2026-27 WRD guide
Georgia Game Species
34 Georgia species with a 2026-27 season or open take, each with its own guide to dates, limits, zones, legal weapons, harvest figures and the public land that lists it.
Photo: Joe K Gage (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Pick a Georgia game species
Grouped the way Georgia hunters plan a year: whitetails, gobblers, bears and the alligator quota hunt first, then quail, grouse, rabbits and squirrels, the furbearers that are hunted at night or trapped in winter, the migratory birds that follow federal frameworks, and the unprotected species such as hogs and coyotes that have no closed season.
Big game (4)
Small game (4)
Furbearers (9)
Migratory birds (11)
Unprotected and nuisance (6)
Georgia bag limits at a glance, 2026-27
The short form of each limit; species pages carry the full wording, possession rules and the area limits that apply on WMAs, VPAs and the national forest.
| Species | Limit (short form) |
|---|---|
| White-tailed Deer | 12 per season |
| Black Bear | 2 per season, no more than one from the Central or Southern zones |
| Wild Turkey | 1 gobbler per day, 2 per season |
| American Alligator | 1 per quota permit |
| Feral Hog | No limit. |
| Coyote | No limit. |
| Bobcat | No limit. |
| Gray and Red Fox | No limit. |
| Raccoon | No limit. |
| Opossum | No limit. |
| Mink | No limit. |
| Muskrat | No limit. |
| River Otter | No limit. |
| Striped Skunk | No limit. |
| Weasel | No limit. |
| Beaver | No limit. |
| Nutria | No limit. |
| Armadillo | No limit. |
| Groundhog | No limit. |
| Bobwhite Quail | 12 per day |
| Ruffed Grouse | 3 per day. |
| Rabbit | 12 per day. |
| Squirrel | 12 per day |
| Mourning Dove | 15 per day |
| Eurasian Collared Dove | No limit. |
| Duck | 6 ducks per day (max 4 sea ducks) with species limits |
| Canada Goose | 5 per day |
| Snow and White-fronted Goose | 5 per day. |
| Coot | 15 per day |
| Gallinule | 15 per day. |
| Rail | King & clapper 15 per day |
| Common Snipe | 8 per day. |
| American Woodcock | 3 per day. |
| American Crow | No limit. |
Limits from the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division big game seasons, small game and trapping and migratory bird pages, checked October 13, 2026.
How Georgia classes game, and what stays protected
Georgia’s legal definition of big game is deer, bear and turkey; everything else with a season, the alligator included, is small game for regulatory purposes. Free-ranging elk may not be taken without written DNR permission.
| Class | Species |
|---|---|
| Big game | White-tailed deer, Black bear, Wild turkey |
| Small game (regulatory definition incl. alligator) | American alligator (quota), Bobwhite quail, Ruffed grouse, Rabbits, Squirrels (gray, fox) |
| Furbearers (hunting and/or trapping) | Bobcat, Gray fox, Red fox, Raccoon, Opossum, Mink, Muskrat, River otter, Striped skunk, Weasel |
| Migratory game birds | Mourning dove, Ducks (incl. sea ducks, mergansers, teal), Canada goose, Snow goose, White-fronted goose, Coot, Gallinules, King, clapper, sora and Virginia rails, Common (Wilson's) snipe, American woodcock, American crow |
| Unprotected / no closed season | Coyote, Armadillo, Groundhog, Beaver, Starling, Pigeon, English (house) sparrow, Nutria, Feral hog (not wildlife; no closed season on private land), Eurasian collared dove (any time) |
| Species | Status |
|---|---|
| Free-ranging elk | Report to the local Game Management Region Office; may not be harvested without written DNR permission. |
| Brant and harlequin duck | No open season. |
| Female black bear with cub(s); any bear under 75 lb | Unlawful to kill. |
| Antlerless deer outside either-sex/antlerless days | Antlerless deer (incl. button bucks) only on either-sex or antlerless seasons/hunts. |
| Farmed deer and exotic animals held under a wild animal license | Unlawful to hunt, shoot, kill or wound farmed deer (elk, red, fallow, sika, axis deer) or exotics (mouflon, aoudad, antelope, etc.) held under a wild animal license for sport, gain or amusement. |
| Other protected species | Wildlife not open by law or regulation is protected; see georgiawildlife.com for protected species lists (not printed in the guide). |
| Wild animals generally (possession) | Holding, possessing, releasing or importing wildlife without a DNR permit is unlawful. |
| Live feral hogs | Transport of live feral hogs requires a Georgia Department of Agriculture permit; hogs captured alive without a permit must be killed before transport; release only into GDA-compliant fenced areas. |
From the 2026-27 guide (PDF) definitions and unlawful activities pages, checked October 13, 2026.
