rhode Island, supporting family customs, connecting people with nature, and attracting tourism to the state. Changing farming practices and land uses resulted in the elimination of pheasants from most of Rhode Island, except for a small population on Block Island. Although the landscape has changed, DEM's pheasant stocking program continues to support Rhode Island's pheasant hunting tradition. DEM supports pheasant hunting through DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Hunter Education Program. Safety training is required by law in Rhode Island for beginner hunters and to date, more than 40,000 people have completed a hunter safety course, helping to reduce related accidents in the state and elsewhere. A complete schedule of hunter educational offerings is available online here. 

Hunters provide funding for wildlife conservation through their purchase of firearms and ammunition through the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program, and through the purchase of their state hunting licenses and permits. These funds are distributed to each state by the federal government and used to conserve land, manage habitat, restore wildlife populations, and much more. In 2023 alone, Rhode Island received $7,176,940 in funding for wildlife restoration from this program. With the help of hunters, DEM has protected thousands of acres for wildlife in RI, continued our research and monitoring efforts for both game and non-game birds and mammals, established a strong research partnership with University of Rhode Island, and continue to provide hunter education and wildlife outreach opportunities for the public. Without the contribution of legal and responsible hunters, DEM would not be able to conserve and protect our state's wildlife. 

REMINDER: All users of Wildlife Management Areas and Undeveloped State Parks are required to wear at least 200 square inches of solid, fluorescent orange during the hunting season from the second Saturday in September until the end of May. Covering or clothing consisting of 500 square inches of blaze orange is required during the shotgun deer season in December. For more details, visit www.dem.ri.gov/orange. 

Hunters are reminded to take precautions in the field to protect themselves from mosquito bites, as Rhode Island’s Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) Virus and West Nile Virus (WNV) risk levels are considered high. Humans can only contract these diseases through a bite from an infected mosquito and they are likely present in mosquitoes statewide. Visit health.ri.gov/mosquito for additional mosquito prevention tips, videos, and local data.

For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter/X (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates. Follow DFW on Facebook and Instagram (@ri.fishandwildlife) to stay up to date on news, events and volunteer opportunities. You can also subscribe to DFW’s monthly newsletter here. Sign up here to receive the latest press releases, news, and events from DEM's Public Affairs Office to your inbox.