A hunter qualified only in the bowhunter course. What does an "archery only" license allow?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-4
A hunter was certified by another state's hunter safety program. Does Rhode Island accept the certificate?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-4
A student finishes the online hunter education course. What is still required for the Rhode Island certificate?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
Does the division tell students to memorize season dates and bag limits for the exam?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
How is the 100-question hunter education exam split?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
How long is the classroom hunter education course, at the least?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
How many questions are on the bowhunter education exam?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
How many questions are on the hunter education exam, according to the Division of Fish and Wildlife?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
Show all 84 questions (76 more)
Hunter education and its exam, continued
How often, at the least, must the department offer safety instruction?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-2.1
How recently must the online course have been completed to sit the in-person exam?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
Must a student fire a gun to pass the course?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
Under section 20-13-2, what may a designated instructor charge a person who asks for safety instruction?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-2
What does a student under 18 need in order to take the in-person test?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
What does an online student bring to the in-person exam?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
What does the in-person exam cover that the online course does not?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
What is the minimum age to enroll in the hunter education course?Rhode Island DEM, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Hunter Education Program page
What must a first-time applicant show before a Rhode Island hunting license is issued?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-4
What must every hunter have completed before hunting with archery equipment?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
Who is excused by statute from the certificate of competency?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-4
Who issues the certificate of competency after the course?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-2
Junior hunters, licenses and permits 14
A hunter refuses to show a license to an officer. How is that punished?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-2-9
A resident hunts without a license on land the resident owns and lives on. What else must be true of the land?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-1
At what ages may a junior hunting license be obtained?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-5
From what age is a Rhode Island migratory waterfowl stamp required?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-2-35
How is a waterfowl stamp validated?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-2-35
How many deer does one deer permit cover?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7
In the youth deer season, how many junior hunters may one adult accompany at a time?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.8
In the youth deer season, may the accompanying adult carry a firearm and hunt deer?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.8
May a hunter lend a license to a friend for the weekend?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-2-11
What ages count as youth hunters for the youth deer season?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.8
What is needed to hunt wild turkey besides a regular hunting license?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-2-18.1
When do hunting licenses expire?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-2-16
Where must a hunting license be while its holder is hunting?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-2-9
With whom must a junior license holder hunt?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-5
Orange, distances and vehicles 19
A hunter injures someone by gunfire while hunting. Within what time must it be reported to the department?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-12
A hunter sits in a pop-up blind in the firearms deer season. What must show on the outside of the blind?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
A hunter wounds another person and leaves without helping. What does section 20-13-15 add to other penalties?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-15
A shotgun has an empty chamber but shells in the magazine. May it ride in a car on a public road?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-8
A squirrel sits on a telephone line. May it be shot there?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
A stationary hunter waits for legal shooting hours. How early may the firearm be loaded?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
Does fluorescent orange camouflage satisfy the orange rule?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
How close to a building in use may an archer hunt deer without written permission?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-15-1
How far from an occupied dwelling must a hunter be before shooting, without the owner's or tenant's permission?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-7
How much fluorescent orange must a small game hunter wear in the small game season?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
How much fluorescent orange must everyone wear in the shotgun deer seasons?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
May a drone be used to find a wounded deer?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
May a hunter shoot at a pheasant across a public highway?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-9
What does section 20-13-10 forbid a person carrying a hunting firearm?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-10
What is the largest party that may hunt together in unison?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-11
When must a firearm be unloaded at day's end?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
Where must the orange be worn?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
Which hunters are exempt from the fluorescent orange rule?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
Which sighting aid is prohibited for hunting?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
Deer hunting 17
A car is badly damaged by hitting a deer. Who has first claim to the carcass?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-15-7
