Rate Your Deer Season Survey

The 2024-25 Georgia deer season ratings didn’t change much from the 2023-24 season, with again more than 25 percent of hunters claiming “Excellent” deer seasons. This is a far cry from 10 years ago when just 10.7 percent of hunters rated their 2015-16 deer seasons as Excellent.

However, last season was not all a bed of roses. Hurricane Helene is likely the culprit that brought a 1.6 percent uptick of hunters who rated their season as “Poor,” when compared to the 2023-24 season. Those hunters either hunted less, couldn’t access property or the devastation of downed trees altered deer patterns.

We had 1,399 responses to the season survey. With such an outpouring of responses, we were only able to publish 31% of the comments in the magazine. However, all county comments are online at GON.com.

In addition to the Rate Your Season Survey, GON readers also answered questions on new turkey hunting regulations that went affect in 2022. Those results are on page 80.  County comments start below and go to page 87. For each county you will see a letter and number, which shows the number of season ratings for that county (e-excellent, g-good, etc.).

Appling Co. E-1, F-2

Excellent: Plenty of deer.

Fair: Not much of a rut this season.

Fair: Did not see that many deer, the bucks I saw were small and not shooters.

Atkinson Co. E-1

Excellent: Saw many deer this year, was able to harvest several.

Bacon Co. E-1

Excellent: Saw a lot of bucks, killed one, 135 inches.

Baldwin Co. E-2, G-7, F-1

Excellent: We had plenty of deer but only took one nice buck. We had more young bucks this year than last. Our seed crop looks healthy. If we could convince other hunters in the surrounding areas to take only mature bucks, we would have a bright future.

Excellent: I killed eight deer, including two nice 8-pointers.

Good: Plenty of deer this season.

Good: I saw a lot of does and approximately 40 different bucks. I shot two does but did not encounter a buck that I wanted to harvest. My father hunted with me this year, and he took four does and two nice bucks.

Good: I mostly bowhunt. The acorn crop usually doesn’t start dropping until after the archery season is over. So mostly get to hunt archery-only areas, few open during the rut, though. But still managed to take a good 8-pointer.

Good: Saw lots of bucks. Loads of young bucks. Too many does.

Good: One buck and two does. Would’ve liked to see bigger bucks in my area and actually get a few more for the freezer.

Good: Saw plenty of deer on a small tract and had a couple that showed lots of potential that were still there toward the end of the season.

Good: Movement was hit or miss. Some days they moved great and some nothing at all. That’s hunting but even on some days the weather seemed perfect for movement, but the deer didn’t seem to agree. Overall good season though.

Fair: Number of different deer seen, was lower than past seasons.

Banks Co. E-4, G-5, F-1

Excellent: We’ve had our property for five years. The people before us shot everything they saw. First year I saw four deer. We’ve managed it and now have an amazing herd. I saw 32 bucks this year that I know were different deer. It’s only gonna get better.

Excellent: Saw deer every time I was in the stand. Plus I killed my biggest buck ever.

Excellent: Saw plenty of bucks and does. Herd in my area seems to be very healthy.

Good: There were lots of does, several mature bucks, as well, but lots of smaller bucks.

Good: Saw a lot of deer this year, with several mature bucks.

Good: Saw plenty of deer—does and bucks—but just couldn’t catch up to the one I was after. He was smart.

Good: I don’t get to hunt much anymore, but the three days I did, I saw several nice bucks, and I got a doe, so overall it was good.

Fair: Did not see as many deer this year as in the past few years.

Barrow Co. G-3, F-3, P-1

Good: Good deer population. Mature bucks were off this year but still plenty seen that will be mature next year or two if they make it through.

Good: Harvested four deer total. A lot of activity.

Good: I saw plenty of deer and got what I needed for the freezer.

Fair: Deer herd less every year. Too many subdivisions.

Fair: Property that I hunt isn’t very rural but I usually see more quantity of deer. Very few bucks observed. Only small bucks seen in the stand. Camera pictures proved what I was seeing.

Poor: Deer are becoming less populated.

Bartow Co. E-4, G-7, P-1

Excellent: Nice 9-point.

Excellent: Killed one excellent 8-pointer and one 4-pointer on my own 15 acres.

Excellent: Saw a heap of deer ever day…some right in the backyard.

Excellent: Lots of deer on every hunt and took a nice buck and a couple of does.

Good: Lots of does, not so many big bucks.

Good: Saw lots of deer but mainly young bucks. Wanted to let them go and grow another year or two.

Good: Good for seeing deer in the early season. Saw several bucks early bow season. My wife and I both got bucks in rifle season. Jan. 16 after season went out, I had two bucks fighting over a doe. They knocked over my Moultrie feeder and broke it all to pieces. Got the pics to prove it.

Poor: Closure of WMA land in my county.

Ben Hill Co. G-2, F-3

Good: Based on what I’ve seen while in the stand. My neighbor is rough on small bucks, so I can’t rate my season on trophy quality.

Fair: Saw mostly small deer that appeared young. Our club has an 8-point or better rule. I saw no shooters this year.

Fair: I saw plenty of deer. Most deer were young. I saw no mature bucks while in the stand and only had one on camera. I did have several young bucks that will be studs next year. They seemed to have made it through from pictures of them after the season ended. Hogs are becoming a problem on our land, an area that has never seen hogs until the beginning of last season.

Fair: Saw more bucks than does. Majority of does were not much bigger than their yearlings. I guess they bred as yearlings after the previous deer season.

Berrien Co. E-1, G-5, F-2

Excellent: Saw lots of deer and was able to harvest two nice bucks and two does.

Good: Storm messed up woods and not as many deer sightings as in previous years.

Good: I feel our property has improved year after year. This coming season will be our 26th year. We have implemented protein feeders and introduced a deworming additive. I have spoken to deer farmers and biologists and most say worms are one of the things that affect wild deer the most. Since introducing these things, we have noticed the survival rate of fawns has increased dramatically. The doe herd has increased, which has increased the success rate of putting meat in the freezer every year for all of the lease members. Of course the bucks on the property have increased in antler size and weight, as well.

Good: I had several trail-camera pictures of mature bucks and a lot of younger bucks.

Good: We’ve leased 750 acres for the last 26 years. Deer are corn and protein fed with improved numbers of does and of course healthier antlers over the last few years since starting protein. All hunters on lease are able to harvest and put meat in their freezer yearly.

Fair: The last two hurricanes, one in September and one in October.

Fair: Saw lots of deer. Nothing big.

Bibb Co. E-1, G-1

Excellent: Great hunting opportunities in Georgia. Freezer is full.

Good: Saw a lot of deer.

Bleckley Co. E-1, G-3, F-3, P-1

Excellent: Lots of deer.

Good: Saw deer 80 percent of the time.

Good: I didn’t harvest my target buck, otherwise I would rate my season as excellent. Fortunately, he made it past the end of the season, maybe next season.

Fair: No older bucks seen. Lot of young deer. Hot early. Problem with too many bears.

Fair: A lot of nighttime deer on camera. Slow movement during the day.

Fair: Saw fewer deer. Only saw two bucks while hunting. Both small.

Poor: I have trail cameras all around my private property, and 90 percent of the pictures taken were at night. I saw very few deer while hunting. I’ve been hunting this property for 10 years and always have encountered many deer during hunting hours. I did mange to take one doe. Maybe these deer have figured me out after 10 years?

Brantley Co. P-1

Poor: Dog hunters dominate this area.

Brooks Co. E-1, G-6, F-3, P-1

Good: Good deer population.

Good: Killed two quality bucks.

Good: Only because of my time restraint.

Good: I got two deer, my son got one and his son got one.

Fair: My hunting time was somewhat limited, but when I went, I didn’t see very many deer. I only saw one buck above two years old the entire season. We do have cameras, and there were decent numbers of deer. There were mature bucks in the area.

Fair: Not seeing many deer during daylight hours. The rut wasn’t as strong as it was in years past.

Fair: The rut was way off from normal. I think the hot weather we had in November during the rut hurt the deer movement. We also saw the movement at the end of the season. It slowed down even with the colder weather.

Poor: Hurricane changed deer routes, too much debris everywhere.

Bryan Co. G-2, P-1

Poor: Could not hunt due to the storm, flooding, a dock collapse and treatment for prostate cancer.

Bulloch Co. G-1, F-3, P-2

Fair: Rut happened early. Hurricane Helene and Milton did lots forest damage.

Fair: Saw very few deer the last two seasons.

Fair: Didn’t see as many deer this year.

Poor: Low deer numbers.

Poor: Deer did not move during legal shooting hours. No deer seen during legal hours.

Burke Co. E-4, G-5, F-2, P-2

Excellent: I killed my biggest buck to date, a big 10-point. My 6-year-old son killed two deer, and I got to watch my best friend’s son kill his first deer. It turned out to be a good deer season after the hurricane hit us.

Excellent: Despite the impact from Hurricane Helene, we had good numbers of deer approximately a month after the storm. Several target bucks taken, including a 5 1/2-year-old 8-point.

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer.

Excellent: I was fortunate to hunt a piece of property that has its share of deer. Passed on a lot of small bucks and does, got nice 8-point and one doe. Thank you all for what you do at GON.

Good: Five deer in the freezer and watched a lot more.

Good: Saw plenty of deer.

Good: Saw lots of deer this season. Also shot two bucks.

Good: Before Hurricane Helene, I saw many deer, but after the hurricane, the numbers decreased. I thought the season was not as good as last year. We saw fewer big bucks.

Fair: Less rut/buck sightings compared to previous seasons. Didn’t have any noticeable environmental changes this season compared to others.

Fair: Killed a deer at the Yuchi WMA bonus hunt. Only place for me to hunt. I enjoyed it a lot, but there are some real nuts in the woods.

Poor: Did not go hunting this past season. Physical issues.

Poor: I had to hunt harder than I ever have before to get enough deer.

Butts Co. E-3, G-5, F-1

Excellent: Got a beautiful 9-point Nov. 10. Largest buck I have gotten in my 50-plus years of hunting. Also got a doe. Deer sightings were average for our property.

Excellent: Healthy deer herd. Saw multiple deer most hunts, with several mature bucks.

Excellent: I saw a lot bigger bucks and managed to harvest some meat.

Good: Didn’t hunt many days but saw deer on each hunt.

Good: Was extremely warm during the last week of October and first week of November when I typically take vacation. This year the weather had the wind blowing out of the east instead of the west, which ruined all my stand locations. I did see my target buck, but he had a busted-up rack so he’s able to live to see another day. I know he will be bigger next year, so I have something to look forward to. My other two locations both had target bucks show up on days I had family obligations and was not able to hunt. Sometimes that’s just the way it works.

Good: This is our second year managing the property we are hunting, and we saw a big jump from last year in buck quality.

Good: I saw deer every time I hunted except once. I killed two good bucks.

Fair: Not as good as in the past. A lot of does and fawns at the beginning of the season. Never saw a decent buck.

Calhoun Co. E-1, G-3

Excellent: My grandson’s first year hunting. He got two does and a 6-point while sitting with his grandpa. Also saw a lot of deer.

Good: Limited hunting time. Deer population on property was very good.

Good: Had some really nice bucks on cameras. Just couldn’t go as much as I wanted. Ended up killing one, 200-lb., 8-point and two does.

Good: I saw a lot of deer. The does on the property where I hunt were 5 to 10 pounds heavier than prior years.

Camden Co. E-1, F-1, P-1

Excellent: I harvested a nice buck and three does.

Fair: I saw less deer, partially in part to hunting less this season, but my kids had good seasons and saw plenty of deer.

Poor: Only saw very few deer after rifle season began, plenty on camera after dark though.

Candler Co. E-1, G-2, F-1, P-3

Excellent: Was a very good year.

Good: Saw lots of decent bucks.

Fair: Only saw three deer while hunting. Only had about 20 hours in the stand due to Hurricane Helene.

Poor: The drought kept the food plots from producing anything, then Hurricane Helene hit and took out several of our most productive stands. The deer are here but were nocturnal from the beginning of the season. Was able to put one in the freezer but only saw four deer during legal shooting. Saw lots on the trail cameras but next to none through the rifle scope.

Poor: The quantity of deer that I had on camera before Hurricane Helene compared to after the hurricane dropped tremendously.

Poor: Didn’t see mature does and bucks during the daytime. The mature deer movement was only at night. Only yearlings were moving during the day.

Carroll Co. E-4, G-8, F-2, P-1

Excellent: I saw a lot of deer, bucks and does. Harvested a great buck.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer.

Excellent: One quality buck and one cull taken.

Excellent: I was blessed to take two nice 8-point bucks on opening weekend of archery season. I also took three other bucks on WMA or NWR bonus tag hunts. I was also able to help my son pattern and set up on his biggest buck ever, a very nice 12-point buck.

Good: Saw a lot of deer and many good bucks.

Good: I saw deer most ever time I hunted.

Good: I was able to harvest a nice buck and my great nephew did, also.

Good: Not a lot of deer signs to follow. The least amount in 40 years of hunting but did end up killing a decent 9-pointer over a cutover on Nov. 17 chasing a doe. I was blessed on that day for sure.

Good: Saw a good number of deer.

Good: Saw does but not many bucks.

Fair: Due to changing property uses near where I hunt, travel patterns for the deer have changed in our area, and development is impacting numbers and quality of deer.

Fair: Not very many deer.

Poor: There were no quality deer around. Plus, our hunting club makes it 8 points or better. You have poachers, locals and other clubs around that shoot anything and everything.

Catoosa Co. G-1

Charlton Co. E-1, G-1, P-1

Excellent: Killed my target buck and saw a lot of deer.

Poor: No deer.

Chatham Co. F-1

Fair: I saw deer the first two weeks of the season and didn’t see a single deer until the next to the last day. Very strange year!

Chattahoochee Co. E-2, F-1, G-1, P-2

Excellent: Saw lots of deer and several nice bucks. Even though I didn’t kill one, they will be even bigger next season.

Excellent: Saw tons of deer and harvested some nice ones. Most importantly got my freezer full.

Good: Seeing deer.

Fair: We had an overabundance of acorns this year, causing movement to be much lighter than usual. Plenty of good deer on trail-cams but very little daytime movement.

Poor: Didn’t get to hunt much. Shot a nice buck in the early part of rifle season, never found him. After that, I never got back into the woods. Looking forward to next year!

Poor: Did not see many deer.

Chattooga Co. E-3, G-2, F-1

Excellent: For once, my plan worked. A really nice 8 came in behind a hot doe when and where I expected.

Excellent: I saw eight different bucks and numerous does during the season.

Excellent: Two best bucks.

Good: Own a farm and have a lot of deer. Let many good bucks walk, trying to let bucks live to their potential!

Good: We saw increased numbers of deer and harvested several nice bucks on our property, which we manage.

Fair: Well when the season started, all my big bucks I had on camera all summer just left. It was the strangest season I ever had. But it’s nice just to get out in the woods.

