resumed seeding different parts of the state with wild turkey flocks .
From 1994 to 1996 , officials periodically released about 200 birds trapped in other states to Tiverton , Little Compton , Burrillville , Scituate , South Kingstown and Foster . One of their hosts was Foster farmer Charles Borders , says Jed Dixon , president of Borders Farm Preservation , a 212-acre reserve and turn-of-thecentury farm museum .
“ Borders Farm was on a road that was not well-travelled , and Charles hadn ’ t allowed hunting . It was a safe place , perfect — and Charles loved getting something for free ,” says Dixon . “ He was really proud of being part of reintroducing wild turkeys to the state .”
Today , Beuth estimates the Rhode Island wild turkey population hovers between 4,000 and 5,000 birds , with flocks in every city and town , with the exception of Block Island and Jamestown . With the state ’ s forests at maturity , conditions are favorable for wild turkeys ’ continued robust presence ; a large quantity of oak and beech trees produce enough nuts and seeds to allow the turkeys to build their fat reserves to survive the winter .
Nationwide , the population has rebounded from about 200,000 in the early nineteenth century to more than six million in forty-nine states , says Mark Hatfield , a certified wildlife biologist with the National Wild Turkey Federation . The advent of the cannon net made it easier to relocate wild flocks to areas where the bird had been extirpated . Over a thirty-year period , state and federal wildlife agencies and conservationists moved some 200,000 wild turkeys , significantly boosting their spread .
Turkeys also possess two other qualities that favor their survival : eternal vigilance and adaptability . Rhode Island has two wild turkey hunting seasons — a twenty-four-day period from late April to late May , and a two-week archery season in October . The limit has been one bird per season . In 2018 , the DEM determined that the population was big enough to support a two-bird limit . But likely as not , few hunters will even bag one turkey . In 2019 , the DEM issued 1,812 permits and hunters reported 279 kills .
The DEM has invested in an automa-
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