A deer is swimming across a pond. May it be hunted?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7.2
How many firearms or archery implements may one deer hunter have in the field?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7.2
May a hunter nail a permanent tree stand to a tree on state property?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7.2
May a salt lick be set out to draw deer for hunting?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-15-1
May an electronic call be used to hunt deer?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7.2
May deer be hunted over a pile of apples or grain?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7.2
May dogs be used in deer hunting?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-15-1
What are the legal shooting hours for deer?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7
What does the hunter do with the tag right after taking a deer?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7
What is needed to hunt deer on privately owned land?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-15-1
What is the largest party that may drive deer?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7.2
Where must a deer hunter keep the landowner's written permission?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7
Where must the deer permit be while its holder hunts deer?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-15-2
Which deer lure is prohibited?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7.2
Which of these may not be used to hunt deer?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-15-1
Within what time must a harvested deer be reported to the department?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.7
Birds, waste and conduct 14
A person stands in front of a duck blind to stop a lawful hunt. What does the law call this?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-16
For which birds may an electronically amplified call be used?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-14-7
How many shells may a shotgun hold when used on migratory game birds?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-14-7
May a person fire a gun at an animal by remote control over the internet?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-1-25
May animals be fenced in so that they can be hunted in an enclosure?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-18
May food be left out to feed wildlife?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
May game birds be hunted over grain scattered to lure them?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-14-7
May live birds be used as decoys for migratory game birds?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-14-7
May raccoons be taken with a light from a motor vehicle?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-16-4
Unless a law says otherwise, what is the penalty for breaking a wildlife law or regulation?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-1-16
What does section 20-14-2 protect?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-14-2
What does the wanton waste rule require of a hunter who downs a game animal?250-RICR-60-00-9 § 9.17
When may migratory game birds be taken from a boat with a motor?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-14-9
Which parts of game may be sold under section 20-13-14?R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-13-14
How this list was compiled: Written from Title 20 of the Rhode Island General Laws as the General Assembly publishes it at https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE20/INDEX.HTM : chapters 20-1 (general provisions), 20-2 (licensing), 20-13 (hunting and hunting safety), 20-14 (birds), 20-15 (deer hunting) and 20-16 (furbearing animals); and from the Department of Environmental Management's hunting regulations, 250-RICR-60-00-9, as the Secretary of State publishes them at https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/250-60-00-9 . All were read on 2026-10-13; each question names its section. The course and exam facts (the 100-question exam, the online course and its in-person exam, ages, hours) are the Division of Fish and Wildlife's own, read the same day on its Hunter Education Program page at https://dem.ri.gov/natural-resources-bureau/fish-wildlife/outreach-education/hunter-education ; that page is the published outline this page follows. The division publishes no pass mark or time limit for the exam on that page, so none is given here. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site from the text of the Rhode Island General Laws, the hunting regulations and the facts on the Division of Fish and Wildlife's public page; nothing is copied from a hunter education manual, a study guide, an online course, a chapter review or an examination.
How it works
An unofficial Rhode Island hunter safety practice test: our own questions on the state laws and regulations that the in-person exam adds to the course, each with its section. Firearm handling and survival are taught in the class.
Read the full guide
Rules that are Rhode Island's own
In the shotgun deer seasons everyone in the woods wears 500 square inches of solid fluorescent orange; small game hunters wear 200. No shot is fired within 500 feet of an occupied building without permission. Deer hunting on private land takes the owner's written permission, carried, and no more than five people hunt together.
A shotgun with shells left in the magazine may not ride in a vehicle on a public road.
The division says season dates and bag limits need not be memorized.
Questions and answers
Who needs hunter education in Rhode Island?
Anyone who has not held a hunting license in a prior year, under section 20-13-4. A certificate from any other state's program counts, and people serving in or honorably discharged from the armed forces are excused.
How many questions are on the Rhode Island hunter education exam?
One hundred: 50 multiple choice and 50 true or false, says the Division of Fish and Wildlife. The bowhunter exam has 50 questions. The division publishes no pass mark. Every question on this page has four choices.
How old do you have to be to hunt in Rhode Island?
Twelve. A junior license is for ages 12 to 14 after a hunter safety course, and its holder hunts only in the immediate company of a licensed adult 21 or older. The course itself has no minimum age.
Is the Rhode Island hunter safety course online?
Partly. The online course must be followed, within a year, by the in-person exam; bring the certificate of completion and a picture ID. The classroom course is free and runs at least 10 hours.
Is this the official Rhode Island hunter education exam?
No. It is unofficial and not affiliated with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. The questions are our own, written from the General Laws and the hunting regulations; none comes from the division's exam or its course material.