Cherokee Co. E-5, G-8, F-3, P-1

Excellent: Killed two nice does and one 4 1/2-year-old 8-point. Passed over immature bucks and younger.

Excellent: The season was a safe one, and we saw deer almost every time we were able to hunt. We had good weather and even had the chance to hunt with snow on the ground. It was a great year to hunt in Georgia.

Excellent: Excellent season for seeing mature bucks. Killed a nice 9-pointer with an 18-inch spread.

Excellent: I killed a good 8-point and just enjoyed being in the woods hunting.

Good: Got a really nice 8-point.

Good: Saw plenty of deer, just no big bucks.

Good: Bigger bucks.

Good: Lots of deer sightings. The state needs more regulations on buck size before harvesting.

Good: Got meat.

Good: Saw deer almost every time I hunted.

Good: Filled the freezer, Dad got his biggest buck, as well.

Fair: Seems like less deer.

Fair: Only one doe this year and it was in DeKalb, but the herd in Cherokee was good.

Fair: Deer population seems to be on the decline as more people move in.

Clarke Co. G-3

Good: Deer were plentiful, but the rutting activity seemed a little muted this year.

Good: Saw plenty, harvested a few good ones.

Good: Saw lots of deer. The rut was great. Took one of my target bucks with a bow in November, but this year was the worst I can remember as far as quality. I hunt several counties and run a lot of cameras and didn’t get a single picture of a deer this year that got me excited. Lots of deer. But no good ones.

Clay Co. E-2

Excellent: Two 10-points.

Excellent: Plenty of deer sightings, good quality bucks and does harvested. Killed a nice, thick-racked 9-point piebald buck.

Clayton Co. E-2, G-1

Excellent: Saw the most deer in a decade and harvested a couple of nice bucks.

Good: Saw more bucks, just not quality.

Clinch Co. E-2

Excellent: Saw a lot of good bucks, killed my target buck and thinned some does.

Cobb Co. E-2, G-2, F-2, P-1

Excellent: Saw more deer this season than any previous season. Have been deer hunting for more 50 years.

Good: Successful harvest of a buck, fair amount of deer seen.

Fair: Deer were very nocturnal this year, acorn crop slowed down October and November sightings. Full moon aligning with coldest days and nights in December kept them moving at night.

Fair: Not seeing nearly as many 2.5-plus-year-old bucks as I used to. Not sure if it’s increased suburban hunting pressure using corn and crossbows, or if it’s loss of habitat.

Poor: First season that I did not have any decent bucks on camera. Lots of button bucks and does.

Coffee Co. F-2

Fair: I had several decent bucks on trail cameras but none that got me excited about hunting.

Fair: There are NO game wardens around for all the illegal activity. Our deer do not have a chance. Between nuisance tags and road outlaws, it’s beyond ridiculous. We constantly call and complain, which goes on deaf ears.

Colquitt Co. E-4, G-5, F-3

Excellent: I killed a mature buck. I saw more mature bucks but passed on them. Killed several does. Saw a lot of deer.

Excellent: Killed target buck.

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer every hunt and was able to exercise best management practices.

Good: Nice 9-point mature buck.

Good: I tagged out on bucks.

Good: Saw lots of healthy deer.

Good: Good quality and quantity of deer on camera; several successful hunts.

Fair: Didn’t see as many deer as years past.

Columbia Co. E-2, G-3

Excellent: Lots of healthy deer, in spite of the hurricane.

Excellent: I got a 10-pointer Nov. 16 and then a big 8-pointer Nov. 18, both on my 10-acre property. I saw many 1- and 2-year-old bucks, enjoyed watching them, hope they hang around and grow up.

Good: I harvested a deer, saw nice bucks on small public land, both on camera and during hunts. Engaged with another public-land hunter, that was a positive.

Good: I had several does and young deer in the areas I hunt. Numbers of bucks were better than previous years. I shot a good 8-point during archery season and took three does during rifle season. Several of the other bucks were young. I decided to let them go and see how they turn out next year.

Cook Co. E-1, G-2, F-1, P-1

Excellent: I saw a lot of deer and killed three, which was enough to restock my freezer.

Good: Saw plenty of deer just about every time I went but didn’t see strong rut activity. Saw multiple bucks in daylight but never any chasing or following does.

Fair: Saw very few deer, hunted WMA and had better luck.

Poor: Saw two deer.

Coweta Co. E-7, G-5, F-4

Excellent: Had deer movement every time I was in the woods and was able to harvest a nice buck this season.

Excellent: First time I’ve tagged out on two nice bucks in years! I think the big loss of habitat and the lack of young hunters has really increased deer sightings.

Excellent: Saw 27 bucks.

Excellent: The doe population is plentiful!

Excellent: Got two nice bucks and a doe.

Excellent: Lots of deer on camera and seen around the farm.

Good: Saw a lot of deer until the end of November, then they disappeared. Plenty of nice 2 year olds but no mature bucks. Should be great in a year or two.

Good: First part of gun season I saw deer on every hunt, some hunts deer hung around food plot for hours. I missed getting to hunt during the rut, and afterward the deer disappeared. Only got them on camera a few times a week between 9 p.m. 3 a.m. Did get one deer and put about 60 pounds in the freezer. I like to put two or three in the freezer.

Good: I harvested the deer I need to eat on until next season.

Good: Started slow but rut was active.

Fair: A lot of small bucks.

Fair: Ten deer killed on 660 acres.

Fair: Weather, moon phases and available personal off time did not align well.

Fair: Bow season was good, but gun season and the rut was poor and not as it usually is. I also didn’t see as many does as usual. Averages out to fair.

Crawford Co. E-4, G-8, F-4, P-2

Excellent: Hard work on herd management and habitat development paid off with two bow-kills over 150 (one over 160) on our family farm this year.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer.

Excellent: Saw a lot of quality bucks.

Good: Shot a decent 9-point.

Good: I saw plenty of deer and took a couple.

Good: Saw plenty of does during the day but had bucks on camera but only late at night. Rut started in my area about two weeks before the dates predicted by the state.

Good: Lots of deer movement all season.

Good: Saw lots of does, two shooter bucks.

Fair: Saw very few mature bucks.

Fair: Everything is just average.

Fair: Saw a few good deer early in the season but were way out of range and then it went bone dry. Was kind of a weird fall. The leaves stayed on the trees longer than normal and a lot of windy days.

Poor: Too hot to hunt first of season and took a fall on Dec. 5, which ended my season. Had club in Crawford County since 1981-82 season.

Crisp Co. E-3, G-3, F-1

Excellent: Saw lots of bucks.

Excellent: Although it took all season to fill my buck tags, I successfully harvested two of my target bucks! The first was a “Split G-2” 10-point, 225 pounds taken during the rut on Nov. 17. The other was a buck I named “HULK” when I saw him chasing a doe during the rut. I finally got him on trail camera on Dec. 28, and he showed up with about 30 minutes of daylight left on Dec. 30. He had a 21 1/2-inch outside spread and weighed 213 pounds post-rut! I also took two does during bow season, so we have plenty of meat in the freezer!

Good: Saw a good number of does and young bucks. Only a few mature bucks.

Good: Our deer herd seems to be larger with more mature deer.

Fair: We seem to have smaller bucks this year.

Dade Co. E-1, F-2, P-1

Excellent: Lot of movement/sightings of quality deer. Good weather for the most part, especially during primitive week.

Fair: No mature buck sightings or on camera.

Poor: There was too much activity on the property next door.

Dawson Co. G-1, F-2, P-1

Good: Quality deer management. I been hunting the same property for 10 years and only killed three bucks off of it in that time.

Fair: Saw a fair amount of animals but all the big bucks that showed up on trail cams POST SEASON last year were never seen again. We should have had some beauts! Lots of small bucks.

Fair: Didn’t go as much as I wanted to.

Poor: Very little deer movement during daylight hours. A lot of does and not many bucks. County needs to extend archery season and add more doe days.

Decatur Co. G-3

Good: Saw plenty of deer.

Good: Had a really good season. Our buck weights are really up over past years. Year-round feeding programs seem to be working.

Good: Got an 8-point buck with my bow in September. Got an 8-point buck with rifle in December Have been getting pics of 10- and 12-pointers but not this year so a little disappointed with that.

DeKalb Co. E-2

Excellent: Killed a good deer opening afternoon.

Excellent: It’s great just getting out there, much less taking six deer.

Dodge Co. E-2, G-5, F-1, P-1

Excellent: Saw many 3-year-old bucks.

Excellent: Youngest son and grandsons finally got to come and hunt. My 11-year-old grandson got his first deer, a real nice 8.

Good: Saw quite a few deer, and two members of our club shot two really nice bucks, which the size seems to get better and better every year.

Good: Saw a lot of deer and a lot of good deer, just not the normal number of 4-plus-year-old deer.

Poor: Didn’t see as many deer as usual. Worst season in 10 years.

Dooly Co. E-2, G-1, F-3

Excellent: Saw deer every time I hunted, which was probably 30 times. My daughter and I both killed mature bucks and passed on others. Good buck-to-doe ratios on our property.

Excellent: For the first time in my 15-year hunting career, I tagged out. Ten does, two bucks. Deer are overpopulated, and we need to kill some animals to help everything balance. I saw deer on all but one set of my season, and that day I climbed down a little early because it was so hot. Rut activity was good in November. I saw multiple bucks chasing does and multiple buck fights. Limits are good, and season time is good in my opinion. I hope CWD doesn’t change that too much, but populations inevitably rise and fall with time.

Fair: Sightings were down.

Fair: Fewer buck sightings.

Dougherty Co. E-2, G-2

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer each time that I went out.

Excellent: The herd had more bucks than does, which is great. The deer looked healthy, and we are very conservative in our harvest. The herd should become better in the future.

Good: Good but need to be able to harvest three bucks, one of any size and two with 4 points on one side.

Douglas Co. E-2, G-3

Excellent: Saw lots of deer and some really great bucks.

Excellent: I was only able to hunt seven sits and took five deer—two bucks and two does. I believe this is a result of being able to bait and picking the most opportune time to hunt for my area.

Good: Killed nice 10-pointer.

Good: Plenty of deer signs most of the season.

Early Co. E-3, G-2, F-2

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer and killed two very nice bucks. Saw a few nice bucks that I passed.

Excellent: I have seen more deer this year than in the previous years.

Good: No bucks good enough to shoot.

Good: Main focus was reducing doe numbers. Antler size was down overall.

Fair: Season started too early and ended too early.

Fair: Once the rut hit, the big bucks disappeared. Didn’t even get pictures of them after Dec. 4, which is very unusual.

Effingham Co. E-3, G-1, F-1, P-3

Excellent: Observed numerous bucks and does. Harvested my limit of bucks, including a nice 7-point. Ample number of mature bucks in my hunting area.

Excellent: Saw good deer and did some hunting at Piedmont NWR. Put meat in the freezer.

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer, harvested a nice 8-point and 2 does Saw many up-and-comer bucks.

Fair: Saw many does but only a handful of bucks.

Poor: The rut was pretty much over when gun season came in. Didn’t see but a few does and yearlings. I didn’t even see many deer on the road or in the fields on my way to and from hunting. Most of the people I talked with said pretty much the same. I only saw one little basket 8-point, and he was crossing the road.

Poor: Deer seemed to disappear or went nocturnal at the end of October on.

Poor: Only saw one deer all season.

Elbert Co. E-3, G-4, F-4, P-2

Excellent: I killed two nice bucks and three big does. The bigger buck was my second biggest buck ever.

Excellent: Myself as well as friends and family harvested the highest number of deer ever.

Excellent: Just purchased this property last spring, saw a lot of deer, got some good bucks on camera. Shot a really nice wide 8-point on Dec. 1. Saw some rut activity about the time it should happen.

Good: Less big buck sighting. We let plenty of quality deer walk and practiced deer management. This year it just hasn’t showed. Plenty of opportunities to shoot deer but not many big bucks.

Good: Not as many large does or bucks. Surprising as a lot of land was cleared in the area for chicken houses.

Good: Harvested two, usually only get one.

Fair: Had three shooters (130+) at beginning of season and two disappeared and the biggest would leave for days, show for one, leave for days, just couldn’t pattern him. Plenty of doe opportunities but I usually pass to keep the numbers.

Fair: No 3-year-old bucks to hunt.

Fair: Deer activity on our 130 acres was sporadic at best. I never harvested a deer but had several opportunities.

Fair: Slow rut, too many does.

Poor: Tons of bucks on camera but very warm season and didn’t see any in daylight on cameras.

Emanuel Co. E-1, G-2, F-1, P-5

Excellent: My family and I harvested all three of our target bucks this year. We also processed 10 deer to fill our freezer until the next season. Watching the deer at different stages of life and their behavior is always a joy to me.

Good: Hurricane Helene and severe rain set us back due to clean-up just to access property. Did see a lot of deer and harvested a nice buck. Overall great season.

Good: Decent buck seen and plenty of does. Adjacent deer hunters now more willing to let young bucks walk.

Fair: Hurricane changed the hardwood bottoms, turned it into a maze of fallen trees and just didn’t see the amount of deer or quality bucks as previous years. Countywide I hear harvest numbers were much lower.

Poor: The hurricane really destroyed our best hunting spots. Our creek bottoms had so many large oaks blown over that you could not even find where we had stands. The oaks blocked the channel, creating a prolonged flood that was the worst ever. Access to the balance of the property was a problem as a result of trees blown down blocking roadways. Several of us spent weeks on end clearing roads, checking on stands and feeders! We usually harvest around 30 to 35 animals, this year only around 20! It will be many years before our creek bottoms will be hunted as before!

Poor: Deer seemed to disappear after hurricane.

Poor: Helene.

Poor: Irregular deer patterns resulted in fewer sightings. The deer went nocturnal much earlier in the season than normal.

Evans Co. G-1, F-3

Good: Our property flooded twice and experienced some wind damage, so I didn’t get to hunt as much as usual.

Fair: It’s usually good, but after Hurricane Helene came through, it seemed to mess the deer up.

Fair: Deer sightings were slow throughout the season. The bucks seemed to be smaller than in previous years.

Fair: The hurricane really messed us up for the early season. Took a lot of work to get just a few stand locations back ready to hunt. Hunted pretty much the same few groups of deer most of the season and picked a few off.

Fannin Co. E-2, G-4, P-1

Excellent: Saw lots of deer, including several bucks harvested, a really nice 7-point.

Good: Killed a mature 10-pointer and saw a lot of deer.

Good: Saw four bucks but let them all walk. Maybe they will have larger racks next season.

Good: Took 6-point buck.

Good: Saw more quality bucks this year.

Poor: I manly hunt Blue Ridge and Coopers Creek WMAs. The habitat management has been reduced over the last several years. Fallow fields is not the answer. I sometimes wonder if all the deer checked out on bonus deer hunts were killed on the area or just checked out there to keep from using one’s own tags. Not a lot of deer seen.

