2017-18 Hunting Regulations Guide Now Available

The new 2017-18 Georgia Hunting Seasons & Regulations Guide is now available online and in print.

This year’s guide provides important information on season dates, bag limits, hunting licenses, wildlife management areas, quota hunts, youth opportunities and much more.

A copy of the new hunting guide is available online at georgiawildlife.com/hunting/regulations.

This year, there are a number of changes that hunters will want to be aware of, according to DNR Law Enforcement Officer Craig Fulghum.

Fulghum said the biggest change is a rise in the cost of all hunting and fishing licenses, which he said have not been raised in some years.

“One of the major changes was the Georgia General Assembly set forth the license increase for the resident hunters and fishermen in our state,” said Fulghum. “We haven’t had a license increase since 1992. That extra money goes to purchase land and do necessary improvements of state DNR, so you’ll notice a little bit higher prices to hunt and fish, but we’re still in the southeast, in the middle, not the highest and not the cheapest.”

Another change this year in the Georgia Hunting regulations is the addition of the new Game Check App that will give hunters a quicker way to record their harvest.

“When you harvest wildlife such as deer or turkey, you can use the new Outdoor Georgia app and you can use the game check on that app,” said Fulghum. “You can put your harvest in on your iPhone or Android and push sync on the phone and it will digitally put your harvest record on your phone. It automatically sends it to our database and you’re done as long as you have service.”

And another change is the addition of a feral hog and coyote hunting season on any Wildlife Management Area in the state from May 16-21st in 2018.

Fulghum says more coyotes have been killed this year than in years past and that has allowed the deer and other wildlife populations to flourish.

So this year, the deer hunting season has been extended.

“This year’s deer season will end January 14,” said Fulghum. “The opportunities increased by 21 days in the ridge section of the state and the valley and Piedmont regions and by 14 days in the lower coastal plains region. So depending on the area that you’re hunting, you’ll just need to go adhere to the regulations.”

Again, to obtain your copy of the 2017-18  Georgia Hunting Seasons & Regulations Guide, you can go online to georgiawildlife.com/hunting/regulations.