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2026-27 season · Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division
Georgia Hunting
119 wildlife management areas, the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, coastal refuges and the Okefenokee, all 159 counties and 242 hunting towns, with 2026-27 dates, either-sex deer zones, licenses and the law, read from WRD sources on October 13, 2026.
Photo: YoungSue (Public Domain Mark 1.0)
Georgia public land closest to your town
Pick a city, town or Census-designated place, or let the browser use your location, and the six closest of 177 mapped WMAs, refuges, Corps lakes, state parks, VPA tracts and dove fields appear with straight-line miles. Each card opens that area’s page with its 2026-27 dates and access rules.
Places: Census 2024 Gazetteer (675 incorporated places and CDPs). Area points: WRD WMA boundary GIS and federal manager layers, checked October 13, 2026.
Biggest public hunting ground in Georgia
WRD says its WMA system runs past 100 areas and about a million acres, and every WMA bear, deer and turkey hunt needs a sign-in. The national forest adds 869,017 acres across the Blue Ridge and the piedmont, the Okefenokee and the barrier-island refuges carry the coast, and 9 VPA tracts open leased private farms and timberland.
| Kind of land | Areas | Acres as listed | With quota hunts |
|---|---|---|---|
| WMAs and the natural area | 120 | 1,083,890 | 62 |
| Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests | 1 | 869,017 | 0 |
| National wildlife refuges | 9 | 514,145 | 5 |
| Corps of Engineers lakes | 10 | 2,777 | 1 |
| Military installations | 2 | not listed | 2 |
| National seashore and experimental forest | 1 | not listed | 1 |
| State parks with quota hunts | 13 | 35,732 | 12 |
| Voluntary Public Access tracts | 9 | 13,193 | 0 |
| Public fishing areas and hatchery | 8 | 7,334 | 4 |
| Dove fields | 6 | 4,121 | 4 |
Acres are the figures printed in each area listing; many WMAs sit inside the national forest or on Corps lakes, so the rows overlap and should not be added together. Sources: WRD GIS; public hunting opportunities; Forest Service, as WRD published it on October 13, 2026.
Georgia seasons open now and opening next
Built on Oct 13, 2026 from the 146 dated rows of the 2026-27 guide. The Today column re-reads your own device date, so it stays right after this page was built.
Open on Oct 13, 2026 (8)
| Game | Season | Where | Opens | Closes | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opossum | Hunting | Public lands | Aug 15, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| Raccoon | Hunting | Public lands | Aug 15, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| Squirrels (gray and fox) | Hunting (gray and fox squirrel) | Statewide | Aug 15, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| White-tailed Deer | Extended archery | Extended archery counties (29) | Sep 12, 2026 | Jan 31, 2027 | |
| Northern Bobwhite Quail | Licensed shooting preserves | Licensed shooting preserves | Oct 1, 2026 | Mar 31, 2027 | |
| Black Bear | Primitive weapons & youth-only firearms | Northern Bear Zone | Oct 10, 2026 | Oct 16, 2026 | |
| Snow and White-fronted Geese | Snow goose & white-fronted goose | Statewide | Oct 10, 2026 | Oct 25, 2026 | |
| White-tailed Deer | Primitive weapons & youth-only firearms | Statewide, excluding archery-only counties | Oct 10, 2026 | Oct 16, 2026 |
The next ten to open
| Game | Season | Where | Opens | Closes | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruffed Grouse | Hunting | Statewide | Oct 15, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| Black Bear | Firearms | Northern Bear Zone | Oct 17, 2026 | Jan 10, 2027 | |
| White-tailed Deer | Firearms | Statewide (except archery-only counties and Jekyll Island) | Oct 17, 2026 | Jan 10, 2027 | |
| American Crow | Crow | Statewide | Nov 7, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| Northern Bobwhite Quail | Hunting | Statewide | Nov 14, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| Ducks | Federal Youth, Active Duty Military & Veterans Waterfowl Days | Statewide | Nov 14, 2026 | Nov 15, 2026 | |
| Rabbits | Hunting | Statewide | Nov 14, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| Common (Wilson's) Snipe | Common (Wilson's) snipe | Statewide | Nov 15, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 | |
| American Coot | Coot | Statewide | Nov 21, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 | |
| Ducks | Regular duck season | Statewide | Nov 21, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 |
Statewide rows only; the color-zone doe days, dog-deer counties and national forest rows live on the zone and land pages. Sources: big game dates; small game and trapping; migratory birds, as WRD published it on October 13, 2026.