Fayette Co. G-5

Good: Plenty of deer. Actually too many.

Good: I saw plenty of antlerless deer and tagged one late in the season. The large buck I was hunting never appeared while I was in the stand.

Good: I had a good season and had the opportunity to harvest several deer. I saw a lot of deer this year but not as many as past seasons. We did not have any acorns this year anywhere. That affected deer movements and where they spent most of their time. My properties are not that big, so I did not have the option to move around a lot to find them.

Good: Saw deer most hunts.

Good: Three does in freezer.

Floyd Co. E-2, G-5, F-2, P-2

Excellent: We killed deer every time we went hunting.

Excellent: I’m 77 and this was my most successful deer season ever. Thinned does, killed two bucks, one that appeared in December GON’s Scrapbook pages. Dedicated season to my brother, who was the last of the three best huntin’ buddies ever!

Good: Didn’t get a shooter buck but saw a lot of deer.

Good: Had difficulty hunting from ground.

Good: Saw lots of deer with numerous small bucks.

Fair: I saw more deer than last season, and others in my camp shot deer, but they were all very young bucks. The larger deer seemed to disappear.

Fair: The rut seemed like I missed it this year. Saw a lot of big bucks early and passed them up hoping for a lot of action in November, but the rut was SLOW Even late-season bucks didn’t show up much after Christmas like they usually do. It was a WEIRD season for me, but both me and my son did get two nice bucks and plenty of does to fill the freezers.

Poor: No large bucks.

Forsyth Co. E-2, G-1, F-1

Excellent: I did not get a deer, but I had a great adventure that accounted for that loss.

Excellent: Saw deer every time I was in my stand, as many as five at times and up to 15 bucks that were up to 10 points.

Good: Saw so many deer, of course not all were shooters. Trying to grow them up. Lot of enjoyment watching them.

Franklin Co. E-2, G-2, F-3

Excellent: Saw more deer than ever. Deer were in excellent condition.

Excellent: My season was excellent. I shot five deer, four of which were does and one nice buck. I saw deer every sit and saw 10 plus on most sits all the way up to 22 in one afternoon sit. I also took a 10-year-old kid who shot a big doe this year, as well, so we had an awesome deer season. I am truly blessed.

Good: Deer population is good right now, so is the buck-to-doe ratio.

Fair: My two target bucks that I passed over last year are entered in Truck-Buck, but not by me.

Fulton Co. E-3, G-4, F-5, P-1

Excellent: Filled all 12 of my tags this year! Tagged out on two bucks in three sits.

Excellent: I got four deer, my first buck, first bow-kill and best rifle kill (dropped a doe in her tracks from 200 yards) and had so much fun hunting with my friends.

Excellent: Shot a monster.

Good: Saw good numbers of deer.

Good: I shot a nice 7-point buck with my bow on Thanksgiving. The reason it was good and not excellent is because all the bucks I saw this season were either juvenile and not worth taking, or absolute humongous STUDS. I never got a chance to tag one of the three enormous 10-point bucks that live in my suburban area. I was surprised to get the 7-point that I did because I hadn’t ever seen him on camera. But overall I enjoyed this season. Thanks y’all!

Good: Had multiple opportunities at good bucks and saw plenty of deer. It was a good mast year, and the weather cooperated for the most part.

Good: Average deer movement.

Fair: For the first time ever, my primary honey hole didn’t produce in Fulton County. The 150-class deer that had been fairly regular to my spot weren’t showing up. I saw plenty of deer, but none larger than around 120 inches. Not complaining about the quantity, and had a ton of fun in the woods, but I think word has spread far and wide about the big bucks in the metro-area, and the big boys are getting taken out when they are younger. Looking forward to hunting harder next year and strategizing to encourage the big bucks on my property to stay there in the early season.

Fair: Was able to take two really quality bucks, and we had plenty of deer.

Fair: Deer movement was good until mid November. I hunt suburbs, as well as land in Washington County. I prefer not to hunt over corn, but I’ve noticed fewer deer and change of patterns based on neighbors baiting.

Fair: Only got one buck, missed another.

Fair: Deer seemed to be less active during early and late season for the main place I hunt. White oak acorns were plentiful and lasted quite a while with the mild weather. Rut brought an increase in activity, but I was hunting out of state a lot while the rut was on.

Poor: Out of 10 or 12 hunters, nobody saw a shooter buck.

Gilmer Co. E-3, G-3, P-1

Excellent: Saw deer every time I hunted. Passed on many opportunities to harvest animals. Great weather.

Excellent: 1) Good amount of movement at sunrise. 2) Plentiful acorn crop 3) Waves of cold fronts in December and January 4) Good deer recruitment this year in our area… growing herd.

Excellent: My 16-year-old grandson got a nice buck, and we where sitting together. Was a very blessed day, not his first deer, but it still felt almost like that first one. Was great to be out in God’s creation. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ.

Good: I saw deer the majority of the times I hunted.

Good: Saw plenty of does, bucks and bears.

Poor: Warmer temps followed by deep freezes made it harder to pattern deer. The rut wasn’t as active as I typically see it in the mountains. Never got to see my target bucks in daylight and only took two does.

Glascock Co. G-2, F-2, P-1

Good: In spite of Hurricane Helene, we still saw lots of deer and took three excellent bucks off the property.

Good: Saw lots of deer, mostly does and little ones.

Fair: I was on a new lease.

Fair: Saw lots of does and small bucks but no shooters. Hurricane Helene blew down hundreds of 100-plus-year-old white oaks that were loaded with acorns. Now they are gone forever to rot on the forest floor. Depressing.

Poor: Could only get to about 25% of my lease because of the hurricane.

Glynn Co. G-1, P-2

Good: I saw a lot of deer and harvested one.

Poor: Didn’t get a shot.

Poor: The hurricane and weather ruined the primary area I hunt for this season, Ceylon WMA. Road completely washed out, limited access to the back of the WMA. Could have opened other roads to access the area.

Gordon Co. E-3, G-7, F-1, P-1

Excellent: Have a large population of deer, a lot of good bucks, very healthy herd.

Excellent: Saw large deer but seemed like density was down.

Good: Killed a good 8-pointer.

Good: Had good deer activity, despite it being warmer than usual.

Good: Saw plenty of deer.

Good: Saw a good many deer this year.

Good: My son harvested a good buck.

Good: I did not have a lot of time to hunt.

Fair: I didn’t kill a deer and had some equipment issues.

Poor: I did not see any BIG bucks. Lots of does and younger bucks.

Grady Co. G-1

Good: Saw deer all but one time that I went, just not the main one I was looking for.

Greene Co. E-6, G-20, F-10, P-5

Excellent: Took two mature bucks and one doe.

Excellent: I saw a lot of deer in general. I harvested two mature bucks. Passed on many bucks.

Excellent: Rut was textbook!

Excellent: We saw a lot of bucks and harvested several.

Excellent: Saw bucks every day.

Excellent: Saw deer each trip.

Good: Saw a lot of deer on a paper company lease this year. The club took 18 deer. I took two bucks.

Good: Didn’t hunt too much this year. Did bag a doe and our camp overall had a successful season.

Good: Saw a lot of deer. My wife and I both killed some decent bucks. We are seeing more quality bucks on our property since we bought it five years ago.

Good: Saw a lot of deer. Difficult season for food plots with no rain all of October, so it was hammered and made this season too dependent on corn!

Good: Saw plenty of deer.

Good: Had plenty of nice deer on cams but unfortunately above-average temperatures during the rut kept them bedded down during daylight hours. We had three decent 8-points taken but none of the big ones that we continue to see on cameras.

Good: I saw lots of deer, just no shooter bucks. A nice 8-point was shot on the property, along with a piebald buck.

Good: Filled the freezer and saw plenty of deer.

Good: Deer herd is continually improving.

Good: Good weather. Good deer herd but not too many mature.

Good: Saw numerous bucks on property, two nice 8-pointers taken by our members. Saw a lot of deer during every hunt.

Good: Saw a lot of young bucks. Nice 8-pointer killed on club property.

Good: Got a deer and saw deer 75 percent of hunts.

Good: The deer population is at a good level, and the baiting helps with selective harvesting.

Good: I saw deer almost every time I went and was able to get a shot at a small buck on Redlands WMA. I missed him but still overall a good season. I was able to take all my kids but one hunting at least one time.

Good: I saw more deer from the stand this year than any year since I bought my farm (2013). Lots of does and yearlings. Most of the bucks I saw were smaller basket 8’s, 4-point, 6-point and spikes. I only had one or two mature bucks on camera. I did see them during the season but did not have clean shots. I took a doe in bow season for venison.

Fair: We hunt on private land next to Redlands WMA. Buck quality and deer quantity is normally below par.

Fair: The Oconee area where I hunt had been virtually stripped of trees. There were deer but had to go far afield to find one.

Fair: Saw young bucks and does but no shooters.

Fair: Doe population appears to be out of balance. Feel we harvest our share but they kept coming.

Fair: Saw a good number of does and young bucks. The bigger bucks never showed up this year during the rut.

Fair: Saw fewer deer but more bucks.

Fair: Few bucks taken.

Fair: Too many hogs.

Fair: While I saw a lot of does and young bucks, I did not see any older-class bucks, nor did I observe the same amount of rutting sign I have observed in previous years.

Poor: Logging had a bad affect on our season.

Poor: Health issues.

Poor: Too many deer being killed.

Poor: Very few acorns due to late summer drought. I saw a few nice bucks early in the season but very few does. I do not use corn feeders on my property, and without feeders or acorns, deer were virtually non-existent. Lots of feeders were in use on neighboring property. In addition, the property adjacent to mine was cut for timber late in the summer and browse did not have time to grow prior to winter.

Gwinnett Co. E-3, G-4

Excellent: The season was fantastic. I was blessed to be able to take 157-inch deer. Deer movement was great and overall an awesome season.

Excellent: Two really nice bucks and several does harvested.

Excellent: Shot one last night of primitive-weapons season, then a 162-lb. 11-point on Nov. 2. With all the construction in Gwinnett, deer don’t have many places to roam.

Good: Saw several good bucks and had pictures of several that were never seen. Never had a problem seeing deer. Between my kids and myself, we harvested some good bucks. Rut was about average.

Good: Harvested two nice 8-pointers.

Good: Lots of deer, but smaller bucks overall.

Good: Adequate numbers of does and some very nice bucks.

Habersham Co. G-6, F-4, P-2

Good: Didn’t get to hunt as much as I wanted to!

Good: Family member got a good buck.

Good: Did not see as many deer as I have in the past.

Good: Saw lots of deer, just never got a shot.

Good: Finally seeing a few more does around.

Good: Saw several small bucks and does. Saw deer most every setting. All I hunt is small tracts of private land. Hunted mainly with my grandsons. They killed four small bucks and some does. I enjoyed time in the stand watching them learning to hunt.

Fair: I don’t hunt over bait, so I don’t see near the deer as my hunting buddies do. I wish they would outlaw baiting. People are killing monster bucks over bait that they’re not smart enough to kill otherwise.

Fair: I hunt private land and national forest mainly in Habersham. I did go to Cedar Creek and Piedmont hunts with some success. As usual, I saw a moderate amount of sign in the mountains but not a lot of deer. I was able to harvest a 2-year-old bear on forest land.

Fair: Only harvested one deer.

Poor: Can’t hit them.

Poor: Too many deer and they have gotten smaller. No food except for people feeding corn. We need a lot more doe days. I still have over 50 in my yard. There’s nothing to eat with no acorns. It’s very hard on them, just ride the roads up here and look at the dead deer you will see.

Hall Co. E-3, G-3, F-2, P-1

Excellent: Overrun with deer due to area development.

Excellent: There was a plentiful number of deer in the area, and the success rate was high.

Good: The number of deer I saw this year compared to last year has increased a noticeable amount, but the body size of both does and buck seems to of gone down a little. Overall happy with the season and dates.

Good: I was able to hunt more.

Fair: Ratio of hunts/kills was not ideal. Some of that was me, and some was deer patterns where I hunt. Deer seemed to go nocturnal a lot earlier this year than in the past.

Poor: The bucks didn’t show up and only the same five does came all the time.

Hancock Co. E-5, G-14, F-13, P-5

Excellent: Saw several deer and took a nice 8-pointer.

Excellent: Proper management equals desired results.

Excellent: Saw numerous deer during each outing, including quality bucks that are able to move up in age and class from year to year.

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer. Good eye activity.

Excellent: A lot of mature bucks and healthy does.

Good: My two largest bucks moved out when season started, never to be seen again.

Good: My son got a good buck, and we took six does. Saw a lot of deer, but no great rut action.

Good: Good to be afield whether I see one or bag a deer.

Good: Lots of deer, just no shooters.

Good: Weather affecting the rut.

Good: We saw a good number of deer each time we hunted.

Good: Saw plenty of deer all season. Killed two bucks and my son killed one, as well. Even with the odd weather during the rut, I still saw some rutting activity.

Good: Killed one mature deer. Saw variety of age classes.

Good: Lots of deer.

Good: Lots of deer on camera. Didn’t see as many as I thought I would see from the stand.

Good: Saw deer most every hunt.

Fair: The quality has been really poor in Hancock the last few years.

Fair: Number of quality buck sightings/trail-cam pics have consistently decreased over the last several years.

Fair: Too many does and not enough mature bucks surveyed on camera. Too many 2.5-year-olds being shot for effective quality management.

Fair: I believe the heat had them nocturnal early based on trail cam and personal observation. Saw more rubs and scrapes than I’ve seen in several years. Late season I saw a few small bucks solo and a good many does with fawns. Two biggest bucks all year was the weekend after the season closed when I was loosing the chains on my ladder stands.

Fair: Very few mature bucks.

Fair: I was able to harvest three does. I did not see a shootable buck the entire season. The deer population has been very low all year.

Fair: Lower numbers and fewer mature bucks.

Fair: Fewer deer sightings.

Fair: Fresh clearcut, lack of food after timber company sprayed, deer using new patterns. Saw plenty of deer but didn’t see any I wanted to shoot. Doe numbers appear to be down in our area for the last 10 years.

Fair: Not as many good bucks seen.

Fair: Seeing a fair amount of deer but the quality of bucks have gone down over the past several years.

Fair: Did not hunt much this season but did see lots of deer, just nothing I wanted to shoot.

Fair: Saw some good deer. Unfortunately, our timber was cut and the landscape changed what and where I usually see deer. Hard to hunt.

Poor: A ton of does, as many as 56 at one time on one of my food plots, but no bucks that I would consider a shooter, and that would be 4 years or older with a heavy antler. We have 1,200 acres and only five people who hunt it, with 20 food plots, and all we shot this year were does.

Poor: Saw a lot less deer while hunting this year than I have usually seen in the past years.

Poor: Not seeing many does nor fawns during the whole season. Just a few bucks seen. Five members on 138 acres and all report same result. Looks like next year will be worse with very few does on the property.

