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Georgia · 2026-27 season year

Georgia Deer Season 2026-27

The rut peaks at different times zone by zone. Archery: September 12, 2026 to January 31, 2027. Firearms: October 17, 2026 to January 10, 2027. Every date below comes from Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, linked beside it. See the best days to hunt this week.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 2, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.
September 12, 2026 to January 31, 2027
Archery
published
October 17, 2026 to January 10, 2027
Firearms
published
October 10, 2026 to October 16, 2026
Primitive Weapons
published
2 zone rows
Zone structure
as the agency draws it
The four questions in one

Georgia deer seasons, 2026-27

“When does deer season open” is four questions wearing one coat. Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division dates white-tailed deer seasons separately by weapon, so each one is below under the agency’s own name for it, with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them.

Archery

published

Archery runs September 12, 2026 to January 31, 2027 across all zones.

Georgia archery, as published by Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideSeptember 12, 2026October 9, 2026
Extended archery countiesSeptember 12, 2026January 31, 2027The county list is on the agency's deer hunting regulations page

Dates read from Deer Seasons, 2026-2027 Georgia Hunting and Fishing Regulations, accessed 2026-09-02.

Georgia runs one statewide deer calendar rather than zoned openers, with a longer extended archery season in the counties the division designates. The division colour codes its either sex opportunity days by area, and those days sit inside the windows above.

Firearms

published

Firearms runs October 17, 2026 to January 10, 2027 across all zones.

Georgia firearms, as published by Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 17, 2026January 10, 2027

Dates read from Deer Seasons, 2026-2027 Georgia Hunting and Fishing Regulations, accessed 2026-09-02.

Nearly three months of statewide firearms season. The division lists a small number of counties and areas where firearms deer hunting is not allowed at all; those are named on its own page.

Primitive Weapons

published

Primitive Weapons runs October 10, 2026 to October 16, 2026 across all zones.

Georgia primitive weapons, as published by Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 10, 2026October 16, 2026

Dates read from Deer Seasons, 2026-2027 Georgia Hunting and Fishing Regulations, accessed 2026-09-02.

A one week statewide primitive weapons season between the archery and firearms windows.

Youth-Only Firearms

published

Youth-Only Firearms runs October 10, 2026 to October 16, 2026 across all zones.

Georgia youth-only firearms, as published by Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideOctober 10, 2026October 16, 2026Runs the same week as primitive weapons

Dates read from Deer Seasons, 2026-2027 Georgia Hunting and Fishing Regulations, accessed 2026-09-02.

Georgia dates its youth only firearms season on the same week as primitive weapons rather than giving it a separate weekend.

Which days to sit, this week

Woodbine, GA · peak breeding about Oct 16

Rated Slow to Prime from the rut stage, the National Weather Service forecast and first light. See the full Georgia deer movement forecast, with the hour to be in the stand, why each day rates as it does, and a week for your own ZIP.

Reference the tables below to see your area's Either-Sex deer hunting opportunities on private land.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, read September 2, 2026. Read it at the source
Zones

Georgia deer zones

Georgia does not have a deer season. It has 2 of them, and the boundaries between them were drawn by Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division along highways, rivers and county fragments rather than anything you can see from a stand. In several states those boundaries are not even the same from one weapon season to the next.

This page publishes the agency’s zone names and links the agency’s own zone map, which is where a hunter’s zone is determined. A wrong zone answer is a wrong season date.

Alert white-tailed buck standing in bare late fall brush at dusk
A buck on the move in bare November brush at Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota. Photo: Liz Julian/USFWS. “White-tailed Deer, Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota” — Liz Julian / USFWS Mountain Prairie — Public domain
Rules

Georgia deer hunting regulations

Season windows are carried here with their source and read date attached. Everything else a hunter is bound by is set by Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Georgia regulations

Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours, tagging and reporting, and license and permit requirements for Georgia are set by Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division: current regulations
Two hunters in blaze orange and camouflage beside a wheelchair at the edge of bare winter woods, one helping the other with gear
Getting ready at the edge of the winter woods on a mobility assisted deer hunt. Many states date a season specifically for hunters with disabilities, and those windows are on the state pages. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps. “USMC-11410” — U.S. Marine Corps (official photo, marines.mil) — Public domain

Deer season dates in other states

Georgia deer movement forecastThe next 7 days rated Slow to Prime for deer movement, from the forecast and first light.Georgia deer rutThe biology beside the calendar: when deer actually breed here, from the agency conception studies. Dates are this page; the rut is that one.Georgia turkey seasonSpring and fall wild turkey windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Georgia duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Georgia fall foliagePeak color and the archery weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Georgia deer season questions

Buck with antlers in velvet standing in tall summer grass in golden light
A buck still in velvet in late summer. The earliest archery openers land within weeks of antlers hardening. “White-tailed Deer Buck in Velvet (48804848567)” — USFWS Mountain Prairie — Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026. Every season window is republished from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division page linked beside it, read on September 2, 2026; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours and license rules are set by Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national deer season guide and the Georgia rut timing page.