Firearm Deer Hunting Season Begins Saturday

The wait is almost over for hunters.

Georgia’s deer firearms season opens Saturday and continues through Jan. 9, 2022 statewide.

Regulated deer hunting ensures that Georgia’s deer population continues to be healthy and strong.

Over one million acres of public hunting land is available to hunters in Georgia, including more than 100 state-operated wildlife management areas.

Georgia DNR Law Enforcement officer Craig Fulghum offers a few safety tips for hunters.

First if hunting from a deer stand, make sure it’s safe and you wear a safety harness.  He said there has already been a hunter fatality that happened Wednesday in Lincoln County where a hunter fell out of a stand.

Also, wear your orange reflective vest when hunting, even if you’re in a deer stand.

Finally, make sure you have signed, WRITTEN permission from the land owner to hunt on private land. Do not assume that because you had permission last year, you still have it. Often times land changes ownership from one year to the next. Also, make sure the person who says they’re the land owner really IS the land owner.

Many areas offer special hunts throughout the season, including primitive weapons and modern firearms hunts.

Dates and locations for hunts available in the 2021-2022 Georgia Hunting Seasons and Regulations guide found at http://www.eregulations.com/georgia/hunting/.

Fulghum says hunters must have two different hunting licenses to hunt deer in Georgia, a regular hunting license and a big game hunting license.

State law allows hunters to harvest up to 10 antlerless deer, and no more than two antlered deer (with one of the two antlered deer having a minimum of four points, one inch or longer, on one side of the antlers) or a minimum 15-inch outside antler spread.

Additionally, all deer hunters must report their harvest using Georgia Game Check within 24 hours of harvest.

Deer can be reported on the Outdoors GA app (which works regardless of cell service), at gooutdoorsgeorgia.com, or by calling 1-800-366-2661.

During firearms deer season last year, about 187,000 hunters harvested over 190,000 deer in the state.

For more on deer hunting, including finding a game processor, reviewing regulations, viewing maps (either sex day or the rut map), visit https://georgiawildlife.com/deer-info.