Poor: Not seeing any deer morning or evening. I think the neighbors are baiting better than me.

Haralson Co. E-1, G-1, F-4, P-1

Excellent: Saw a large number of bucks and a good ratio of does. Harvested a nice 8-pointer.

Good: Saw deer most times I hunted.

Fair: Work was busy so I didn’t get to sit as much as I wanted.

Fair: Not seeing enough deer. Would like to have Haralson County’s doe days shortened and have antler restrictions enforced.

Fair: Basically let the same deer walk over and over.

Fair: I just recently acquired this property, so this was my first year hunting this area. My trail camera showed a good number of deer and a lot of movement. I was just not able to track them good enough for this season.

Poor: Deer all but vanished from property I hunt.

Harris Co. E-2, G-9, F-5

Excellent: Took two decent bucks. Both had broken tines. They were in good shape. I didn’t see as many does as usual. A good season none the less.

Excellent: I own a farm, and we took 18 deer total with guest, etc. It was 16 does, one 5 1/2-year-old-plus buck and an antlerless buck. Even with that, I still face too many deer on the property. All in all it was a very good season.

Good: Saw deer consistently.

Good: It was a weird year at our club. They finished clear-cutting half of our leased property the week of opening day of rifle season. As the season went on, we started seeing more deer. We all brought home some venison.

Good: Saw lots of deer and some good bucks.

Good: I enjoyed watching the numerous deer. Although I saw a lot of does and young bucks, I didn’t see many shooter (4 year and older) bucks this year.

Good: I saw a lot of deer. Many were bucks. I didn’t shoot any. Looking for a more mature one.

Good: Pretty good season during the early weeks, but too much of the season is weighted toward bowhunting IMO.

Good: Killed a good deer. Didn’t get to hunt as much this year as past years.

Fair: Poor mast crop where typically hunt. Did not see as many groups of deer early season. Surrounding properties being timbered.

Fair: Saw lots of deer but not many legal bucks.

Fair: Too much building going on. Too expensive to find hunting properties and leases.

Fair: Too many does are being taken over the years, and the population where I hunt is way down. I think the limit should be three does a season.

Fair: Never really saw any good bucks. Mostly spikes, 4- and 6-pointers.

Hart Co. E-4, G-3, F-1

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer and some quality deer.

Excellent: I saw significant numbers of deer and had a great experience during the rut. Numerous nice bucks chasing does was common throughout the rut.

Excellent: Got two 8-points and saw a lot of deer, does and bucks. One morning set had 15 deer come through.

Good: Saw a lot of deer.

Good: Saw lots of deer and killed the second biggest buck I ever killed in Georgia, 146 inches.

Fair: Need to start bow season Oct. 1, two-week muzzleloader, two week gun, end Jan. 1 and bring back December break.

Heard Co. E-2, G-5, F-2, P-3

Excellent: I harvested two really nice bucks this year and saw many more bucks for the future. I witnessed the best rut activity of my life, and I’m 65 years old. I’ve been harvesting mature does, leaving the bucks to grow, and it’s paying off.

Excellent: Great year for seeing deer. Killed a mature 9-point mid-November. Tagged out five days later in Carroll with a mature 10-point.

Good: Saw a good many deer this season, just not the mature one I was after. Saw deer almost every sit.

Good: I base my better season on the colder days that we had. Colder days produce more movement and more bucks chasing.

Good: I saw deer every trip to the woods. My son killed two nice bucks, one being his largest ever. I killed my first public-land buck, also.

Good: Fairly good season. We do have an overload of does that are running the bucks off from natural food sources. We hope to manage this better in the near future with tagging more does in our area.

Fair: Been this way for 10-plus years. Too many doe days in our county.

Fair: Got pictures of several good bucks from July through mid November, then they vanished and never showed up again.

Poor: Little movement.

Poor: Too many external factors/goals to finish (masters degree) that I didn’t have time to hunt much. Quality deer available, though.

Poor: Poor rut.

Henry Co. E-3, G-2, F-2, P-2

Excellent: Filled my buck tags 10 days apart on bucks I had no previous pictures of. Both with my bow, 8-point and 9-point.

Excellent: Shot a great buck. Saw a good number of other deer on the property.

Excellent: Good deer movement. Rut seemed predictable. Killed all we wanted to.

Fair: Unusual deer activity. After the hurricane our deer went to an erratic behavior and “disappeared.” Buck activity was minimal during so-called rut. Never saw much rut activity in Butts County or Henry County.

Fair: Saw a lot of small bucks. Saw very few does during October and November. Both bucks harvested were December bucks, a large 7-point and an 8-point.

Poor: Did not see many deer all season. Probably saw three deer the whole season.

Poor: No game harvested. Honey-do’s limited hunting opportunities.

Houston Co. E-3, G-4

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer for the little time I was able to hunt. Had no problem harvesting the three deer I like to get each year.

Excellent: I saw lots of deer. The rut was really good. Saw plenty of rut action.

Good: Not seeing many mature bucks, plenty of young ones.

Good: I hunt basically public lands: Oaky Woods, Ocmulgee, Cedar Creek, B.F. Grant. This season I have seen more deer while hunting over last year. Harvested quality buck on B.F. Grant and a doe on Ocmulgee on first bonus hunt. I could have harvested more deer than two but decided let them walk. I can say 2024-2025 deer season was pretty good. Hoping for same outcome this upcoming September.

Good: Enjoyed hunting camp. Filled the freezer.

Irwin Co. G-2

Good: Saw a pretty good number of deer, not many good bucks compared to the last couple seasons.

Jackson Co. E-8, G-7, F-2, P-1

Excellent: Saw plenty of healthy deer all year long and was able to harvest plenty of meat, including two very nice mature 8-pointers.

Excellent: We have a crazy high population of bucks and does. Jackson County would really benefit from an extended archery season, and I know it will never happen, but we could stand a higher number of buck tags. Sounds like a good problem to have, but we are overrun!

Excellent: Saw a lot of healthy deer, filled my buck tags and plenty of does for the freezer.

Excellent: Saw does and yearlings almost every hunt.

Excellent: Saw deer almost every time we went.

Excellent: I saw more deer this year and let more bucks walk to grow bigger.

Excellent: Opportunity on lots of bucks and good deer herd numbers.

Excellent: Excellent rut action. Three mature bucks killed on lease. Son’s biggest deer to date.

Good: Saw only a few big bucks.

Good: Took one nice buck. Saw lots of does.

Good: Early season was slow. Pre-rut and rut was OK with a lot of activity and movement. Just no big boys hanging out where I was at this year. After the rut, it died off pretty hard. Didn’t see many more deer from the rut to the end of the season.

Good: One buck and lots of does.

Good: Not as many quality bucks as in the past. Very big doe population for the area.

Fair: Very limited buck sightings compared to past seasons. Weather was very inconsistent.

Poor: No big bucks on property.

Jasper Co. E-10, G-9, F-5

Excellent: Limited out on Week 3, saw some nice deer.

Excellent: Saw and harvested plenty of deer.

Excellent: I saw plenty of deer and was able to harvest a 3 1/2-year-old buck and had shot opportunities at a few others.

Excellent: Killed six does on 290 acres. Passed on all bucks.

Excellent: Many sightings and opportunities.

Excellent: Lots of opportunities for deer all through the season. Good mixture of mature bucks, young bucks and does.

Excellent: I killed two mature bucks and 20 does through the DMAP program.

Excellent: Saw the most deer I’ve ever seen.

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer and killed two mature bucks with my bow. Deer were a little easier to pattern with the acorn crop being less than the previous season. I thought the quality of the hunts was outstanding.

Good: Saw a lot of deer.

Good: Saw a good number of deer all year.

Good: We saw a lot of deer on our property, several that will be shooters next year. Our doe/fawn population is doing well, also. I passed a couple of good deer this year, mainly due to taking two on one of the Piedmont NWR quota hunts, a decent 10 and a doe. With meat in the freezer, one can afford to be selective. The only reason for a good rating is that the deer seem to go somewhere after the end of November. Maybe someone has planted some large rye or wheat fields that we don’t know about, but they sure seem to disappear.

Good: Saw many deer. Harvested several does. Harvested one mature 10-point.

Good: Killed deer.

Good: Public-land hunter. A lot of deer seen.

Fair: After Nov. 1, deer movement became nocturnal until around Dec. 29, and then we started see deer again.

Fair: We quality manage our 1,900 acres with a 120-inch antler restriction. Ever since the state allowed baiting in the Northern Zone, we have not been seeing many quality bucks. We have hog and coyote issues. We have had the property trapped in the past, but the cost of trapping services has more than doubled over the past four years.

Jeff Davis Co. F-1, P-1

Fair: Season started slow, with a good amount of deer activity, then hurricane came through, destroying our land and made it almost impossible to access most of it. After storm, the activity seemed to be little to none. We took several does and saw a few decent bucks.

Poor: After the hurricane, I could not get into the woods, and If I could have and gotten a deer, I could never have gotten it out with all the downed trees. The woods were a mess!

Jefferson Co. E-3, G-6, P-1

Excellent: Didn’t get to hunt much because of the storm but saw a lot of deer when I hunted.

Excellent: I saw a lot of deer and some big bucks, had great fellowship with some fantastic friends. Our older bucks seemed to disappear after the hurricane came through. But one of our members did shoot a 4 1/2-year-old target buck. So all was good.

Good: Saw lots of deer. Just didn’t see a real trophy.

Good: Saw deer almost every time.

Good: Saw plenty of deer. Shot a nice 9-pointer with a gun, plus a couple of does with my bow. The rut was out of whack because of all the problems with Hurricane Helene. The CSRA was hit very hard, but it still was a great season.

Good: Hurricane Helene storm damage recovery limited hunting time this season on my farm, but the deer were there.

Good: I saw a lot of deer but nothing I wanted to shoot, but that’s OK with me. I just enjoy being out in the deer woods every year.

Good: I saw a lot of does every hunt. I was holding my tags for a good buck but only saw one I would have taken if I could have gotten a good shot on it. I did see some young bucks for the future. I did manage to hunt more this year compared to years past and enjoyed it.

Poor: Saw a few deer, but Helene destroyed the hardwoods. Now dealing with clearcuts and only pine tree production is lucrative, but that market is flooded, as well. People can’t farm no more. Our lease used to consistent of 10- to 12-acre soybean, millet and corn fields. Now we have pine forests, and hardwoods are gone. We supplement feed, but it’s just a formality. We can’t ever do enough. We try food plots, but they were either burned up before Helene or flooded after.

Jenkins Co. F-1

Fair: Did not see a lot of deer.

Johnson Co. G-3, F-2, P-2

Good: All deer taken by my group, no matter doe or buck, were very healthy animals. We also noted seeing many deer on our outings.

Good: Started off good, We saw a lot of deer on our property. After the third week or so, we rarely saw a deer during daylight hours, always on camera an hour after dark until just before sunup.

Good: Good population, decent buck-to-doe ratio.

Fair: Hurricane timber damage worsened habitat loss.

Poor: Hurricane really messed up my hunting property and I had to work the majority of the rut. I saw only one buck the whole season.

Poor: Night hunters with permits killed five bucks in one night in a cotton field with cotton just coming up. One buck was a 9-point with an 18-inch spread. Then the hurricane disrupted the woods so bad in my other spot that deer could not move as they did through the woods around where my stands had been.

Jones Co. E-9, G-11, F-4

Excellent: I went on two handicapped hunts with the DNR (it’s called Beyond Barriers) and got three does and an 8-point buck!

Excellent: I saw lots of deer of all ages.

Excellent: I saw more deer in the 2024 season than normally at Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge (primitive weapons and first rifle hunt).

Excellent: I took five deer total. Three were does, two were bucks; my first buck was a “cull” and my second buck was a 13-point mature buck that I took in late January. I did see deer on every hunt. I hunt on my private, 100-acre farm, and I greatly enjoy growing big bucks.

Excellent: I saw deer on almost every hunt.

Excellent: The entire family was successful in harvesting good deer this year, and our hunt club in general had a very successful season. Our hunt club has 1,200 acres, and we harvested 22 bucks that were at least 8 points or better.

Excellent: I participated in roughly 40 hunts for the 2024-2025 deer season. I hunted in both archery and gun season. I saw an abnormal amount of 1-year-old deer this year, which is a phenomenal sign for any property. Throughout deer season, I saw a large number of mature does and mature bucks, as well as a significant increase in the 2- and 3-year-old population of bucks. However, during late season, despite having numerous food plots, deer feeders and light hunting pressure, there was a noticeable decrease in doe sightings. Historically, late season has always been a great time to see more does, so the decrease was disheartening. Overall, the population seems to be stable and increasing in quality. The 1,500 acres we manage will make adjustments to our management plan to ensure more does are present. Control burning will begin soon and predator trapping has already started. Spring food plots will be planted in the near future, as well. Just an opinion, extended archery would be highly beneficial in Jones County, not just because I would like to hunt longer, but because it would allow me to gain a greater insight on the late-season herd and to harvest any animals we see fit.

Excellent: Took two quality bucks and saw quite a few bucks that will be very nice next year. Also saw lots of turkeys in the food plots.

Good: Quality bucks are lacking. Saw several does.

Good: Target bucks were harvested and saw two shooters for next season after the end of the deer season.

Good: Saw more does than bucks. I got my bucks around the rut, but I’ve seen more in the past.

Good: Saw lots of bucks and does.

Good: Plenty of does, and did get one decent-sized doe. Had a chance at a 8-point buck but the shot didn’t feel right. Still a pleasant hunting season, lots of time in the woods. Have not gotten a buck yet in my hunting career.

Good: Other than food plots being parched from the dry weather, a pretty good season for me. Shot a nice 10 during muzzleloader season, which is good because ML season is usually kind of slow for us.

Good: Saw a lot of deer, killed a mature 8-pointer.

Good: Movement was very strong until mid-September and throughout the first two-thirds of November. At all other times, it was nearly non-existent.

Good: I got a 9-point that was pretty good, not a monster or anything, but nice enough to show around, for me. Also, I was blessed and able to hunt Oaky, Cedar Creek two hunts, B.F. Grant two hunts, Piedmont three hunts, National Forest several times, as well as a couple private properties I have permission to hunt, so all in all I had a great 2024-2025 deer season.

Good: Got pictures of quality bucks on cams, and members saw them during the season. The herd looks healthy and well fed.

Fair: Not many deer in this area.

Fair: Limited deer sightings.

Fair: Saw deer, just didn’t see any big bucks. Several were in the 120 range.

Fair: Saw very few deer.

Lamar Co. E-2, G-3, F-2, P-2

Excellent: I feel like we were able to see a lot of increased daylight buck activity at the end of October. We just had an excellent season seeing a lot of deer.

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer. Small bucks, saw them fight. Many deer.

Good: Saw a good number of decent bucks over and over and even after season. Passed on all but one.

Good: Deer numbers seemed consistent as last several years. Decent mast crop. Cool weather.

