PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Fish and Wildlife is preparing for the annual deer hunting season at the Black Rock/Rodman Hollow parcel on Block Island. The Black Rock hunt will open on January 20 and run through February 13. Hunting on the parcel will take place weekdays from Tuesday through Friday, and there will be no weekend hunting on the property. Hunters taking part in this year's hunt were selected by a lottery application process.
The legal hours for deer hunting are one half-hour before sunrise to one half-hour after sunset. Throughout the hunting season, all hunters and other users of the Black Rock property are required to wear at least 500 square inches of fluorescent orange clothing visible above the waist, including a hat or vest. The non-hunting public is urged to use caution while walking the trails on the property during the hunting season and must comply with the fluorescent orange safety requirement.
Over the past two years, 34 deer were harvested from the Black Rock property through the state land deer hunting program. The Black Rock hunts have contributed to deer reduction efforts on Block Island and provided hunting opportunities for local hunters.
The Division of Fish and Wildlife will establish a deer checking station at the Block Island Police Station that will be open on selective days during the season to check deer taken by hunters. Any deer harvested on the Island during these selective days should be brought to the deer checking station between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The biological check station will be operated by DEM wildlife biologists and will be open, weather permitting, on January 22 or January 23 and on February 12 or February 13, provided that travel to the Island is available. Hunters can call the Division of Fish and Wildlife at 401-789-0281 for updates on the days that the deer checking station will operate. Biologists will collect and measure the weight, age and sex of deer harvested; inspect the health of each animal; and take samples for Chronic Wasting Disease.
For more information, contact DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife at 401-789-0281.