Georgia counties by WRD Game Management region
WRD splits the state into six regions named for their offices. Each county guide carries its either-sex color, bear and alligator zone, Game Check deer and turkey totals and the closest WMAs; the 242 town guides start from county seats and the towns nearest the big WMAs and refuges.
Region 1 (Armuchee), northwest Georgia (28)
Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dade, Douglas, Fayette, Floyd, Fulton, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Meriwether, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Spalding, Troup, Walker, Whitfield
Region 2 (Gainesville), northeast Georgia (26)
Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Dawson, DeKalb, Elbert, Fannin, Forsyth, Franklin, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Rabun, Rockdale, Stephens, Towns, Union, Walton, White
Region 3 (Thomson), east-central Georgia (28)
Baldwin, Bibb, Burke, Butts, Columbia, Crawford, Glascock, Greene, Hancock, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Jones, Lamar, Lincoln, McDuffie, Monroe, Morgan, Peach, Putnam, Richmond, Taliaferro, Twiggs, Upson, Warren, Washington, Wilkes, Wilkinson
Region 4 (Fitzgerald), south-central Georgia (27)
Appling, Bacon, Ben Hill, Bleckley, Bulloch, Candler, Coffee, Dodge, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Pulaski, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Wheeler, Wilcox
Region 5 (Albany), southwest Georgia (31)
Baker, Brooks, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Colquitt, Crisp, Decatur, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Harris, Lee, Macon, Marion, Miller, Mitchell, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Terrell, Thomas, Webster, Worth
Georgia towns ranked by public acres inside a 10-mile circle
| Town | County | Public acres in 10 mi | Closest area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton | Rabun | 96,466 | Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests and 3 more within reach |
| Helen | White | 96,225 | Dukes Creek – Smithgall Woods State Park and 6 more within reach |
| Mountain City | Rabun | 92,861 | Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests and 2 more within reach |
| Everett | Glynn | 80,973 | Sansavilla WMA and 6 more within reach |
| Hiawassee | Towns | 80,611 | Blue Ridge Ranger District (Chattahoochee National Forest) and 4 more within reach |
| Blairsville | Union | 76,827 | Blue Ridge Ranger District (Chattahoochee National Forest) and 5 more within reach |
| Pembroke | Bryan | 74,419 | Fort Stewart & Hunter Army Airfield and 1 more within reach |
| Flemington | Liberty | 72,083 | Fort Stewart & Hunter Army Airfield |
| Sky Valley | Rabun | 69,251 | Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests and 2 more within reach |
| Tate City | Towns | 68,320 | Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests and 3 more within reach |
| Gumbranch | Liberty | 66,785 | Fort Stewart & Hunter Army Airfield |
| Juliette | Monroe | 61,012 | Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge and 4 more within reach |
Town acreage is a GIS measure of WMA, forest and refuge polygons inside a 10-mile circle, not a published figure. Sources: WRD region offices; GA County Zones layer, as WRD published it on October 13, 2026.
34 Georgia game species, one guide each
Deer, turkey, bear and the alligator quota hunt lead, then hogs and coyotes with no closed season on private land, upland birds, furbearers and the dove and duck splits. Georgia has no fall turkey, elk or pheasant season.
Coyote · Bobcat · Gray and Red Fox · Raccoon · Opossum · Mink · Muskrat · River Otter · Skunk · Weasel · Beaver · Nutria · Armadillo · Groundhog · Ruffed Grouse · Rabbits · Squirrels (gray and fox) · Mourning Dove · Eurasian Collared-Dove · Ducks · Canada Goose · Snow and White-fronted Geese · American Coot · Gallinules · Rails (king, clapper, sora, Virginia) · Common (Wilson's) Snipe · American Woodcock · American Crow
Georgia licenses and law in eight cards
Licenses
Resident hunting $15.00 plus big game $25.00, or the Sportsman’s at $65.00. Nonresidents pay $100.00 and $225.00.
Harvest Record and Game Check
Free and required at any age for deer, turkey, bear and alligator. Log date and county before moving the animal, then report within 24 hours.
Orange or blaze pink
500 square inches above the waist in primitive weapons and firearms deer and bear seasons, archers included outside archery-only areas.
Bait on private land
Deer and hogs may be hunted over bait on private land with written landowner permission; never on WMAs, national forest or for bear.
Either-sex color zones
Doe days on private land follow the county color: 134 Green counties are either sex the whole firearms season, the mountain colors far less.
Chronic wasting disease
Found in Lanier County in January 2025. The management area now covers Atkinson, Berrien, Lanier and Lowndes counties.
Quota hunts
93 areas hold drawn hunts, the WRD ones through Go Outdoors Georgia, from WMA deer and dog-bear to the alligator draw due July 15.