Fair: Didn’t see a lot of deer. Did not see a shooter buck.

Fair: Not as productive as past seasons.

Poor: Observed a lot less movement. Crops didn’t produce as much. Saw much more irregular movement throughout season, including rut.

Poor: Very few deer seen in an area which usually holds an above-average herd.

Lanier Co. P-1

Poor: Worst season ever. CWD now so it’s only going to get worse Terrible weather all season. No rut at all

Laurens Co. E-8, G-7, F-2, P-4

Excellent: I saw more deer than usual, both bucks and does, and harvested my personal best buck.

Excellent: Saw plenty.

Excellent: Lots of deer seen and family was able to harvest four bucks.

Excellent: I saw a lot of deer. I was able to take a nice buck and a few does.

Excellent: Saw plenty of does and bucks.

Excellent: I was able to shoot a very nice 10-point, along with six does this year. Saw lots of young bucks, so I have high hopes for the next coming years.

Good: Saw a good number of does. Killed a few good does.

Good: Saw deer on every hunt.

Good: Lots of deer.

Fair: Was not seeing a lot of deer.

Poor: Due to the damage from Hurricane Helene to our 400-acre tree farm and the number of timber companies clear-cutting our property, it looks like Gilligan’s Island with cleared land surrounding. A few deer were seen on camera around food plots.

Poor: First year we have not had mature bucks to target. For some reason this season all my friends and I did not have the normal population of mature bucks.

Poor: Hurricane destroyed most of hunting area.

Poor: Even before the hurricane, I saw fewer deer this year. Very few came out during the day, and even what I had on camera was far less than previous years. Also, every other year I’ve seen at least a half-dozen mature bucks on my cameras. I saw none this year.

Lee Co. E-1, F-1

Excellent: Always observed deer.

Liberty Co. G-3, P-1

Good: I dog hunt every weekend. I killed one. We had many races every Saturday. Saw many deer and let a good many go that I could have shot at.

Good: I’m from Florida and only hunt with a bow. My season was cut short due to the hurricane. It would have been excellent if not for that.

Good: Small deer seen that I didn’t want to shoot so they can grow. Really good turkey turnouts this year, good duck turnouts this year. For the deer, it’s my fault for not doing better scouting and going deeper in the woods.

Poor: Too many does and immature bucks.

Lincoln Co. G-5, F-1

Good: Saw more mature bucks during bow season.

Good: Saw deer regularly. Had some nice bucks on camera in daylight hours during pre-rut. Little heartbreaking seeing all the trees on the ground from Helene.

Fair: Saw very few deer.

Long Co. P-1

Lowndes Co. E-1, G-4, F-2, P-1

Excellent: I killed my biggest deer to date with a muzzleloader.

Good: Nice buck early season and other buck early December. Need cold weather early fall!

Good: I had an OK season. I harvested three deer, one buck and two does.

Good: Had several good bucks from years past that we identified early summer, but early season was more difficult than usual due to Hurricane Helene and an exceptional acorn crop. As the season progressed, we figured out how the deer were moving through the properties we hunt and had a good year. Sightings were a little down from previous year but that is likely to change their patterns in our area due to storm damage.

Fair: I could only hunt a small portion of my hunting area due to blown-down trees and high water.

Fair: Hurricane Helene decimated the woods and made it difficult to traverse. The deer had to change their normal routes because of downed trees.

Poor: Hurricane Helene.

Lumpkin Co. E-2, G-4, F-1, P-1

Excellent: Saw lots of deer in the mountains on public land, harvested two quality bucks.

Good: For the amount of time I got to get in the woods, I still filled both buck tags. Saw a lot of deer and deer movement throughout the whole season.

Good: Just didn’t have a lot of luck this year seeing bucks.

Good: For the amount of time I got to get in the woods, I still filled both buck tags. Saw a lot of deer and deer movement throughout the whole season.

Fair: Hard hunting this year due to the big acorn crop.

Poor: Lack of sightings of mature (3 1/2-year-old) bucks.

Macon Co. E-5, G-10, F-6, P-3

Excellent: Was able to connect with a Pope & Young this year.

Excellent: I saw approximately 30 different bucks and more than 100 does. I harvested two bucks.

Excellent: First time I tagged out on both bucks and does. Two bucks and three does with compound bow and seven does with the .270.

Excellent: Harvested my best buck ever!

Good: Saw deer on each hunt, plenty of does in the woods makes it easier to keep my kids interested in hunting.

Good: Although I was not able to hunt as much this season as I have in seasons previously, I had more deer and buck sightings than I have in previous years!

Good: Saw plenty of deer and good activity.

Good: Passed on several 3 1/2-year-old quality bucks. The herd seems to be very healthy.

Good: Saw a few nice bucks and expect to have good success over the next couple or years as they develop.

Good: Lots of quality deer and does.

Good: Lack of quality bucks observed. Doe numbers appeared to be down.

Good: We had a good acorn drop this year, which helped keep the deer in the hardwoods where I prefer to hunt. Killed a nice 10-point, but most of my focus was getting my grandson on a good Macon County buck. Didn’t happen this year but had a lot of great sits together.

Good: Saw many 4 1/2-year-old bucks.

Fair: This was a very slow season for me. Movement during daylight hours were slim.

Fair: Did not hunt much. When I did, I didn’t see a lot of deer.

Fair: Saw a lot of deer but the rut never seemed to take off.

Fair: Looks as if deer numbers were down in our area.

Fair: Fewer mature bucks.

Poor: Killed one doe and I did not see a large buck while hunting or on a trail camera. One reason is the temperatures were so high this past fall.

Poor: I only got into the woods two days all season. Saw young deer but not one to harvest.

Madison Co. E-3, G-4, F-1

Excellent: Best deer season ever. I’m 52 and have been hunting in Georgia since I was 12. I killed a 5 1/2-year-old 8-pointer on Nov. 11 and a 4 1/2-year-old 12-pointer on Dec. 21. I saw more bucks and does than I’ve ever seen. Also in my hour drive to the property I hunted, it was very common to see 10 to 20 deer between 4:30-5:30 a.m. On one morning’s drive in, I saw 37 deer.

Excellent: I killed two 8-pointers and a doe. I let a lot walk.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer, several good bucks, my son and myself harvested nice bucks.

Good: Lots of deer at times but fewer older bucks. Warmer temps during most of the season.

Good: Saw a lot of deer, great rut action, and took two really nice mature bucks. Good: We have a great population, would like to see a little more age on our deer herd.

Marion Co. E-2, G-5, P-1

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer, good many young bucks and was able to harvest a nice 8-pointer and a doe.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer activity throughout the season and was able to harvest several deer.

Excellent: I have owned my land since 1998, and this year I shot the biggest deer ever out there. We had plenty to choose from, and the movement was great.

Good: We had a lot of timber cut in the late season, and it really seemed to disrupt the deer patterns.

Good: See a lot of young bucks. Potential for a great season next year. Harvested a big 9-pointer and a few does.

Good: Bucks were chasing most of November into early December. Got to see a lot of rut activity nearly every day. Most of the bucks were young but that gives me hope for the upcoming season. Overall, had a great time with my dad. Was able hunt more this year than previous years.

Good: The family harvested four deer off the property this season.

Poor: Days available on WMAs were limited or confusing as to when archery hunting was allowed.

McDuffie Co. E-1, G-2, F-2

Good: Saw plenty of deer, a few nice bucks. The hurricane put a damper on the season for a few weeks in this area.

Good: Saw many up-and-coming bucks. Harvested a good 8-pointer on opening weekend. Deer herd looked healthy.

Fair: Didn’t get to hunt much because of the hurricane.

McIntosh Co. P-1

Poor: Did not see any mature bucks, except for night pictures.

Meriwether Co. E-8, G-16, F-9, P-1

Excellent: Insane rut activity this year and tagged out on two mature bucks 30 minutes apart, probably one of my best deer seasons ever!

Excellent: Population and ratio are good.

Excellent: Witnessed lots of chasing. Saw lots of great bucks. Passed up several that will be great next season.

Excellent: Lots of deer. Lots of bucks seen.

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer and shot my target buck.

Excellent: Was able to take two good bucks and one doe. I saw 194 deer from the stand. Some of the deer were repeats seen on different days.

Excellent: Large numbers of deer, good mix of does and bucks.

Good: I saw a variety of deer throughout the entire season, mainly younger bucks, but it was good to see them each time I went hunting.

Good: Lots of deer but too many actually. Hurting antler development, even in older bucks.

Good: Saw plenty of deer but not the shooter buck I was going for.

Good: I harvested my highest-scoring Georgia buck (150 gross) on Nov. 15, 2015. I haven’t pulled the trigger since. I’ve had lots of opportunities, but he’s got to be bigger. My walls are full, which means I would have to take one down in order to put one up.

Good: Only hunted six or seven days. Saw lots of deer. Got a very nice buck and a coupe of does. Dropped each deer in tracks. Could have gotten more but had all the meat needed. Saw more young bucks than doe or fawns.

Good: Although I didn’t hunt as much as normal, I didn’t see any really large bucks, even though I don’t harvest all good bucks.

Good: Killed two.

Good: Saw plenty of deer and killed two good bucks. Fawn recruitment is down from last year’s survey. Noticed a lot more deformed racks this year as opposed to last season, which was none. Hopefully as the timing of the drought and antler-development stage and lack of available forage led to decreased antler growth.

Good: Didn’t see a shooter all season.

Good: Saw lots of healthy animals, lots of promising young bucks.

Good: Food plots did not come up because no rain. Saw plenty of does and small bucks but only one mature buck in 21 days in the stand. Let him go, maybe next year, had time to kill three coyotes.

Good: Saw many deer, killed one 8-point and sons killed a 10-point and an 8-point.

Good: Got one buck, had plenty of deer on camera. Just a matter of getting time in a blind.

Fair: Fewer deer numbers. Fewer deer sighting.

Fair: Didn’t see the mature bucks that have been seen in the previous seasons.

Fair: Not really a significant rut.

Fair: Poor rut movement, more tending than chasing.

Fair: Looking to shoot something above the 130 mark and never saw anything that big. Lots of 115 deer. Been hunting this property for four years and only one buck shot above 130.

Fair: Have too many does, didn’t have a good rut. Plan next year to harvest more does. Hoping this will help.

Fair: Didn’t kill a deer, saw quite a few, just not big enough.

Poor: Managed larger than 1,000-acre tract for over 30 years with over 50 acres of quality summer and winter food plots. NO mature bucks to speak of this year and have no clue why when we are passing over 100 bucks or more per year in the 2- and 3-year-age class. The quality of bucks has been on the decline in our area the past five or six years. We were taking 150-class deer here and there and only taking three to four mature bucks on average a year prior to that, so it is rather confusing. Too bad that our state is reactive rather than proactive in so many areas of game management plans and information.

Miller Co. E-1

Mitchell Co. E-2, G-6

Excellent: Had a lot of great opportunities and filled both of my buck tags.

Excellent: I own most of the property I and my two grandsons hunt. Five years ago we decided to let all bucks under 140 walk. It started paying off last season and this season. This season both grandsons killed a 155 plus. My youngest grandson (24) killed the best deer ever for Mitchell with a bow. He’s waiting on a score. We have killed a total of five bucks scoring 140 plus in the last two years. We carry out a feed program year-round (corn). We have something growing in our food patches year-round. We kill does for our freezer. We let all bucks under 140 walk. Our doe population has grown tremendously, also. I know it costs a lot, but our theory is we had rather spend more on our herd than spend it in Texas or Canada for probably a slim chance to kill a trophy.

Good: This season was better than last. I feel like the weather cooperated at the appropriate time. This was the first time in probably 10 years that we saw our traditional rut in mid-December.

Good: Saw plenty of small deer. Nothing trophy sized.

Good: The deer changed their old movement patterns, so we had to adjust, too. Some neighbors cleared an area that I think was a bedding area. I got what I needed for my freezer, taking the last one during extended archery season.

Good: Saw a lot of deer, a lot of deer were killed.

Good: I was able to harvest two good bucks and saw a decent amount of deer activity.

Monroe Co. E-3, G-7, F-4, P-2

Excellent: My wife and I harvested our two deer during the first week of rifle season. We hunt twice daily until harvest and saw deer every day. We only harvest bucks and never hunt over bait. We generally harvest our deer during the first two weeks every year, but our hunting was finished a little earlier than usual this year. We hunt about 300 acres that is surrounded by hunting clubs that put a lot of pressure on deer. After harvest, deer have no pressure on our tract, and we have a good many does that hang out and attract bucks. On years with a light acorn crop, I put out corn for a few weeks after the season during the colder weeks.

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer consistently, included several mature bucks.

Excellent: Even though I didn’t kill any deer this last year, I saw plenty. I had plenty of meat in the freezer to last until next year. I just didn’t see anything I was willing to shoot. I decided to trophy hunt this season only. I saw lots of quality young bucks for the future seasons. Does were plentiful. Herd is in good shape where I hunt.

Good: Was able to tag out on two bucks, one 11-pointer chasing does on Nov. 2. Killed a couple of does. Saw a lot of young bucks.

Good: Good pre-rut buck sightings due to a great white oak acorn crop.

Good: I saw deer at Rum Creek but did not shoot.

Good: Overall we had a pretty good season, even with most of the acorn crop being dropped early, mostly due to the hurricane. I hunted 15 whole days, with three being at Piedmont NWR where my father harvested two bucks, three at Rum Creek WMA where he again got two bucks and our buddy got one. I got a spike at Piedmont NWR.

Fair: Hot weather kept things slow. Couple that with every neighbor having a baitpile every 50 yards and sightings were way down.

Fair: No quality bucks on the club this year.

Fair: I didn’t see a lot of deer. Not many mature deer at all. Saw lots of 3 1/2-year-olds get shot around me that I passed. That is frustrating for someone who wishes to trophy hunt on small tracks of land.

Poor: Very few deer seen even at my feeders. I think I have neighbors who are feeding heavily. This was the worst year that I have ever had on my small tract of land. I’ve been hunting this tract for nine years.

Poor: Saw very few deer. Acorn crop was little to none.

Montgomery Co. E-2, G-2, F-1, P-2

Excellent: Killed two of my target bucks, wife killed her second ever buck.

Excellent: I had multiple quota draws and was able to harvest five antlered bucks, three antlerless and eight hogs.

Good: Saw plenty of deer and tagged out on bucks. It was a good season. The storm did make it harder though.

Good: The effects of the hurricane were evident as most of the woods were impassable. This hindered our club’s harvest numbers dramatically on a property with an already high deer density. The end result of one club was a major clearcut of pines and hardwoods. The deer had access to downed oak trees in early October. The hunting was good with regards to numbers of deer seen, but the storm added another obstacle in the way of getting on top of the deer herd management.

Fair: Hurricane created unusual hunting conditions.

Poor: Hurricane Helena destroyed a lot of large trees and seemed to change their patterns.

