Approximately 65 hunters met at Southern Regional Technical College in Moultrie on Tuesday night for public input about hunting regulations for the upcoming seasons. Approximately 20 hunters voiced concerns about various topics including bear hunting seasons in the Southern Zone, WMA regulations and the dates of deer season, particularly the season ending too early in most southwest Georgia counties.
Without fail, hunters across southwest Georgia voiced their experience with the rut occurring in late December and specifically mentioned the well-known fact that most rutting activity is starting about the same time the season ends.
In response, the representatives from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources stated that the second Sunday in January is the closing date for deer season. This year, the second Sunday of the new year fell on January 8 – the earliest possible ending to the season. This floating date varies from year to year, but the current framework prohibits the season from extending beyond January 15. Based on the calendar, the second Sunday in January in 2018 will fall on January 14, effectively adding a week beyond the season that just ended on January 8, 2017. In order for the “second Sunday of January” rule to be changed, it would require an act of the state legislature.
Hunters that would like to see additional changes to the hunting season should complete the survey at www.georgiawildlife.com and contact your state lawmaker. Below is the contact information for State Representatives Darlene Taylor and Jay Powell as well as State Senator Dean Burke.
You can also visit Georgia’s My Voter Page for more contact information for your elected officials.
Y is it always deer hunting and not other animals. When Silver Lake first opened we could hunt raccoons any night of the week. Now we only have a few nights during the deer season. Its not far to others that wanna hunt raccoons rather than deer. It seems all DNR is worried about is the deer. Not far, and should be addressed to maybe someone of higher authority. Every time coon hunters show up for these meetings they are told DNR either don’t wanna here what they have to say or they don’t have time to listen. We are not disturbing the deer nor are we hunting them at night. Be far to every hunter not just those that want to hunt deer.