Youth and veterans
Resident hunters under 16 need only the Harvest Record on big game, and November 14 and 15 are waterfowl days for youth, active military and veterans.
Sources: licenses; Harvest Record; orange and pink; baiting; CWD; quota hunts, as WRD published it on October 13, 2026.
Every Georgia public hunting area on one map
177 mapped areas from the Cohutta Mountains to Cumberland Island. Larger orange dots are 20,000 acres or more; each links to its page.
Georgia banquets, field trials and youth hunts ahead
105 upcoming events were on the calendar on Oct 13, 2026: chapter banquets, hunter education classes, bird dog field trials and youth hunts. The six soonest are below.
| Date | Event | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 16, 2026 | Tallapoosa Field Trial Club 2026 | Cedartown, Polk County | Field trial |
| Oct 17, 2026 | Etowah River Classic presented by "The Caller Podcast" | Canton, Cherokee County | Calling contest |
| Oct 17, 2026 | Southwest Georgia HRC Hunt Test | Smithville, Lee County | Field trial |
| Oct 21, 2026 | Cartersville 51st Annual Conservation Dinner | Cartersville, Bartow County | Banquet |
| Oct 22, 2026 | Georgia Southern University Banquet | Statesboro, Bulloch County | Banquet |
| Oct 22, 2026 | Northwest GA 5th Annual Sportsman's Banquet | Ringgold, Catoosa County | Banquet |
Georgia shooting ranges and matches
WRD runs 41 public shooting ranges, and hunter education graduates get a free three-month range pass. Clubs, indoor lanes, sporting clays and archery courses fill out the list, with trap, sporting clays, high power and youth shooting team events on the shooting calendar.
Georgia processors, taxidermists and shops
Deer processors
131 listed, 49 of them taking donated deer for Georgia Hunters for the Hungry.
Taxidermists
130 shops, many of them WRD CWD sample drop-off partners.
Preserves and guides
77 quail plantations, preserves and guide services.
Shops and license agents
720 gun shops, outdoor stores and the 405 Go Outdoors Georgia license agents.
WRD and ranger offices
21 WRD, DNR Law Enforcement and Forest Service offices.
Sources: Hunters for the Hungry; license agent locator; WRD contact, as WRD published it on October 13, 2026.
Georgia hunting in numbers
Game Check figures are reported counts; WRD adjusts deer for hunters who do not report. Sources: WRD deer harvest service; turkey harvest; bear summary 2025; alligator report 2024; Deer Registry rules, as WRD published it on October 13, 2026.
Questions about hunting in Georgia
How many acres of Georgia are open to public hunting?
WRD counts more than 100 WMAs and about a million acres, and the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests add 869,017 acres. Refuges such as the Okefenokee (407,038 acres), Corps lakes, state park quota hunts and 9 VPA tracts add more.
Which Georgia WMA covers the most ground?
Cohutta WMA, at 92,647 acres in the north Georgia mountains.
When does Georgia firearms deer season open?
Saturday, Oct 17, 2026, statewide except archery-only counties and Jekyll Island. It runs to Jan. 10, 2027, and to Jan. 15 in the Magenta zone.
Are Sundays open for hunting in Georgia?
Yes. The guide sets no statewide Sunday closure; seasons run straight through weekends. A few WMAs, refuges and Corps lakes limit days of the week in their own listings.
May Georgia hunters shoot deer over corn or other bait?
On private land, yes, in every county, with written permission from the landowner. Bait is banned on WMAs, national forest and all other state or federal land, and bears may never be hunted over bait.
How much does a Georgia deer hunter pay for licenses?
A resident 16 to 64 pays $15.00 for the hunting license and $25.00 more for deer, turkey or bear, plus a transaction fee ($3 online and at retail outlets, $5 by telephone). Nonresidents pay $100.00 and $225.00.
Do I need a WMA license?
No separate one. The WMA license was retired in 2017; a Georgia hunting license covers WMAs, and visitors 16 and older without one buy the Georgia Lands Pass.
Where has CWD been found in Georgia?
In a hunter-harvested deer from Lanier County in January 2025. The CWD Management Area covers Atkinson, Berrien, Lanier and Lowndes counties.
How many deer do Georgia hunters take?
WRD estimated 298,302 for 2025-26 from 206,677 Game Check reports. The 2026-27 season had 21,869 reports by mid-October.
Is there a bear season everywhere in Georgia?
No. Bears are hunted in the Northern, Central and Southern zones only; the Central zone opens for a single day, Dec. 19, 2026.
Plan a Georgia season
Start from a county for its doe days and nearby WMAs, or from a town for the closest public ground and a processor down the road.
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