Poor: The area we hunted was impossible to enter due to so many downed trees making traveling impossible. The big oaks that were on the ground gave deer immediate food sources 24×7, so deer made less visits to our planted food sources, which were smaller.

Morgan Co. E-4, G-13, F-1

Excellent: Saw many deer, especially during the rut—took two nice bucks!

Excellent: All our hunters took nice bucks, saw many deer and had an overall really good season.

Excellent: Great rut. Older age class of bucks. Target deer were killed.

Excellent: Many deer to choose from. Quality deer herd.

Good: Saw multiple deer. Harvested six.

Good: Saw lots of deer some sits, 30 or more with multiple bucks but no really mature bucks.

Good: Too many hogs in woods at Hard Labor Creek State Park, hunt land adjacent to that, hogs everywhere.

Good: Saw lots of deer but very few were mature bucks or does.

Good: Saw lots of deer.

Good: Good activity in the early season. Didn’t get to hunt as much later in season, but we saw a lot of deer overall.

Good: I saw a lot of deer but never saw a mature buck.

Good: Lots of deer, bucks are big in Morgan.

Good: Saw lots of deer but nothing big.

Good: Saw lots of deer, including bucks. Bucks were young, 2 1/2 years old. Would like to see 3 1/2-year-old bucks and older.

Good: Always saw deer and good quality bucks but young.

Good: I saw several mature deer and let several younger deer walk this year.

Good: My buddies saw lots of deer.

Fair: Fewer bucks than last year.

Murray Co. E-3, G-1, F-1, P-1

Excellent: I saw deer most every time I went hunting. Had the opportunity to harvest a number of does to manage the property.

Excellent: Took my largest-racked buck ever and passed on a lot of bucks and does.

Good: Saw many deer but no solid bucks in the daytime.

Fair: Saw a lot of does, not many bucks. Not any nice bucks.

Newton Co. E-6, G-7, F-1, P-1

Excellent: Saw lots of deer but no big bucks. I know they are there, but they just never came by me. First year in a long time I saw no big ones.

Excellent: A lot of deer seen. A very active rut. Several above-average bucks harvested.

Excellent: My son took one buck and eight does

Excellent: I was able to take two nice mature 8-pointers this season. Definitely saw more bucks and does this year than in previous years. The bucks and does were all different age classes, and the overall health of the deer herd looked great.

Excellent: Saw several mature bucks and killed a 6-year-old 9-pointer.

Good: Not as many mature bucks as the 2021 season.

Good: Lots of deer movement but way too many does. Gonna have issues if people don’t start taking them out.

Good: Plenty of deer. Lot of opportunities to put meat in the freezer. Trophy bucks were few and far between.

Good: Good numbers of deer, but only medium-sized bucks.

Fair: Harvested one deer but it was a nice size.

Poor: No big deer.

Oconee Co. E-6, G-1, F-1, P-1

Excellent: Killed my first shoulder-mount buck, saw lots of deer, weather was great most all of the season, spent a lot of time with family and watched my nephew fall in love with deer hunting.

Excellent: Plenty of deer.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer. Killed a mature buck and one doe. Was able to hunt with my grandsons.

Excellent: Largest buck of career but very poor acorn production so it was difficult to pattern.

Excellent: Harvested two mature good-bodied bucks.

Excellent: Saw deer nearly every sit. Shot four deer (two bucks and two does) on the property. Just under 6 acres.

Good: Saw plenty of does and bucks early in the season on camera, but eventually it slowed down. My son did get a decent buck. Not much activity was seen during the rut.

Fair: Plenty of does, very few quality bucks.

Poor: Saw very few deer. Poor acorn crop made hunting difficult.

Oglethorpe Co. E-12, G-23, F-5, P-2

Excellent: Saw many does, few bucks, but club harvested eight good bucks. I didn’t harvest any by choice.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer. My son killed two does. I killed a buck and a doe.

Excellent: I saw several shooter bucks and harvested my best buck ever.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer. Was able to take a nice 8-point and doe. Several large bucks on cameras.

Excellent: Excellent season for bucks. I saw young bucks and 2 1/2- to 3 1/2-year-old bucks almost every hunt (private property). But I only saw three does the entire season, and it was during late October when they were being chased by bucks. The last two weeks of October was our full rut. I didn’t see a single doe for all of November, December or January.

Excellent: I got the two deer I was after and let a lot of young upcoming bucks walk. I saw deer every time I went out.

Excellent: Saw deer almost every hunt and was able to fill the freezer.

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer, many does with fawns.

Excellent: Retired in the beginning of November and was finally able to spend a lot of time in the woods.

Excellent: Saw lots of bucks.

Excellent: My son and I hunt the property, and we both took outstanding bucks. We saw deer on every trip and still have some small 8-pointers to grow for next season.

Excellent: Lots of activity, especially during the rut.

Good: The acorns were poor. Didn’t see as many deer.

Good: Saw plenty of wildlife and bagged a nice deer.

Good: I saw deer. Trail cameras picked up some nice bucks I’ve never seen before. Life got in the way and I couldn’t put in the hours I had hoped for, but I’m happy with what I got for the time I hunted.

Good: Unusually warm weather hindered daylight movement patterns.

Good: I really did not hunt that much, but we have plenty of deer. Once the neighbors started their corn feeders, the hogs went away and the deer showed up. No large bucks killed but several of them on camera were nice mature bucks. We did take out several does but had a great time as far as being out in the woods.

Good: Had plenty of good bucks and does on trail cameras, could have killed a doe each time I went hunting. Plenty of young bucks this year, I think the most I’ve seen in a while. Killed a old big doe toward end of season. Other members got some nice bucks this season.

Good: Saw plenty of deer.

Good: Killed my biggest buck to date in November.

Good: Saw a lot of deer but low number of mature deer, really young herd where I was at.

Good: Saw plenty of 8-pointers but the deer were not old enough.

Good: Saw a lot of deer but seeing a lot of 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 bucks with trash racks. Several deer with 4 points on one side and spike on the other side. I sat one day on an all-day hunt and saw more than 50 deer.

Good: Saw plenty of deer.

Good: Average number of deer seen. Still too many younger age class bucks being taken and too many does.

Good: Our club as a whole had a good year on decent-sized bucks, and I saw plenty of does.

Good: I saw plenty of deer and killed a decent buck in early November. Hunted with my grandson with me a few times, too!

Good: Saw plenty of deer, does and bucks.

Good: Plenty of deer but small racks, even for mature bucks.

Good: Saw plenty of deer—good many bucks. Got some pictures of very nice deer.

Fair: Decline in deer movement and activity.

Fair: Saw fewer big bucks than usual and fewer old does than usual.

Fair: Not as many decent bucks around, only saw one shooter buck and not any being close to shoot. It’s hard to compete with the people pouring corn out.

Fair: Didn’t see many deer.

Fair: Bigger bucks seemed non-existent.

Poor: Saw deer each sit with one exception. Had two nice bucks on camera that were taken by neighboring hunters.

Paulding Co. G-5, F-3, P-1

Good: My son took a very nice 9-pointer. We had opportunities to take nice 8- and 10-pointers that we let walk.

Good: Very enjoyable just getting out.

Good: Didn’t get to hunt as much as I wanted to.

Good: Saw lots of deer, just not enough time to get out and hunt this year.

Fair: One bow-kill and one bonus hunt kill, many hours spent in woods, didn’t see much as compared to other years.

Fair: Few antlered bucks.

Poor: Less deer sightings than normal. I went from having five to 10 shooters to having two on camera all season. Very unusual.

Peach Co. E-1, G-1, P-1

Excellent: Lots of deer, healthy herd.

Good: We saw plenty of deer and hogs this season. The deer seemed to be smaller (body size) in size than what we’ve seen in the past years. Hog numbers have grown substantially, and we need to figure out a better way of controlling their numbers.

Poor: Worst season since 1989. Saw far fewer deer. This year saw 10 bucks and five does. Killed two bucks. Last year was 20 bucks and six does (and killed four of those). Something needs done in this area to allow for more bucks to be killed. If we kill the does, then we are just lessoning the chance of increasing the population.

Pickens Co. E-2, F-2

Excellent: Saw lots of deer, harvested a 3 1/2-year-old 8-point, could have shot other bucks.

Excellent: Saw more deer than I ever have and had lots of great encounters.

Fair: The doe-to-buck ratio does not align with the number of doe days we have. We are overrun with does. On the weekends I was able to hunt, I wanted to put meat in the freezer, and I wasn’t able to.

Fair: Unlike last season, which had the most rut activity I’ve ever seen, it was virtually nonexistent. I also didn’t hunt quite as much, so that may have had a little to do with it. And there were no exciting bucks seen, not even close to exciting.

Pierce Co. E-2, F-2, P-1

Fair: Storms put too much food on the ground and deer didn’t have to travel as much.

Fair: The hurricane seemed to make me lose a lot of the deer we had been watching all year.

Poor: Not the deer movement like previous years.

Pike Co. E-1, G-9, F-2, P-1

Good: Hot weather during the rut made our rut not up to standards or what we are used to seeing.

Good: Numbers.

Good: Season went well. Decent bucks were killed.

Good: I saw a fair amount of deer for one main reason. My neighbor’s son, who is a poacher, was not around due to having a warrant and avoiding the local law enforcement.

Good: Saw plenty of deer, not a lot of rut activity. Attributed that mostly to above-average temperatures during early November.

Fair: Poor rut. Plenty of deer though.

Fair: Did not see near as many big bucks as I normally do, both in person and on camera.

Poor: Even though I had plenty of pictures, the deer went nocturnal early. Had very few sightings during the daylight hours.

Polk Co. G-7, F-4, P-2

Good: Saw plenty of deer.

Good: Didn’t harvest a deer but saw deer several times hunting.

Good: Saw deer 90 percent of the time. Not many bucks. Most smaller than 6 points.

Good: I saw several nice 4-year-old or older deer and took a nice mature 10-point for my freezer, which is all I need, as I am single. I could easily have taken two bucks and 10 does if I had wanted to fill out a Georgia limit.

Good: Plenty of deer in our area.

Fair: Didn’t see as many deer as I would like to have seen.

Fair: Very few buck sightings compared to previous year. Many quality deer were left to grow after the 2023- 24 season. They completely disappeared in 24-25 and have no answers for why they never showed up on camera anywhere.

Fair: Had a very difficult time finding mature bucks this year. Wish we had antler restrictions like some of the better counties in the state.

Poor: Half the property was logged in the spring of last year. Property had too much hunting pressure.

Poor: The amount of deer seen was low compared to the amount of time in the woods between four hunters.

Pulaski Co. E-1, G-1, F-3, P-2

Excellent: Four out of four hunters harvested a deer. Two bucks and two does.

Good: Saw a good number of deer and took two does. Passed up young bucks.

Fair: Not too many bucks to have a shot at beyond spikes.

Poor: Lack of quality bucks seen. Saw lots of deer, both does and small bucks, and don’t think any of the small bucks will be shooters next year. No doubt we have too many does.

Poor: Very little deer movement in the daylight hours, didn’t kill a deer this past season.

Putnam Co. E-5, G-11, F-3, P-4

Excellent: Saw lots of deer.

Excellent: Took two mature bucks. Saw deer on every sit. Herd seems to be in great shape.

Excellent: Plenty of deer seen. Several opportunities. Harvested a quality buck.

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer, good healthy bucks and does! Keep the feeders full and the food plots going!!

Excellent: Got one big doe. Probably need to take 20 by trail cameras. I am 74 years old. Try to do better next year.

Good: Just being outside is good.

Good: Saw plenty but no older class bucks.

Good: I saw plenty of deer and harvested all I wanted, which was one.

Good: We saw plenty of deer, even though there is lots of hunting pressure around our property.

Good: Plenty of deer and older bucks.

Good: Saw lots of deer, harvested nice buck.

Good: Weather impacted food plots negatively this year.

Good: Was able to harvest two does.

Fair: Did not see lots of deer.

Fair: Rut sign and sightings were minimal.

Fair: We are overwhelmed with hogs. The past few years, the prevalence of wild hogs has gotten progressively worse. The hogs are rooting up our food plots and degrading our deer habitat. This year, we had more hog sighting on cameras (set up on food plots) than we had deer.

Poor: Too many neighboring properties baiting, hunting property lines and shooting anything that walks!

Poor: I saw deer nearly every time I hunted but no decent bucks. I had a few shooters on camera, but they never made any daylight visits. As usual, the rut seemed to last 20 minutes, and it happened at 3 a.m. There was NO acorn drop, and it was 80-plus degrees with a south wind during the rut—further boogering everything. The only plus to the season was seeing a bear on my Putnam property one early November morning.

Poor: Only saw one doe, didn’t kill anything.

Poor: Very few mature bucks. The land is planted pines with very little suitable food. My club plants wheat and clover on a few private plots. Most time those fail.

Quitman Co. E-3, G-2

Excellent: Solid deer population due to our management program and a good club.

Excellent: Lots of good deer!

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer. Saw a nice 8-point making a run as he was chasing a doe. He weighed 180 pounds.

Good: I took a mature 8-point, but better than that I spent a lot of quality time at camp and in the woods with family and friends. That is always a GOOD thing!

Rabun Co. E-1

Excellent: Saw more bucks than I usually do.

Randolph Co. E-6, G-5, F-1, P-3

Excellent: This season was the most defined rut that I have seen since I moved to my current home in Randolph County in 2006.The bucks started chasing does just before Thanksgiving and were still active until the first week of January. I harvested an 8-point on Nov. 25 and let five more shooters walk after that as I was hunting a particular buck that I was unable to close the deal on.

Excellent: I was able to see deer almost every time I hunted. The rut was strong the week of Thanksgiving, and I saw several bucks chasing does every day. The overall herd health and size on my lease was good.

Excellent: Management is paying off with lots of bucks.

Excellent: Shot five deer this season, two 8-points, three does. This was all in a total of 18 days of hunting.

Excellent: Plenty of deer.

Excellent: The bucks were really moving during the middle two weeks of November. We constantly saw plenty of does and a good number of mature bucks. There was a good crop of fawns that we saw late into the season that were not taken by predators.

Good: I saw deer most every hunt, with lots of young bucks up and coming. Doe-to-buck sightings were close to a one-to-one ratio.

Good: Saw some good deer. Harvested enough to fill freezer.

Good: Saw deer just about every time I went hunting.

Good: Bigger better antlers seen and less hogs on property.

Good: Saw plenty of deer, both bucks and does.

Fair: My management program didn’t show the growth in my bucks that I have been seeing. I need to take out cull bucks and didn’t get it done.

Poor: Property owner had the land clearcut a week before bow season began, and they finished a week after rifle season began.

Poor: Deer movement was terrible. Our lease is overrun with wild pigs. I think the wild hogs have pushed the deer off our lease.

