Georgia Code
Part 1 - General Provisions
§ 27-3-15. Seasons and Bag Limits; Promulgation of Rules and Regulations by Board; Possession of More Than Bag Limit; Deer Management Assistance Program

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Game Species Closed Season (1) Quail March 16 — Oct. 31 (2) Grouse March 1 — Oct. 14 (3) Turkey (A) Gobblers May 22 — March 14 (B) Hens All year (4) Deer Jan. 16 — Sept. 7; except that as may be appropriate, and based solely on sound wildlife management principles, the department may by rule extend the season by region, by county, or locale to Jan. 31 for archery only. (5) Bobcat March 1 — Oct. 14 (6) Opossum No closed season, except as may be adopted by the board (7) Rabbit March 1 — Oct. 31 (8) Raccoon No closed season, except as may be adopted by the board (9) Squirrel March 1 — August 14 (10) Bear Jan. 16 — Sept. 7 (11) Sea turtles and their eggs All year (12) Cougar (Puma concolor) All year (13) Alligators Nov. 1 — March 31 (14) Migratory game birds March 11 — August 31
Game Species Maximum Open Season Maximum Bag Limits Daily Season (1) Quail Nov. 1 — March 15 12 No limit (2) Grouse Oct. 15 — Feb. 29 3 No limit (3) Turkey gobblers March 15 — May 21 3 3 (4) Deer Sept. 8 — Jan. 15; 12 12 except that as may be appropriate and based solely on sound wildlife management principles, the department may by rule extend the season by region, by county, or locale to Jan. 31 for archery only The department may by rule exempt deer taken on department managed lands from the state-wide bag limit. (5) Bobcat Oct. 15 — Feb. 29 No limit No limit (6) Opossum Jan. 1 — Dec. 31 No limit No limit (7) Rabbit Nov. 1 — Feb. 29 12 No limit (8) Raccoon Jan. 1 — Dec. 31 No limit No limit (9) Squirrel Aug. 15 — Feb. 29 12 No limit (10) Fox Jan. 1 — Dec. 31 No limit No limit (11) Migratory game birds Sept. 1 — March 10 Subject to limits set by the federal government and adopted by the board (12) Bear Sept. 8 — Jan. 15 2 2 The department may by rule exempt bear taken on department managed lands from the state-wide bag limit. (13) Alligators April 1 — Oct. 31 Subject to limits adopted by the board
Game Species Maximum Bag Limits Daily Season (1) Quail 12 No limit (2) Grouse 3 No limit (3) Rabbit 12 No limit (4) Squirrel 12 No limit
History. Code 1933, § 45-513, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 396, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 816, § 46; Ga. L. 1979, p. 394, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1979, p. 678, §§ 26, 27; Ga. L. 1980, p. 95, § 2; Ga. L. 1980, p. 323, § 3; Ga. L. 1981, p. 798, §§ 9-12; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 27; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1263, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 3, § 20; Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 27; Ga. L. 1988, p. 323, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 835, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 848, §§ 4, 5; Ga. L. 1989, p. 253, § 2; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1552, § 3; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 27; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2863, § 6; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1472, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1179, § 6; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1218, §§ 1, 2/HB 292; Ga. L. 2010, p. 952, § 4/SB 474; Ga. L. 2019, p. 808, § 5/SB 72; Ga. L. 2020, p. 827, § 4-2/HB 998; Ga. L. 2021, p. 105, § 2-4/HB 362; Ga. L. 2022, p. 743, § 1/HB 1147.
The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, in subsection (a), in the table, modified the Closed Season entries for items (4), (6), and (8), by substituting “except that as may be appropriate, and based solely on sound wildlife management principles, the department may by rule extend the season by region, by county, or locale to Jan. 31 for archery only” for “except that the closed season may be Feb. 1 — Sept. 7 in those counties specified as having an extended archery-only open season in paragraph (4) of subsection (b) of this Code section” in item (4), deleting “, for that area north of and including Haralson, Paulding, Bartow, Cherokee, Forsyth, Hall, Banks, Franklin, and Hart counties” in item (6), and by deleting “, for that area north of and including Carroll, Fulton, Gwinnett, Barrow, Clarke, Oglethorpe, Taliaferro, Wilkes, and Lincoln counties” in item (8); and substituted “Puma concolor” for “Felis concolor” in item (12); and, in subsection (b), in the table, rewrote the entries for items (4), (6), (8), and (12).
The 2020 amendment, effective August 5, 2020, deleted former subsection (g), which read; “(g)(1) The department shall report to the General Assembly on or before the fifth day of February of each year the estimated number of deer killed, by sex, in the immediately preceding season.
“(2) Upon completion of its annual analysis of data from the immediately preceding season, the department shall report to the General Assembly on the same day that it reports to the Board of Natural Resources each year the actual number of deer killed, by sex, in the immediately preceding season.”
The 2021 amendment, effective April 27, 2021, added subsection (g).
The 2022 amendment, effective May 10, 2022, in the table in subsection (a), substituted “No closed season, except as may be adopted by the board” for “March 1 — Oct. 14” in items (6) and (8); and, in the table in subsection (b), substituted “Jan. 1 — Dec. 31” for “Oct. 15 — Feb. 29” in items (6) and (8).
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1987, “August” was substituted for “Aug.” in paragraph (a)(14).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1989, a period was deleted at the end of paragraph (b)(13).
Law reviews.
For article, “Game and Fish: Wildlife Generally,” see 28 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 181 (2011).