Georgia’s 2026 turkey hunting season opened on private land Saturday, March 28 and will expand to public lands beginning April 4. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division, the season runs through May 15 on both public and private land.
Daily and seasonal limits are in place to manage the population. Hunters are permitted one gobbler per day, with a season total of two gobblers. On public lands, including Wildlife Management Areas and National Forest land, the bag limit is restricted to one gobbler per area.
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Emily Rushton, wild turkey project coordinator for the Wildlife Resources Division, noted that the 2024 data suggests better conditions for hunters this year. “If we look back to 2024, the statewide turkey reproduction rate averaged 1.8 poults per hen, which was tied with 2021 for the highest production year in the past decade,” Rushton said. “This means that hunters should see a bump in the number of 2-year-old birds in the woods and we would expect to have an increase in hunter success this season.”
All turkey hunters must obtain a free harvest record for the season, including landowners and those under age 16. Before moving a bird, hunters must record the date and county of the harvest. They are then required to complete the reporting process through Georgia Game Check within 24 hours.
License requirements vary by age and location. Residents 16 and older must possess both a hunting license and a big game license unless they are hunting on their own private land. Youth hunters under age 16 are not required to have a license. Licensing is available through the Go Outdoors Georgia website, retail vendors or by phone at 1-800-366-2661.
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Wildlife officials are continuing to evaluate the impact of regulation changes implemented four years ago. “We have seen a record high reproductive year in 2024 and a slight bump in harvest rate since 2022, though it is still too soon to say how those regulation changes have affected the population. We need a few more years of data, because highly variable factors like weather, mast crop and insect availability also affect poult production, to get a better, science-driven understanding of the turkey population’s trajectory,” Rushton said.
The management of turkey populations is supported by Georgia’s Wildlife Restoration Program. A portion of the funds spent on hunting licenses and equipment is returned to the state for habitat management and species research.
For more hunting information, including the Hunting and Fishing Regulations Guide, CLICK HERE.
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