How to Tag & Report Your Turkey
All turkeys must be tagged and reported to the Division of Fish and Wildlife
Tag It:
Once you harvest a turkey, you must notch your tag (day, hour and month of harvest) before moving the turkey for photos or to leave the woods. The notched tag and turkey must remain in your possession when removing the turkey from the field. If you must leave the field prior to removing the turkey (to return gear to your vehicle or dwelling); the notched tag must be attached to and remain with the carcass.
Report It:
You must report your turkey harvest within 24 hours. You can report it online or over the phone. Use your smart phone or desktop computer to report your harvest at https://rio.ri.gov/. If you do not have internet or cellular data access to report your deer harvest, you may call the Division of Fish and Wildlife at (401) 789-0281 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday to report your harvest.
Measure the beard and spurs:
- Beard less than 6" and spurs less than 0.5" = Jake
- Beard longer than 6" and spurs longer than 0.5" = Tom
- No beard or spurs = Hen (fall archery season only!)
When you are finished reporting your turkey online or over the phone, you will be given a harvest report confirmation number. This number confirms that you have reported your harvest. Write the number on your tag and keep the tag affixed to the turkey until prepared for taxidermy or consumption.
Wild Turkey Banding Program
The wild turkey restoration effort is considered one of America’s greatest wildlife conservation success stories. Loss of habitat coupled with market hunting resulted in the steep decline of turkeys, and even extirpation in some regions across their range. Following success in other states, the reintroduction of turkeys to Rhode Island in 1980-90s resulted in the population we see today. According to state turkey surveys it appears the Rhode Island turkey population is stable. However, these data reflect turkey population trends. To dive deeper into population dynamics, Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife initiated an annual turkey banding program in winter 2024 in which we capture turkeys throughout the state to collect scientific information. Once captured, we mark individuals with a metal leg band with a unique identifying number. The public can encounter these banded individuals in a variety of ways and all banded turkey encounters are important to biologists. Encounters can occur by harvesting a banded turkey or finding a dead banded turkey but can also occur by observing a live banded turkey, also called re-sighting. Additionally, biologists may re-capture banded individuals in subsequent years during turkey banding operations. The mix of encounters allow biologists to estimate harvest and survival, and gain insight into local movements.
These leg bands are similar to those deployed on migratory birds, such as waterfowl and mourning doves. Because turkeys are non-migratory, they are managed on a state-level as opposed to a federal level and therefore band recoveries are reported differently. We ask that anyone who encounters a banded turkey report it to Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife by either calling the Great Swamp Headquarters at (401)789-0281 or reporting the band online in our Survey123 form at https://arcg.is/XTHjW0. Information we request when reporting a band includes the band number, date of encounter, location of encounter (general area at the minimum, exact location if possible), and age/sex if known. The report of banded harvested turkeys is in addition to regular harvest reporting in the online Rhode Island Outdoors system.
Any further questions can be directed to Lizzi Bonczek, Upland Game Bird Biologist at [email protected].
