Here’s a Look at Georgia’s Doe Days by County for the 2024-2025 Deer Season
The 2024-2025 Georgia deer season kicks off Saturday, September 14 for archery, October 12 for primitive weapons, and October 19 for firearms.
In this article, we’ll highlight complete season dates, including a county-by-county breakdown of either-sex days (or doe days as they are often referred).
Georgia Deer Season Dates
| Archery Season | Sept. 14 – Oct. 11, 2024 |
| Extended Archery Season* | Jan. 15 – 31, 2025 |
| Primitive Weapons Season | Oct. 12 – 18, 2024 |
| Firearms Season | Oct. 19, 2024 – Jan. 12, 2025 |
| Extended Firearms Season** | Oct. 19, 2024 – Jan. 15, 2024 |
*Includes Baker, Barrow, Bibb, Chatham, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, Decatur, DeKalb, Douglas, Early, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Grady, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Miller, Mitchell, Muscogee, Paulding, Richmond, Rockdale, Seminole, and Thomas Counties
**Includes Baker, Decatur, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, Thomas, and Seminole Counties
Georgia Doe Days for 2024-2025
Last year, the Georgia DNR implemented significant changes to Georgia’s doe days, expanding the opportunity to take does across much of the state. And since this deer season is the second season of a two-year regulation cycle, there were no significant changes for 2024.
Of the counties that allow firearms deer hunting, all but 13 now allow doe harvest every day of the firearms deer season.
Here’s a breakdown of the counties that still have limited doe days:
November 30-December 1 and January 1
Rabun and Towns counties
November 8-14 and January 1
Fannin and Union counties
November 8-14, November 22-28, and December 30-January 12
Dawson, Gilmer, Habersham, Lumpkin, Murray, Pickens, Stephens, White, and Whitfield counties.
Buck Only Dates for Southwest Georgia
Beginning in 2023, archery deer hunters can only harvest antlered bucks for the first two weeks of the season (Sept. 14-27) in Baker, Decatur, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, Thomas, and Seminole Counties. That’s due to the area’s late rut, which results in fawns being dropped later in the summer. The buck-only dates reduce the chance of hunters killing does that are still weaning their fawns.
“Because of late breeding there were also some concerns that some fawns may not be fully weaned at the start of archery season,” said Georgia Deer Biologist, Charlie Killmaster. “So we proposed making the first couples of weeks buck only to address this issue.”
Public Land Doe Days
Each Georgia WMA has it’s own season dates and regulations, which are too comprehensive to cover in this article. Check out the current Georgia Hunting Regulations for the specific WMA you plan to hunt for more information.
Chattahoochee National Forest (outside of WMAs)
West of I-75: Buck only except during county either-sex days
East of I-75: Closed to antlerless deer hunting
Oconee National Forest (outside of WMAs)
Either-sex Days (doe days): Nov. 2-3, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, and Dec. 28-29
Bag Limits
Deer bag limits for deer season remains unchanged at 12: ten antlerless and 2 antlered bucks. One of the two antlered deer must have at least 4 points, one inch or longer, on one side of the antlers or at least a 15-inch outside spread.
Some counties have additional antler restrictions above and beyond the statewide ones, including:
Dooly & Macon: antlered bucks must have a minimum outside antler spread of 15 inches to be legal.
Hancock, Harris, Meriwether, Montgomery Randolph, Talbot & Troup: antlered bucks must have a minimum of 4 points, 1-inch or longer, on either antler or a minimum 15-inch outside antler spread to be legal.
