The 2023-2024 Georgia deer season kicks off Saturday, September 9 for archery, October 14 for primitive weapons, and October 21 for firearms.
In this article, we’ll highlight complete season dates, including a county-by-county breakdown of either-sex days (or doe days as they are often referred), as well as a few significant changes in store for the upcoming season.
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Georgia Deer Season Dates
*Includes Baker, Barrow, Bibb, Chatham, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, Decatur, DeKalb, Douglas, Early, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Grady, Gwinnett, Hall,Henry, Miller, Mitchell, Muscogee, Paulding, Richmond, Rockdale, Seminole, and Thomas Counties
**Includes Baker, Decatur, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, Thomas, and Seminole Counties
Georgia’s New Extended Firearms Season
One significant change is an extended season focused on eight counties in the Southwest corner of the state, including Baker, Decatur, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, Seminole, and Thomas.
The changes are based on data collected from does in the area which showed that the rut peaks there later than the rest of the state.
“Southwest Georgia has a later peak rut than most of the rest of the state, but we didn’t have enough breeding data to make a change,” said Georgia DNR state deer biologist Charlie Killmaster. “Starting three years ago, we began working with landowners and hunt clubs to collect breeding data in 10 counties. The eight counties we proposed changes for had late enough peak ruts in at least a portion of the county to justify the change.”
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To help deer hunters in this area take advantage of that late rut activity, the DNR proposed extending the firearms deer season in the eight counties through January 15.
In addition to the extended firearms deer season, bowhunters in those counties will get additional time in the field with an extended archery season until January 31. That’s the latest the DNR can keep deer season open without an act of the legislature.
Since a late rut results in fawns being dropped later in the summer, the DNR also proposed limiting hunters in this new zone to bucks only for the first two weeks of archery deer season to reduce the chance of killing does that are still weaning their fawns.
“Because of late breeding there were also some concerns that some fawns may not be fully weaned at the start of archery season,” said Killmaster. “So we proposed making the first couples of weeks buck only to address this issue.”
Changes for the Remainder of the State
The rest of the state will not see any changes to the upcoming deer season dates other than the annual shift in dates so the season openers fall on their respective Saturdays.
The one exception is Richmond County, which will be included in the state’s extended archery season.
Georgia Doe Days for 2023-2024
The other significant change for the 2023 Georgia deer season is the expansion of doe days across much of the state. Of the counties that allow firearms deer hunting, all but 13 will now allow doe harvest every day of the firearms deer season.
Here’s a breakdown of the counties that still have limited doe days:
November 25-26 and January 1
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Rabun and Towns counties
November 3-9 and January 1
Fannin and Union counties
November 3-9, 17-23, and January 1-14
Dawson, Gilmer, Habersham, Lumpkin, Murray, Pickens, Stephens, White, and Whitfield counties.
Bag Limits
Deer bag limits for deer season remains unchanged at 12: ten antlerless and 2 antlered bucks. One of the two antlered deer must have at least 4 points, one inch or longer, on one side of the antlers or at least a 15-inch outside spread.
Some counties have additional antler restrictions above and beyond the statewide ones, including:
Dooly & Macon: antlered bucks must have a minimum outside antler spread of 15 inches to be legal.
Hancock, Harris, Meriwether, Montgomery Randolph, Talbot & Troup: antlered bucks must have a minimum of 4 points, 1-inch or longer, on either antler or a minimum 15-inch outside antler spread to be legal.
To hear more about the upcoming Georgia deer season, check out our video podcast with Georgia DNR’s state deer biologist, Charlie Killmaster.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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