Georgia harvest, latest seasons
WRD publishes harvest figures for deer, turkey, bear and alligator only; there is no small game, furbearer or waterfowl harvest series.
deer dashboard, turkey dashboard, bear chart, alligator reports.
Georgia game species questions
How many Georgia species have a season or open take?
This guide has 34 pages, one for each species or group with a 2026-27 season or open take, from white-tailed deer to the American crow.
Which Georgia species need more than a hunting license?
Deer, bear and turkey need the Big Game License ($25.00 resident) and a free Harvest Record; alligators need a quota permit ($75.00); doves, ducks and other migratory birds need the GA Waterfowl and Migratory Bird License ($5.00); trapping needs a Trapping License ($40.00).
Which game has no season at all in Georgia?
Fall turkey, elk, pheasant and sandhill crane: the turkey season is spring only, and the other three have no season.
Which Georgia species are open all year?
Feral hogs on private land, coyotes, beavers, nutria, armadillos, groundhogs and Eurasian collared doves, plus raccoons and opossums on private land.
How big was the latest Georgia harvest?
WRD estimates 298,302 deer for 2025-26, with 12,634 gobblers reported in spring 2026, 490 bears in 2025 and 408 alligators in 2024.
Which species can be hunted at night in Georgia?
Alligators, raccoons, opossums, foxes, coyotes, bobcats and feral hogs may be hunted at night (feral hogs at night on private land only; no night hunting on WMAs/National Forest for hogs and coyotes).
Does Georgia close any hunting on Sundays?
The 2026-27 guide imposes no statewide Sunday restriction: statewide seasons run on consecutive dates including Sundays, and WMA/VPA listings schedule some hunts on Sundays. Individual WMAs, refuges and Corps lakes may restrict days of the week in their own listings.
Where do the dates and limits on these Georgia pages come from?
The 2026-27 Georgia Hunting and Fishing Regulations guide, WRD’s georgiawildlife.com pages and WRD harvest dashboards and reports, checked October 13, 2026.
Keep planning your Georgia season
Each species guide links back to its WRD source. The zone pages add county lists, day-by-day doe calendars and harvest in each zone.
Other photos on this page: USDAgov (Public domain); USFWS/Southeast (Public Domain Mark 1.0); USFWSmidwest (Public domain); USFWS/Southeast (CC BY 2.0); Wildreturn (CC BY 2.0); GlacierNPS (Public domain); Joe K Gage (CC BY-SA 2.0); Airwolfhound (CC BY-SA 2.0); sloalan (CC0 1.0); U.S. Geological Survey (CC0 1.0); Juliana Chong (CC BY 2.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (CC BY 2.0); usdanrcstexas (CC BY 2.0); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain); cuatrok77 (CC BY-SA 2.0); USFWS Mountain Prairie (Public domain); fishhawk (CC BY 2.0); ImagePerson (CC BY 4.0); Cindy Sue Causey (CC BY 2.0); Virginia State Parks staff (CC BY 2.0); USFWS/Southeast (Public domain); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Midwest Region (Public domain); chumlee10 (CC BY-SA 2.0); Yellowstone National Park (Public domain); sgharvey (CC BY 2.0); NPS Photo (Public domain); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Public Domain Mark 1.0); bgautrea (CC BY-SA 2.0); Flappy Pigeon (CC BY-SA 4.0); ZionNPS (CC BY 2.0); gary_leavens (CC BY-SA 2.0); Cumberland Island NPS (CC BY-SA 2.0); danielle.brigida (CC BY 2.0); Charles Patrick Ewing (CC BY 2.0).