2024 Georgia Turkey Special

This view does something deep inside a turkey hunter. WRD and other agencies across the Southeast have made adjustments to seasons and regulations to improve populations and reproduction as they dig deeper into the cause of turkey declines. Meanwhile, hunting season commences on private lands on March 30. Let’s get you ready!

The 2023 Georgia turkey season marked the second year for the state’s shorter, more restrictive season structure, and according to WRD’s Game Check data, the statewide harvest increased more than 21% from 2022. That sounds like great news for turkey hunters, but don’t start celebrating a return to the good old days of Georgia turkey hunting just yet.

Keep in mind that 2022 marked Georgia’s lowest turkey harvest in modern-day times. Much of that decrease can be attributed to new regulations implemented that year, including a shorter season that started a week later on private lands and two weeks later on public lands, as well as dropping from a three to a two-bird season limit and a one-bird daily limit. WMA hunters could only harvest one bird per WMA, up to the two-bird season limit.

Those same restrictions were in place for the 2023 season, so what was behind the 21% increase in harvest?

“We had a good hatch in 2021,” said Emily Rushton, WRD’s State Wild Turkey Coordinator. “The statewide poults-per-hen count was 1.8, which was the highest it’s been in the past 10 years, so there were a lot more two-year-old birds available (for the 2023 season).”

And more two-year-old birds typically means more gobbling and higher hunter success. That’s what makes the annual poult count such a great tool for predicting future turkey season successes. Often you can get a good idea of what kind of success Georgia hunters will have for any given season by looking at the hatch from two years prior.

That 1.8 poults per hen figure was a nice bump from the 1.5 average we’ve experienced over the last 10 years, but it’s still a far cry from the 4 poults-per-hen average of the 1980s or the 2.9-poults-per-hen we experienced in the 1990s. So what has led to such a drastic decline in turkey poults over the last 20-30 years?

“It’s a combination of things,” said Rushton. “Habitat plays a big role. We’ve lost a lot of good nesting and brood-rearing habitat, particularly in the Piedmont region. And what’s left is often a lot of edge habitat that is really good for predators.”

In addition to habitat, a decline in trapping efforts over the years has resulted in an abundance of nest predators like skunks, opossums and raccoons, and there is no shortage of coyotes or bobcats on the landscape these days, as well.

There are also concerns about the use of pesticides, and how they may be impacting habitat and insect populations that could affect poult survival, as well.

And that decline in poult production has resulted in a significant decline in turkey harvest and hunter success over the last 20 years. Based on data provided by WRD, the overall Georgia turkey harvest has declined from a high of more than 40,000 birds in 2005 to under 11,000 in 2022. Subsequently, the harvest success rate has dropped from a high of 72% in 2010 to as low as 29% in 2022.

So Georgia hunters, as a whole, are killing less than a third of the turkeys we once did. If you’ve hunted turkeys for very long, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the decline.

But it’s not just a Georgia issue.

Turkey populations appear to be declining across much of the Southeast, and many states are taking similar reactive measures, including Georgia neighbors Alabama and Tennessee.

As far as if and when these changes in season dates and bag limits will start to have a positive impact on turkey populations, Rushton says it’s too soon to tell.

“The goal is to increase reproduction long term,” said Rushton. “And we’re going to need a few more years of males surviving to reproduce and that undisturbed nesting period before we might see a bump in harvest.”

2024 Turkey Season

So, what does all this mean for Georgia turkey hunters heading into the 2024 season? Well, I wish I had better news!

If we look at the poult survey numbers for 2022, we find they dropped right back to their 1.5 poults-per-hen average. That means fewer two-year old gobblers will be available this season than last, and as a result, you will likely hear fewer gobbles.

Season dates and regulations for the 2024 Georgia turkey season are nearly identical to last season with the usual shift in dates, so the openers hit on their respective Saturdays.

Opening day for the statewide turkey season is Saturday, March 30 on private lands and Saturday, April 6 on public lands, and both wrap up on Wednesday, May 15.

Keep in mind that each of Georgia’s 100+ WMAs has specific season dates and rules, so check the current hunting regulations before heading out to any WMA.

Youth hunters (age 16 and under), and those who are mobility-impaired, continue to have a one-week jump start on the season with a March 23-24 Special Opportunity Season on private lands only.

Where To Hunt

Just because Georgia turkey numbers have been on the decline for a while doesn’t mean there isn’t great turkey hunting to enjoy in the Peach State. However, some regions and public lands offer higher odds of success than others.

Historically, the Piedmont and Upper Coastal Plain regions of Georgia have produced the highest turkey harvests. However, both of those regions have seen the most significant declines in harvest over the last 20 years.

The one region that has held much more steady and contains many of the top turkey harvest counties is the Ridge & Valley Region in the northwest corner of the state.

“The northwest region of the state always has better poult production and higher harvest levels,” said Rushton. “That’s like our stronghold for a good turkey population in the state, and I think that has to do with the landscape there. There’s some areas of really good habitat, and anecdotally, it seems like there’s not as high of a mesocarnivore population in that part of the state.”

It’s also important to note that turkey numbers not only vary at the region and county levels, but even from one property to another. If you have access to land with excellent habitat and minimal pressure, you may experience great turkey hunting year after year, while someone who hunts a lower quality property down the street may not hear the first gobble all season.

Public Land Opportunities

If you don’t have access to private land, there are plenty of public land options available. Georgia hunters are fortunate enough to have access to more than 1 million acres of public hunting land spread over 100 WMAs and two national forests.

Some of these WMAs only allow turkey hunting through a quota system, while others are open for anyone who wants to sign in and hunt.

In 2023, WMA hunters harvested 707 gobblers, up 27% from 2022. Jakes comprised about 10% of the harvest. Overall, hunters had a 5.1% success rate.

For more information about Georgia’s public-land turkey hunting, be sure to check out our 2024 Georgia WMA Turkey Special in the March issue, or on our website at GON.com for subscribers.

Summary

The good old days of Georgia turkey hunting may be in the past… for now. But there are still plenty of opportunities to have a great hunt in the Peach State. Who knows, maybe the shift to more conservative season dates and bag limits will turn the tide on the declining turkey population. Regardless, I’ll be out there on March 30 listening intently for that first gobble of the spring season.