Georgia Turkey Hunting Archives

05May 2019 by Brian Grossman 1 Comment

Georgia Turkey Season Update – 5/5/2019

With less than two weeks left in Georgia's turkey season, are you wondering how hunters have done in your county or on your favorite WMA? Below is a breakdown of reported harvests in each of Georgia's 159 counties, as well as on all of Georgia's public lands open to turkey hunting. Right now, the top three counties for turkey harvest are Polk (231), Floyd (223), and Bartow (219), and the top three public land tracts are the Chattahoochee National Forest (228), Paulding Forest WMA (55), and Fort Steward (50). How has your turkey season been? Has the action better or worse than last season? Feel free to discuss the results from your favorite WMA in the comments section below or in our Georgia Turkey Hunting Facebook group. Private Land Turkey…

30Apr 2019 by Brian Grossman 2 Comments

Does Prescribed Fire Negatively Impact Turkey Nesting?

Georgia Turkey Hunting

There's been a lot of talk recently about whether prescribed fire, particularly those conducted by the DNR on wildlife management areas, is having a negative impact on turkey populations. Most of these talks have simply been based on assumptions and speculation. Recently, however, there was a post on Facebook by University of Georgia professor Michael Chamberlain — who spends his days studying the wild turkey — that discussed these potential impacts using actual scientific research. Michael graciously gave me the okay to share that post in this article, and I have done so below. If you're a turkey hunter, I encourage you to follow Michael on his Instagram and Twitter accounts, as he regularly shares interesting facts on the biology and behavior of wild turkeys. "Ok, this will be a…

14Apr 2019 by Brian Grossman 1 Comment

Georgia Turkey Season Update – 4/14/2019

Georgia Turkey Hunting

Wondering how Georgia turkey hunters are doing in your county or on your favorite WMA this turkey season? Below is a breakdown of reported harvests in each of Georgia's 159 counties, as well as on all of Georgia's public lands open to turkey hunting. Right now, the top three counties for turkey harvest are Polk (170), Floyd (155), and Burke (153), and the top four public land tracts are the Chattahoochee National Forest (151), Paulding Forest WMA (38), Redlands WMA and Oconee National Forest (tied at 30). How has your turkey season gone so far? Has the action better or worse than last season? Feel free to discuss the results from your favorite WMA in the comments section below or in our Georgia Turkey Hunting Facebook group. Private Land Turkey…

02Feb 2019 by Brian Grossman No Comments

Apply Now for Georgia’s 2019 Quota Turkey Hunts

Georgia Turkey Hunting

Time is quickly running out to apply for one of Georgia’s 2019 turkey quota hunts. The deadline to apply is February 15. Forty-nine quota hunts are available on 25 of Georgia’s Wildlife Management Areas (See table below). Easiest Quota Turkey Hunts to Draw For the hunter without preference points, there are a few options available that should (based on the 2017 drawing) provide you with an opportunity to get in the field this spring, including: the Alapha River 2nd hunt, Big Lazer 3rd hunt, Chattahoochee Fall Line – Almo 2nd hunt, Chattahoochee Fall Line – Ft. Perry 2nd hunt, Chickasawhatchee 2nd and 3rd hunt, Griffin Ridge 3rd hunt, Joe Kurz 3rd hunt, Ocmulgee 2nd hunt, Rum Creek 2nd hunt, and the Silver Lake 2nd hunt. Most Difficult Quota Turkey Hunts…

19May 2017 by Brian Grossman No Comments

2016-2017 Public Land Turkey Harvest Comparison

Georgia Turkey Hunting

Georgia's 2017 turkey season has come and gone and a lot of hunters were left wondering about the state of Georgia's turkey population. If you base your figures on the harvest numbers generated by the relatively new call-in deer and turkey check system, then you may find your self somewhat alarmed. Those "harvest numbers" are down well over 50% when compared to estimated harvest numbers before the call-in system. But is the harvest really down that much or is it simply a factor of many folks not taking the time to properly check their harvested bird? Most likely it is more the latter, but we'll dive into that topic more in a future article. This week, we wanted to look at this year's public land harvest compared to last year's.…