Poor: Deer quality has dropped drastically in my area of the county. EHD and or CWD is here! There’s no doubt in my mind from the dead deer found and the deer that have gone missing, they have fallen victim to one or the other! DNR biologists have been to my neighbors and claims it’s only EHD because we had a prolonged drought last season. We have prolonged droughts before and all the deer seemed fine before. But now they have all died from something. No one wants to shoot does anymore either, and the population is just all out of line from where it needs to be. The law needs changing here to mandate hunters shoot a certain number of does before a buck! The processors here are full of 4-points, 6-points and spikes that come in. I’ve seen deer with spots and deer that have just lost their spots laying on the floors. Yea there’s a nice buck that slips through the cracks here and there, but for most part, it’s a 1 1/2-year-old buck or less that gets shot here!

Richmond Co. P-1

Poor: We hunt on Fort Gordon (Eisenhower). Hurricane Helene caused so much damage that the Fort wasn’t open for hunting. We’ve been hunting primitive-weapons season there since before the Georgia DNR began their primitive-weapons season. This was the first season we’ve missed in 43 years.

Rockdale Co. E-1, G-3, P-1

Excellent: I saw lots of deer this year and harvested three healthy does.

Good: Three deer harvested. Buck activity really dipped off after mid-November rut. Bucks really grouped up in December and January. Deer hit bait harder as it got cold.

Good: Had several opportunities for a larger buck during archery season.

Good: This year I was only able to hunt four times. I saw a nice buck and shot it with my crossbow. That is a plus. On the other hand, the deer population has decreased in our area due to overbuilding, people and vehicles.

Poor: Saw only a total of 11 deer all season.

Schley Co. G-5, P-1

Good: Killed a mature buck. Sightings down slightly from last year but enough meat for the freezer and a buck on the wall.

Good: Managing herd is creating healthy deer population with a bunch of little bucks running around. Target buck daylighted several times this year, was just unable to harvest him.

Good: Saw plenty of deer, just not the buck I saw on camera. Horn hunting, let plenty of small bucks and does walks.

Good: Saw lots of deer. Had some nice bucks on cameras, never saw one while hunting. Passed up lots of bucks. Got a 9-point buck for meat near end of season.

Good: Got my quota of bucks.

Poor: Deer numbers seemed lower, and after the second week of November, the deer basically went nocturnal. I’ve hunted this tract for several years, and this has never been the case in past seasons. The quality bucks seemed to be very sparse this year, as well, and we spent more time planting food plots to help offer food, which hadn’t been done in the past.

Screven Co. E-1, G-4, F-4, P-1

Excellent: We saw a lot of deer this season, really nice bucks and plentiful does. Wife and I tagged out on bucks early and almost tagged out on does. We helped fill many freezers this past season.

Good: Saw a lot of deer and a lot of young bucks.

Good: Decent deer population and harvested two good bucks.

Good: Weather was too warm for too long. Rut wasn’t as intense as I like.

Fair: Weird year. Number of mature buck sightings way down. Maybe a result of Helene knocking down so many acorns early in the year?

Fair: I live in northern Screven County and join Millhaven Plantation, and deer numbers were way down.

Fair: Only killed two does.

Poor: Saw the least amount of deer ever.

Seminole Co. G-1, P-1

Poor: Did not have a buck large enough to hunt.

Spalding Co. G-1, F-1, P-1

Good: Did not get to hunt very much due to a new child but saw a lot of deer the couple of times I did sit. Didn’t not harvest a deer this year.

Fair: It was a tough season with no acorns and many, many sits with no sightings. Also the property I hunt is on the river and it flooded twice during the season, pushing the few deer that were on the property out.

Poor: Rotten more accurate.

Stephens Co. G-1, F-1, P-2

Good: Plenty of opportunity to see and harvest deer.

Fair: Only saw a couple of small bucks and a few does.

Poor: The deer herd is struggling in northeast Georgia for many reasons, and my opinion is that a 12-deer harvest is ridiculously high. It is sickening when you take an adult deer to the area processor and there are countless fawns being shot for “the meat.” Also, when a hunter lowers their tailgate and have killed a doe and twin fawns just for “the meat,” it is just reducing the population severely. As hunters, we all love the jerky, sausage, Slim Jims, etc., but DNR needs to do something about reducing the overharvesting since the hunters don’t have the self-control to stop the slaughter.

Poor: Very few deer. Season is too long Bag limit is too many.

Stewart Co. E-3, G-2, F-1, P-4

Excellent: Saw a fair amount of deer. Shot a nice 8.

Excellent: Saw deer every time I sat in the stand. Saw some great bucks but nothing I wanted to shoot.

Excellent: Nice buck.

Good: Saw a lot more deer this year.

Fair: Not seeing as many deer as we used to. Big reason is lack of farming in area. Hannahatchee WMA was thinned several years ago due to a beetle problem. Prior to thinning, they would kill maybe 20 deer on a good year, but now it’s around 80 to 100 per year. It has no check station, so there is no telling how many are being taken. I suggest that it go trophy managed for a few years, either 8-point or better or 15-inch inside to help the bucks, also limit the does killed.

Poor: Weather was a factor and large increase of hogs countywide.

Poor: Few sightings at Hannahatchee.

Poor: One hunt in pm.

Poor: Very few mature bucks were seen in November. I didn’t see any rut activity.

Sumter Co. E-3, G-5, F-5

Excellent: Freezers are full! Great experiences this season.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer.

Excellent: I harvested a 133-inch, 200-lb. 10-point with my crossbow. My first buck with a crossbow. Had eight other racked bucks within 40 yards that morning. During the balance of the season, I saw more than 45 different racked bucks, with a third being mature. I only had one sit in a stand for the season that I did not see a deer, with 30-plus times I was in a stand or blind.

Good: We both killed good but not great bucks.

Good: Saw plenty of smaller/younger deer.

Good: Really nice bucks on camera—herd seems to be improving in quality and number. Weather was generally favorable. Freezer is full of venison.

Good: Saw a fair amount of deer, not as many shooters as years past.

Fair: Did not see many bucks that were older than 2 1/2 years old.

Fair: Deer sightings way down over past years and weekend weather was poor—either too hot or rain.

Fair: Deer sightings were down dramatically.

Fair: Doe kill is way too high. Non-residents are coming in and killing their 10 does per person and their two bucks per person and nothing is being left for Georgia hunters. Licenses for out-of-state hunters should also be a lot higher.

Talbot Co. E-4, G-15, F-9, P-4

Excellent: Took three bucks (WMA bonus buck), as well as sticking a good one I couldn’t find and also missing a real big one on a bonus hunt.

Excellent: This is the third year of our area’s “harvest based on age not sex management” and our herd is in much better condition. I urge all hunters to stop shooting bucks based on “bone exposed” and hunt mature bucks only. It’s a game changer and presents a completely different animal.

Excellent: I shot one 10-point buck that weighed 230 pounds. Only scored 113. Saw a number of other bucks that I passed up. Should have shot a doe but too late now. The club practices a lot QDM rules.

Excellent: Plenty of good bucks to choose from on our tracts.

Good: Way fewer bucks, way more hogs.

Good: Saw double the 4- and 6-point bucks I usually see. Harvested a 9-point on Big Lazer WMA.

Good: Saw several good bucks during the season and took a nice 8-point.

Good: I shot three deer.

Good: I got a nice buck, but my deer sightings were down this season.

Good: Got a nice 8-point later. Warm temperatures in November really kept the rut action down.

Good: Heavy bucks, decent racks.

Good: Saw plenty of deer. Never pulled the trigger. Saw smaller bucks that needed to grow.

Good: Good because I saw a LOT less does, and our 500 acres we have only shot two or three does each of last two seasons, so it’s concerning.

Good: Saw deer every time in the stand.

Good: Saw a lot of deer. I public-land hunt and would like to see more antler restrictions for public-land hunts. Also, the rifle season for Georgia is long. Many other states have far less rifle opportunities. I would love to see more opportunities for more mature and old bucks, which is hard to come by given how long our state’s rifle season is.

Good: Early in the season it seemed warm. Then the deer disappeared. Shot a buck on Dec. 12. Tons of does and young bucks.

Fair: Rut really was hit and miss… post-rut more bucks on their feet during the day but not mature.

Fair: I saw a lot of deer until the rut was over and then they seemed to disappear. Self-inflicted from the club, maybe. It was a bad year for white oaks. Deer were not where they typically are early in the season. Our food plot activity was mostly nocturnal throughout the season. I am still blessed to be able to hunt in good health.

Fair: Warm weather really seemed to impact the rut.

Fair: Not nearly as good as last year. Bunch of small bucks.

Fair: Didn’t see many deer, but I also didn’t get to hunt much this year.

Fair: We put out too much corn and have trained the deer to not come out until after dark. They hear us come through the gates and onto the property. Don’t see many deer but lots of sign and night photos on cameras.

Fair: We lost our lease in Monroe County, so I just hunted at my home property. I saw the same two mature does with three yearlings and two spikes over and over again, but with a tiny property to hunt, that wasn’t horrible.

Fair: The deer seemed to move mostly at night. Saw very little movement during the daytime. Only one legal buck during the daylight, and I talked to other hunters in the area, and they all said the same thing. It was an off season, only one good buck was shot in our group.

Fair: Too dry. Didn’t put in any food plots.

Poor: Have been hunting same lease for 40 years. The least amount of activity in that time, almost as if they left.

Poor: Not seeing many deer at all. Too many doe days has decimated the deer population. Worst season on record. Been here for 36 years and never seen so few deer. All the clubs around me feel the same. Do something before it’s too late. I would like for my grandsons to be able to hunt one day.

Poor: The number of deer was down, as was the number of bucks.

Poor: Didn’t see many deer. Hunted five weekends. Didn’t see a legal buck. First time in 12 seasons I didn’t have opportunity at a legal buck.

Taliaferro Co. E-1, G-7, F-2

Excellent: A lot of sightings of deer and pigs.

Good: Shot five deer.

Good: Six deer harvested among three hunters: five does and one medium buck. Did not see any large bucks. Saw too many does.

Good: I harvested two bucks.

Good: I saw deer almost every time I hunted.

Good: Saw plenty of deer but not any mature, big bucks.

Good: Saw a good number of deer. Got my target buck. Season would have been better if not for the hogs moving in.

Good: I hunted at least once a week from the start of gun season until the end, missing maybe two weeks. There was never a time when I did not see deer. I let one shooter walk. Several times I had 10-plus deer in front of me at one time.

Fair: No really nice bucks and very few does.

Fair: Are not seeing as many deer as last year.

Tattnall Co. G-1, F-1, P-2

Good: After Helene, there was so much destruction in our club. Some of the places we normally hunt became impossible to hunt due to fallen trees blocking entry. Hard to see over 12-foot high root balls but we adapted and made some adjustments and were able to see as many deer as before.

Fair: First part of season saw a lot of activity but later it was hard to see any.

Poor: We never saw any sign of the rut. No chasing at all.

Poor: Weather, floods, hurricanes, Fort Stewart training. I literally didn’t even see a deer while hunting. That was the ENTIRE season. Archery and rifle.

Taylor Co. E-3, G-8, F-4, P-1

Excellent: Saw deer on most hunts and harvested nice deer.

Excellent: Saw plenty of bucks and does on camera and while hunting. Took one buck.

Good: Was able to shoot several does and one buck.

Good: I saw more bucks this year than in previous years but didn’t see as many does.

Good: I saw far more deer when hunting this season and harvested a great buck for the first time in a few seasons.

Good: Saw a lot of deer, killed a buck.

Good: Lots of deer and activity.

Good: Saw deer most every time I went.

Fair: Didn’t see as many deer as I have in years past.

Fair: Plenty of deer, believe the dry summer months affected antler growth.

Fair: I did not get to hunt as much as I have in the past.

Fair: I did not see the number of deer that I have seen in the past. If I had not harvested the one deer that I did, I would have rated it poor. The deer I harvested was a 120-lb. doe. It was the largest doe that I saw all season. I only saw one buck with four points or better on one side (7-pointer), and he was too little to shoot. All others were non-quality bucks, fawns/yearlings or small does, and those were few and far between.

Poor: Very few deer seen. Harvested a doe the week before the season ended. Huge problem with dogs, coyotes and poachers.

Telfair Co. G-3, P-1

Good: Hurricanes messed up early season with floods and tree damage.

Good: Good deer population.

Poor: Storm damage and date changes on WMA hunts (ending on Sunday).

Terrell Co. E-5, G-4, F-1

Excellent: Killed six deer. Good weather. Saw some really nice bucks.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer, harvested some nice bucks on our club, have a good upcoming population.

Excellent: Harvested two 5 1/2-year-old bucks.

Excellent: Family killed three mature deer, one of which scored 145 7/8 gross.

Excellent: Lots of does and plenty of bucks.

Good: I was only hunting for a doe. I hunted twice, first time nothing, second time shot a doe. I’m happy!

Good: Saw a lot of deer on my 4-acre property.

Good: Shot a nice 10-point, saw fewer mature deer on our larger lease property this year.

Good: Plenty of deer movement, herd appears healthy and aged appropriately.

Fair: Saw mostly non-shooter (young) bucks. Many, many does seen.

Thomas Co. E-4, G-6

Excellent: Was able to harvest a nice buck. Also shot a few does, deer population seemed very good for the acreage I hunt.

Excellent: Plenty of deer and a longer-than-usual rut period.

Excellent: I shot a 150-plus buck I’d been after for years. Saw a lot of deer and activity throughout the seasons.

Good: Saw deer nearly every sit and killed a few.

Good: Didn’t get to hunt as mush as usual but saw plenty of deer when I went and was able to get a doe.

Good: Saw deer.

Good: We saw a bunch of young bucks and does but no mature bucks, even on camera.

Good: We saw plenty of deer and harvested a very mature buck, which we had been tracking for the past two years.

Tift Co. E-1, G-1, P-1

Excellent: I saw many deer, and most were bucks. I killed two big 8-pointers.

Good: Got more deer than last season and saw more activity.

Poor: Only saw a few small bucks and a few does.

Toombs Co. G-1

Good: Hurricane Helene cut us off from a lot of our ground for most of the season, so we had to get creative on how and where to hunt. We still saw deer and harvested bucks and does, but it was more challenging.

Towns Co. G-1

Good: Saw four bucks. I was limited by my health this year. OK now but season over.

Treutlen Co. P-1

Poor: No deer.

Troup Co. E-1, G-5, F-6, P-1

Excellent: Lack of rain and challenging weather patterns did impact the season. However, mature target bucks killed, doe harvest goals met and seemingly have strong herd of deer going into 2025.

Good: Plenty of deer.

Good: Saw deer every time out, just had no bucks I wanted to take

Good: I saw lots of rut action the first week of December.

Good: Saw deer each and every hunt while hunting twice per week.

Fair: Saw a lot of young bucks but no shooters.

Fair: Saw plenty of deer, just not any older class bucks.

Fair: Saw deer. Plenty of deer signs and on camera but didn’t have much luck in daylight hours. Plus I didn’t harvest deer.

