Firearm deer season starts Saturday. Here’s a new law you should know before hunting.
Polish your rifles and get your camo ready. It’s time to hunt.
The much anticipated start to firearm deer hunting season starts tomorrow and continues through Jan. 8, 2023.
“We are shaping up for an excellent deer season. Last season, the buck harvest dipped a little, so hopefully we will have more mature bucks this year,” said Charlie Killmaster, a Georgia deer biologist for the Wildlife Resources Division.
Participating in deer hunting not only keeps the deer population healthy, but it is also a great way to get locally-sourced, lean meat for you and your family.
If you plan on hunting, there is a new law to be aware of: if you are hunting deer in surrounding states, hunters may only bring boned out meat, hides and skulls with antlers attached back home with them; there must be no soft tissue attached to bones.
This law helps prevent the introduction and spread of chronic waste disease (CWD) in Georgia. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CWD is a progressive, fatal disease that affects the brain, spinal cord and many other tissues of farmed and free-ranging deer, elk and moose.
As of June 2022, cases were reported in neighboring states Alabama and North Carolina, but not in Georgia.
Another very important reminder to hunters: there’s a state-wide harvest limit of 10 antlerless deer and two antlered deer.
In Macon, the bucks have to have a minimum spread of 15 inches and several other counties have their own regulations. Check yours by going to the Georgia Hunting Regulations website.
Here are a few quick facts for Georgia hunters:
Last year’s hunting season brought around 214,000 deer in by over about 210,000 hunters
In Georgia, more than one million acres of public hunting land is available to licensed hunters
There are more than 100 wildlife management areas in the state, available for hunting
After harvesting a deer, hunters must report the kill within 24 hours to the Georgia Game Check
More information is available on the GA DNR’s Deer Information & Resources page.
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 1:44 PM.
