O.C.G.A. § 27-3-15 (2019)
Seasons and bag limits; promulgation of rules and regulations by board; possession of more than bag limit; reporting number of deer killed
(a) It shall be unlawful to hunt the following game species at any time during the periods set forth below: 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 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
(5) Bobcat
March 1 - Oct. 14
Game Species
Closed Season
(6) Opossum
March 1 - Oct. 14, for that area north of and including Haralson, Paulding, Bartow, Cherokee, Forsyth, Hall, Banks, Franklin, and Hart counties
(7) Rabbit
March 1 - Oct. 31
(8) Raccoon
March 1 - Oct. 14, for that area north of and including Carroll, Fulton, Gwinnett, Barrow, Clarke, Oglethorpe, Taliaferro, Wilkes, and Lincoln counties
(9) Squirrel
March 1 - August 14
(10) Bear
Jan. 16 - Sept. 7
(11) Sea turtles and their eggs
All year
(12) Cougar (Felis concolor)
All year
(13) Alligators
Nov. 1 - March 31
(14) Migratory game birds
March 11 - August 31
(b) It shall be unlawful to hunt the following game species at any time during the period set forth below, except that it shall not be unlawful to hunt the following game species during such periods or portions thereof, and in such number not to exceed the following numbers, as may be designated by the board as open seasons and bag limits for such species: Game Species
Maximum Open Season Maximum Bag Limits Daily
Season
(1) Quail
Nov. 1 - March 15
No limit
(2) Grouse
Oct. 15 - Feb. 29
No limit
(3) Turkey gobblers
March 15 - May 21
Game Species
Maximum Open Season Maximum Bag Limits Daily
(4) Deer
Season
Sept. 8 - Jan. 15; The daily limit shall except that there be ten antlerless may be also an deer and two extended archeryantlered bucks. only open season The season limit Jan. 1 - Jan. 31 shall be ten in the counties of antlerless deer and Clayton, Cobb, two antlered bucks. DeKalb, Forsyth, Only one antlered Fulton, Gwinnett, buck may have less and Rockdale due than four points to the extra need one inch or longer for herd reduction on one side of the in that urban and antlers. suburban area of the state Up to two deer per managed hunt may be allowed on wildlife management areas without complying with the state-wide bag limit
(5) Bobcat
Oct. 15 - Feb. 29
No limit
No limit
(6) Opossum
(A) Oct. 15 - Feb. 29, for that area north of and including Haralson, Paulding, Bartow, Cherokee, Forsyth, Hall, Banks, Franklin, and Hart counties; and
No limit
No limit
(B) Jan. 1 - Dec. 31 for the remainder of the state
No limit
No limit
No limit
(7) Rabbit
Nov. 1 - Feb. 29
Game Species
(8) Raccoon
Maximum Open Season Maximum Bag Limits Daily
Season
(A) Oct. 15 - Feb. 29, for that area north of and including Carroll, Fulton, Gwinnett, Barrow, Clarke, Oglethorpe, Taliaferro, Wilkes, and Lincoln counties; and
No limit
No limit
(B) Jan. 1 - Dec. 31 for the remainder of the state
No limit
No limit
(9) Squirrel
Aug. 15 - Feb. 29
No limit
(10) Fox
Jan. 1 - Dec. 31
No limit
No limit
(11) Migratory Sept. 1 - March 10 game birds
(12) Bear
Sept. 8 - Jan. 15
(13) Alligators
April 1 - Oct. 31
Subject to limits set by the federal government and adopted by the board
Subject to limits adopted by the board
(c) In accordance with subsection (b) of this Code section and as may be appropriate, based on sound wildlife management principles, the board is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations establishing open seasons on a state-wide, regional, or local basis and establishing daily and season bag limits. (d) In accordance with subsection (b) of this Code section and in accordance with the framework of open hunting season dates for migratory game birds established by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and as may be appropriate based on sound wildlife management principles, the board is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations establishing methods of taking, daily and season bag limits, and open seasons for migratory game birds on a state-wide, regional, or local basis. The board is specifically authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations without complying with Chapter 13 of
Title 50, the ‘‘Georgia Administrative Procedure Act’’; and all rules and regulations promulgated by the board pursuant to this subsection shall be effective immediately upon adoption by the board. (e) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess more than the daily bag limit or more than the aggregate of the daily bag limits while in the field or while returning from the field to one’s automobile or principal means of land transportation or to one’s permanent abode or temporary or transient place of lodging or to a commercial storage facility or to a post office or to a common carrier facility. (f ) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section, it shall be unlawful to take the species designated below, except squirrels, by means of falconry at any time during the period March 16 through September 30; but it shall not be unlawful to take the species designated below, except squirrels, by means of falconry during the period October 1 through March 15. It shall be unlawful to take squirrels by means of falconry at any time during the period March 16 through August 14, but it shall not be unlawful to take squirrels by means of falconry at any time during the period August 15 through March 15 in such number not exceeding the bag limits for each such species as follows: Game Species
Maximum Bag Limits Daily Season
(1) Quail
No limit
(2) Grouse
No limit
(3) Rabbit
No limit
(4) Squirrel
No limit
(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.
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.)
Annotations
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).
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 35A Am. Jur. 2d, Fish, Game, and Wildlife Conservation, § 52 et seq. ALR. - Construction and application of statute or ordinance making possession of carcass of game, fish, or bird, or parts thereof, a criminal offense, 125 A.L.R. 1200.
Applicability, to domesticated or captive game, of game laws relating to closed season and the like, 74 A.L.R.2d 974. Validity, construction, and application of state wildlife possession laws, 50 A.L.R.5th 703.