16May 2017 by Brian Grossman No Comments

Public Land Results from Georgia’s 2017 Turkey Season

Georgia Turkey Hunting

Wondering how hunters did on your favorite WMA this turkey season? Below is a breakdown of reported harvests on all of Georgia's public lands open to turkey hunting. In a future article, we'll compare this results to last year's and see how hunters this season fared compared to last season. We'll also be looking at a county-by-county breakdown of turkey harvests on private land in Georgia. How did you do Georgia's public lands this turkey season? Was the action better or worse than last season? Feel free to discuss the results from your favorite WMA in the comments section below. Weapon Type WMA Beard >= 6 in. Beard < 6 in. Total Archery Firearm Muzzleloader Alapaha River WMA 9 0 9 0 9 0 Alexander WMA 2 1 3 0…

09Mar 2017 by Brian Grossman No Comments

Georgia’s Special Opportunity Turkey Season for Youth and Mobility-Impaired Hunters

Georgia Turkey Hunting

The statewide turkey hunting season opens on March 25. However, youth and mobility-impaired hunters utilizing private land have a chance to harvest a bird during a special early opportunity turkey season on March 18-19, 2017, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division. “What a fantastic opportunity for two deserving groups to get a chance to get in the woods before the season opens statewide the following weekend,” said John Bowers, chief of WRD Game Management. This weekend hunt opportunity is available only for youth 16 years of age and younger or hunters that are mobility impaired (i.e. confined to a wheelchair, hemiplegia, monoplegia, paraplegia, or single-leg amputation above the knee). Youth hunters must be accompanied by an adult (18 years or older) who may call for…

07Mar 2017 by Brian Grossman No Comments

2016 Georgia Turkey Harvest by County

Georgia Turkey Hunting

How successful were turkey hunters in the county where you hunt? Find out in the table below and feel free to discuss the results in the comments section below. County Beard >= 6 in. Beard < 6 in. Total Archery Firearm Muzzleloader Appling 58 4 62 3 59 0 Atkinson 24 0 24 0 24 0 Bacon 30 2 32 0 32 0 Baker 26 0 26 0 26 0 Baldwin 47 5 52 7 45 0 Banks 47 13 60 0 60 0 Barrow 7 2 9 0 9 0 Bartow 170 41 211 6 202 3 Ben Hill 45 1 46 0 46 0 Berrien 66 3 69 1 68 0 Bibb 19 1 20 0 20 0 Bleckley 46 4 50 1 49 0 Brantley 45 5…

05Feb 2017 by Brian Grossman No Comments

Apply Now for Georgia’s 2017 Turkey Quota Hunts

Georgia Turkey Hunting

Georgia turkey hunters have just over a week remaining to put in for one of the state’s turkey quota hunts. The deadline to apply is February 15. Forty-five quota hunts are available on 23 of Georgia’s Wildlife Management Areas (See table below). Easiest Hunts to Draw For the hunter without preference points, there are a few options available that should (based on the 2015 drawing) provide you with an opportunity to get in the field this spring, including: the Big Lazer 3rd hunt, Blanton Creek 2nd hunt, Chattahoochee Fall Line – Almo 2nd and 3rd hunt, Chattahoochee Fall Line – Ft. Perry 2nd hunt, Chickasawhatchee 2nd hunt, Dukes Creek 3rd hunt, Griffin Ridge 2nd and 3rd hunt, Joe Kurz 3rd hunt, Ocmulgee 2nd hunt, Oconee 2nd hunt, River Bend 2nd…

19Jan 2017 by Brian Grossman No Comments

Bag Your Bird on Opening Day

Georgia Turkey Hunting

There’s nothing more discouraging than arriving at your favorite hunting spot on the opening morning of turkey season, and not being able to get a bird to gobble. That’s exactly the situation I found myself in back in April of 2008. The fact that the temperature was hovering right around the freezing mark and there was a heavy frost on the ground probably didn’t help matters any. Despite the lack of gobbling activity, I knew from my time preseason scouting that birds frequented this field and it was a popular strutting ground for at least one mature gobbler. After popping up my portable blind, I positioned my new Primos B-mobile and She-mobile decoys 20 yards out and got situated for the morning hunt. I would occasionally make some soft clucks…