The Rut starts in some central Georgia counties in late October and peaks in early December in the coastal counties. (Shutterstock)
October 12, 2024
By Darron McDougal
This whitetail hunting forecast for the state of Georgia is part of Game & Fish’s “Great States" project identifying the best deer-hunting states in the country. Read more: America's Top Whitetail States Georgia Hunters Should Be Happy This Season While it isn’t the first state to jump off the map as a big-buck destination, it certainly has some big deer, thanks to careful deer management. In the last decade, about three dozen bucks were entered in the Boone & Crockett Club’s Record Book, and those are just the bucks that were entered. Recent popularity spikes from urban hunters shooting freakishly big bucks has a lot of folks rethinking what they’ve long misconceived about Georgia having “small southern deer.”
The Georgia DNR’s state deer biologist, Charlie Killmaster, said, “Nearly any of our wildlife management areas in the Piedmont region, which lies north of Macon and south of the mountains, are best for hunter success. However, the WMAs in southwest Georgia are a little better for quality bucks.”
DID YOU KNOW?
LIBERAL LIMIT Georgia allows hunters to harvest up to 12 deer each season.
If deer numbers are what interest you, Killmaster noted that Warren, Hancock and Jackson Counties have the best deer densities. These counties could be the places to try if you want to fill your liberal Georgia harvest limit. Properly licensed hunters can harvest up to 10 antlerless deer and no more than two antlered deer. One antlered deer must have a minimum of four points that are 1 inch or longer on one side of the antlers or a minimum 15-inch outside antler spread.
Advertisement
Much of Georgia features agricultural practices with mixed pine and hardwood timber. Hard masts include acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts and pecans. Soft masts include apples and persimmons. Deer also frequently hit winter wheat and clover during the hunting seasons. Folks have a lot of success in the timber when the hard masts have fallen, and other field edges tend to be productive during the early season and post-rut.
Back to the Boone & Crockett Club Record Book. Worth County is the top producer with 22 entries. Next up is Brooks County, which is on the Florida line (who would’ve thought?), with 15 entries. Dooly and Colquitt Counties have 14 and 13 entries, respectively. Bare spots with no B&C entries are along the Atlantic Coast and several counties inward, as well as the northern quarter along the Tennessee, Mississippi, and North and South Carolina borders.
THAT'S A FACT
B&C CLUB While not considered a big-buck state, Georgia boasts 35 Boone and Crockett trophy bucks.
Advertisement
Georgia’s liberal bag limits keep hunters’ freezers full all year. (Shutterstock) If you’d like to hire an outfitter for your Peach State hunt, you’re looking at $800-$1,500 on the low end. Prime rut dates in the best areas typically run $2,500 and up, depending on accommodations. Speaking of the rut, peak dates differ across the map. According to HuntStand Pro Whitetail’s Nationwide Rut Map, peak rut dates in some central Georgia counties are in late October. The coastal counties have a mid-October rut. It varies from late October to early November around Atlanta, and in the very southwest corner, you’re looking at early December for peak rut dates.
