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Private land doe days
Gray Archery-Only Deer Zone in Georgia
4 counties share the Gray zone calendar for antlerless deer on private land: the close-in metro Atlanta counties.
Photo: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Southwest Region (Public Domain Mark 1.0)
Gray is the archery-only zone around Atlanta: Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton (north of GA Hwy 92). There is no primitive weapons or firearms deer season here; bowhunters take either sex from Sep 12, 2026 to Jan 31, 2027. Because there is no gun season, archers here are not bound by the orange rule that applies to bowhunters elsewhere during firearms dates. Fulton County is split at GA Hwy 92: the north is Gray, the south is Green with a firearms season. The 2025-26 season brought 937 reported deer from these counties, 407 antlerless.
2026-27 Gray zone segments
Private land only. A WMA or the national forest inside a Gray county follows its own listing instead.
| Segment | Start | End | Days | Open? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery (Either-Sex) | Sep 12, 2026 | Jan 31, 2027 | 142 |
Deer seasons and either-sex days, big game seasons, checked October 13, 2026.
Which counties are Gray
Harvest is the Game Check reported total for 2025-26.
| County | Seat | WRD office | Extended archery | Antlers | Dog-deer | 2025-26 deer | Deer/sq mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton | Jonesboro | Armuchee | Yes | – | – | 125 | 0.9 |
| Cobb | Marietta | Armuchee | Yes | – | – | 611 | 1.8 |
| DeKalb | Decatur | Gainesville | Yes | – | – | 201 | 0.7 |
| Fulton (north of GA Hwy 92) | Atlanta | Armuchee | Yes | – | – | Split county | – |
Bowhunters in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton get until Jan. 31.
Either-sex zone map (read from the guide’s map image), deer regulations, Game Check by county, checked October 13, 2026.
Gray zone harvest trend
The current season is still in progress and not shown.
| Season | Reported | Bucks | Does | WRD estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 937 | 530 | 407 | 1,247 |
| 2024-25 | 1,093 | 598 | 495 | 1,491 |
| 2023-24 | 1,040 | 559 | 481 | 1,244 |
| 2022-23 | 968 | 527 | 441 | 1,302 |
| 2021-22 | 850 | 473 | 377 | 1,130 |
| 2020-21 | 839 | 457 | 382 | 1,089 |
| 2019-20 | 776 | 408 | 368 | 1,098 |
| 2018-19 | 727 | 385 | 342 | 1,046 |
| 2017-18 | 602 | 340 | 262 | 846 |
| 2016-17 | 653 | 333 | 320 | 898 |
WRD deer harvest by county (Game Check and compliance-adjusted estimates), checked October 13, 2026.
Gray zone public land for deer
Deer areas in Gray counties, biggest first.
| Public area | Type | Counties | Size, acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panola Mountain State Park | State Park | Rockdale, DeKalb | 1,635 |
Public areas listing deer, from WRD’s area listings, retrieved 2026-10-13.
Questions about the Gray zone
Which Georgia counties use the Gray calendar?
Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton (north of GA Hwy 92).
When are does legal in the Gray zone?
There is no firearms deer season in this zone.
Can archers take antlerless deer in Gray?
For archers the answer is yes: either sex through the archery dates. Archery tackle stays either sex during the firearms weeks too.
Do zone dates cover public land?
The Gray calendar stops at the WMA boundary. Chattahoochee NF east of I-75 never opens for does.
Which county leads the Gray zone in harvest?
Cobb, with 611 deer reported in 2025-26.
What is the deer limit in the Gray zone?
No zone limit; Georgia’s season bag of 12, 10 antlerless at most, applies.
What is the orange rule in Gray?
No firearms season means no orange rule for archers in archery-only counties.
How sure is the Gray county list?
We read the county colours off the map image in the 2026-27 guide. The map file carries a 2025 name. Ask WRD if your tract straddles a line.
Other photos on this page: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Calistemon (CC BY-SA 4.0); USFWS/Southeast (CC BY 2.0); USFWS Mountain Prairie (Public domain); michaelhunter5 (CC BY 2.0); irio.jyske (CC BY 2.0).