Fair: Deer numbers were OK, just seemed as though the movement was for sure off from past years.

Fair: Seems to me the deer just did not move as much as the last few years.

Poor: Landowner cut timber and mulched.

Turner Co. E-5, G-4

Excellent: I saw many deer in the area I hunt. I was able to shoot a 12-point buck that I had never seen on camera.

Excellent: Two bucks, 166-inch 12-point and a 148-inch 10-point.

Excellent: Lots of 3.5-plus-year-old bucks.

Excellent: 156-inch buck and eight does.

Good: Got all the meat I need for the year.

Good: Strong rut, but no real second or third rut.

Good: Saw plenty of does this year and had several good bucks on camera, though I did not get an opportunity to harvest any of them. Population seems healthy on our property.

Twiggs Co. E-6, G-4, F-1, P-2

Excellent: Killed two mature bucks and two does. Could have killed a lot more if I wanted to.

Excellent: Property getting better .

Excellent: I shot my largest deer in October this year. It was the only shooter buck I saw while in the woods this year. The other deer I saw while in the woods were young bucks and groups of does.

Excellent: Lots of deer.

Excellent: I was able to harvest three does for management and two of our top target bucks, one of which I let walk two years prior to allow him to reach 5 year old as a 3 year old. He was a large buck already. My patience paid off as he gained tremendous width.

Excellent: Plenty of deer.

Good: Fewer does seen in both my Baldwin and Twiggs clubs.

Good: Deer seen on most outings and plenty of does to choose from for meat.

Fair: Logging on property.

Poor: They came in and cut timber all around me. Their equipment was there opening week. I completely stopped getting pictures of any deer during the day. It was all at night. Even with feeders and a food plot, the deer just stopped showing up in the day at all. I did kill one buck, but we had two really good bucks that just left the area after the cutting started in August. I had plenty of does showing up at night, but that was it.

Poor: New owner of property clearcut it all. They were still cutting trees the week before opening of gun season.

Union Co. E-4, G-3, P-1

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer. Killed two of the best bucks I ever took.

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer on public land in the mountains.

Excellent: Harvested a 6-pointer and son got an 8- and a 6-pointer.

Excellent: Was able to take two good bucks. More people seem to be letting young bucks walk.

Good: Lots of does, pretty good late season for bucks.

Good: Considerable hunt pressure in the Chattahoochee National Forest. I do not have access to private land.

Good: Saw a decent number of deer for north Georgia mountains.

Poor: Not enough doe days. Not allowing doe harvest in national forest; 50 percent of county is national forest.

Upson Co. E-3, G-8, F-7, P-3

Excellent: I hunted every weekend and saw deer about 95 percent of the time. I was blessed enough to harvest a nice 8-point buck, and my son harvested his personal best buck, a 9-pointer. We had about 10 more shooter bucks captured on our trail cameras that were lucky enough to not be killed. Everyone in my club saw a lot of deer, and several people were able to harvest some good bucks and a lot of does.

Excellent: Saw many deer while hunting. Harvested two deer.

Excellent: Saw several large bucks, decent-sized does (110 to 133 pounds), many offspring this past season, including several sets of twins.

Good: Saw a lot of rut action and was fortunate enough to tag a nice 10-point.

Good: For the time frame we had to hunt, both my wife and I harvested a buck. We were encouraged to see some good potential up and comers filling out in hopes to be good mature bucks in the future.

Good: Seeing lots of deer, but with my club rules and size limit, I didn’t take a buck this year in Georgia.

Good: Good deer population. No big bucks.

Good: I saw a lot of deer and harvested two does. I saw bucks but chose to not harvest them in hopes they will be bigger next year.

Good: Saw more mature buck shooters than previous year, as well as does.

Fair: Decent numbers, no big bucks, lots of young deer.

Fair: Did not see any bucks this year, only does and fawns.

Fair: One antlerless deer, did not hunt that much.

Fair: I haven’t had a season this good in 20 years. I got two bucks off public land, as well as two does. I also harvested eight more does on private land. I let a lot of deer walk, as well.

Fair: The rut was very sporadic this year. We were down on harvest compared to past years.

Fair: Not a lot of deer movement.

Fair: First week of November was too HOT. Very limited buck/deer activity. Season improved when I got to hunt some prime property in Pike and Meriwether, otherwise I would have rated Poor for the first time in my life. Accustomed to seeing 10 to 15 deer in our food plots, and we were getting skunked, seeing zero multiple times.

Poor: Saw fewer deer.

Poor: Only four deer were killed this year. They moved before sunrise and after sunset.

Poor: Very little deer movement. I heard very few shots. It was like the deer just disappeared.

Walker Co. E-4, F-3

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer—bucks and does—got a good 8-point on second day of hunting.

Excellent: Was able to harvest three deer: a spike, a 9-point and a doe.

Excellent: Met and exceeded my goal…  biggest deer I’ve ever killed.

Excellent: One of the best. Rifle season opens too early. Wish it wouldn’t open until November.

Fair: I saw very little rut action and very few bucks.

Fair: I would like to have seen more deer than I did. I think it is due more to the locations I have to hunt more than anything else.

Fair: Lost hunting property, hunted mostly public or smaller tracts of private. Less time to hunt them normal.

Walton Co. E-4, G-5, F-4, P-1

Excellent: Saw a lot of deer and harvested a nice 8-pointer and a doe.

Excellent: I harvested my first deer in seven years.

Excellent: Saw many deer and was able to harvest a target buck.

Excellent: Harvested a mature deer and saw good deer numbers on private. Public was more difficult this year than years past in some other counties.

Good: Lots deer but nothing big enough to shoot.

Good: Saw my big buck but never could get a shot on him in bow season. Got a good 9-point before Thanksgiving with a rifle. Saw fun rut activity and didn’t have many hunts where I didn’t see deer.

Good: Saw fewer deer, especially fewer does this year than previous years.

Good: I didn’t see any deer the few times I went, but my grandson got one both times he went while hunting from the same stand.

Fair: Too many coyotes killing fawns and we have NO turkeys left.

Fair: No quality bucks.

Fair: Not many does.

Poor: The season only produced very small bucks. Just a year ago, I had several large mature deer on camera. Only few fawns seen.

Ware Co. G-4, P-2

Good: More mature bucks showing up on cameras. Plenty of does.

Good: Saw plenty of deer but not the three biggest ones I wanted to take my choice of.

Good: I was fortunate to get two bucks but didn’t see as many deer as usual. I hunt on lease land, and we had a lot of clear-cutting occur throughout most of the season. I contribute our fewer deer sightings due to this and damage from the hurricane.

Good: Did not see a great rut, and the hurricane really demolished some of my areas to hunt, but I did see a lot of quality bucks.

Poor: Because of all the blown-down trees and debris.

Poor: Didn’t harvest any deer.

Warren Co. E-6, G-5, F-3, P-1

Excellent: The 300-acre club I am in has gotten better every year, and this year was the best since acquiring the lease in 2018. My 11-year-old son took a really good 9-point during the youth hunting season and also a nice 8-point during the rut. My wife, who has only taken three deer, managed to kill a big 8-point the day after Christmas. I myself took an adult doe. This season was amazing.

Excellent: Saw deer every time.

Excellent: Saw deer movement in approximately 75 percent of sits this season. Sightings were split closet to 50/50 bucks to does.

Excellent: Even with the hurricane problems, our club had an excellent season. Plenty of deer. Able to look at deer to make a decision. Plenty of food and cover.

Excellent: We killed four deer over 140 inches on my farm this year.

Good: Saw large deer but seemed like density was down.

Good: Plenty of does to shoot.

Good: Hurricane limited access to properties but was able to get three does.

Good: Quality deer on camera and several bucks that will be quality in future.

Fair: Didn’t get to go much since hubby had knee-replacement surgery.

Fair: Did not see as many bucks as year before.

Fair: Hurricane Helene knocked a ton of acorns off the trees and the hogs rolled in and took over. By late October, there weren’t many acorns left.

Poor: It’s probably my fault because I wasn’t able to get out much. The few times that I did go, I just didn’t see the numbers that I was used to. Also, I went out when it snowed and was surprised by how few tracks that I was seeing.

Washington Co. E-8, G-9, F-6, P-6

Excellent: Saw plenty of deer and had several really good hunts.

Excellent: Saw lots of deer.

Excellent: Saw several mature bucks and harvested a nice 8-point.

Excellent: Multiple days on stand with lots of activity and the ability to watch deer behavior. Was able to take a nice buck that showed up out of nowhere during the rut.

Excellent: Harvested a 140-inch buck and several does. The highlight was seeing my grandson harvest his first buck.

Excellent: Lot of movement.

Excellent: I saw more than 220 does and 80 bucks.

Good: The number of deer seen was up from the past several seasons. Deer seemed very healthy. Saw more bucks chasing during the rut than we ever have.

Good: Saw plenty of deer. Did not hunt as much as I should have, but hunting was good when I went. Saw two quality bucks and let them walk.

Good: It was good because I saw lots of deer and killed a very nice quality buck.

Good: I saw enough deer to keep it interesting.

Good: Great rut. Great acorn crop. Plenty of young deer. A few mature deer.

Good: Saw lots of does and small bucks. I was able to put two does in the freezer.

Fair: Hurricane damage.

Fair: So much tree damage from the storm. Most of the big acorn trees were on the ground.

Fair: Bad weather.

Fair: Saw a few deer, shot two bucks.

Fair: Per our photo survey, bucks were more nocturnal than normal, better food sources on adjacent properties.

Fair: No bucks good enough to shoot.

Poor: Very few deer. Very few pictures of deer on my cameras, too.

Poor: Did not see very many bucks during the rut and no mature bucks. Lots of does and younger bucks throughout the season.

Poor: Big deer moved after dark and was very warm. A lot of hunters in this area were cleaning up after the storm and not in the woods moving the deer around.

Poor: Deer numbers were down. Hardly saw any chasing during the rut.

Poor: Saw a lot fewer deer, no hogs. More coyotes and bobcats on camera.

Poor: Hurricane wrecked my farm. Hunted two weekends. Saw four bucks but passed on them. Shot two does. Had planned to shoot five since I give venison to non-hunting friends. Luckily, I was able to take a very large fallow deer in rut in Hungary and five Chinese water deer in England. I have almost a ton of Buck Muscle trapped in my storage barn due to fallen trees. Finally was able to get salvage crew in last week to start the process. Deer suffered since only one food plot was in before the hurricane. Corn feeders and protein troughs could not be filled. I had a new rifle that I did not get to use.

Wayne Co. E-1, G-3, F-2

Excellent: I saw plenty of deer this year.

Good: Saw deer. Harvested one buck.

Good: Weather didn’t cooperate very well during the rut. Killed a nice 8 during archery, and all the deer went nocturnal after that. Usually kill five or six in that spot, but something had them thrown off this year. Gun hunted around the state on public and didn’t see anything worth dragging out, mostly does and young bucks.

Good: Saw and killed fewer deer than my average of the last several years but still managed to harvest enough to have venison for months to come.

Fair: After years of deer drought, I was able to kill two small does. First time in many years.

Webster Co. E-2, G-2, P-1

Excellent: Lot of bucks and does, good food plots and feeders.

Excellent: Tagged out on bucks, including a bonus buck from Lanahassee Creek WMA. My kids each took a buck and a doe, and I introduced a new hunter to the sport. Saw deer most hunts and was able to spend time with family and friends.

Good: Got a nice 8-point and a doe, that’s all I need. Saw a lot of deer.

Poor: Deer farmers allowed to slaughter the deer.

Wheeler Co. F-3, P-1

Fair: Lease 3,000 acres and could only hunt 300 because trees were down everywhere, roads blocked, could not walk through woods from hurricane.

Fair: Did not see many deer on our property. Hurricane Helene really affected our property.

Fair: I saw several nice bucks but no shooters. The beginning of the season was tough due to cutting roads in the club due to Hurricane Helene.

Poor: Hurricane damage made most areas inaccessible.

White Co. G-1, F-2, P-4

Good: Observed many deer during the season, including several bucks aged between 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old, some that would score in the 120 to 130 range. All deer appear healthy, just did not see one large enough to pull the trigger on this year.

Fair: Too many people hunting over bait.

Fair: Hunted two different tracts of land. Saw fewer bucks on both properties than previous years.

Poor: Deer, turkey and grouse populations on the Chattahoochee National Forest have reached pitifully low numbers.

Poor: I hunted Chattahoochee WMA and Smithgall Woods this year, and I only saw three does total. This was for five hunts and many hours on my stand. I’m not sure why the deer population is so low? I’ve hunted the Hooch for more than 40 years, and it is so disappointing not to see a buck in the last 6 years. The first gun hunt they had in October had zero perent success rate.

Poor: Way too many bucks killed. Twelve deer per person is overkill. With baiting, the old and young bucks are being wiped out. Needs to be quality management on bucks statewide to allow a good breeding situation. Or start the season later and cut out late-season doe days. Our good genetics are diminishing. Kill out the big breeder bucks in the first two weeks of gun season, leaving passed over inferior genetics to breed the doe population.

Whitfield Co. E-3, G-2, F-1

Excellent: The first time I killed a 10-pointer and 10 does in a single season in my 60 years of hunting.

Excellent: Lots of deer, let a ton of bucks walk.

Excellent: I am a trophy hunter, and I kill a big deer every year. I put the time in it. I plant, I feed, I do it right.

Good: Good number of deer sightings and encounters in spite of no feed and no food plots.

Good: I harvested three deer and had several other deer sightings.

Wilcox Co. G-1, F-3

Good: I would rate it excellent because I did harvest a mature buck, but there were only two mature bucks on my property, and way too many does are being taken, either by permits or hunters, which has declined the overall population of the deer herd.

Fair: Didn’t get to spend much time hunting.

Fair: Too many bucks.

Fair: Deer were not easy to find and harvest.

Wilkes Co. E-3, G-12, F-5, P-3

Excellent: The number of quality deer this year was overwhelming. Very healthy deer herd. Several larger does taken in addition to some great bucks. With just a little common sense, managing our deer herd is thriving.

Excellent: Saw several good bucks and a lot of does. Took a good 11-pointer.

Excellent: First time hunting in Georgia. I saw more deer in three days than expected.

Good: Saw lots of deer but no big bucks.

Good: There were a lot of does throughout the season. We had young bucks but not as many mature deer as other seasons.

Good: Saw a lot of deer, especially bucks the month of November (only time I had to hunt).

Good: Hunting is what you make it. Every season should be rated at least GOOD. Some do it for antlers, some do it for food, some like me do it for relaxation. Me? I do it for all three. Lol

Good: Plenty of deer, no large bucks.

Good: Saw a lot of deer this year. More bucks.

Good: We had a good number of deer on the property this year.

Good: I did good putting four deer in my freezer. Just no big buck

Good: I harvested all 10 of my does in my limit and killed a 132-inch buck with my bow.

Good: Had a good season. Rut seemed a little off is why I didn’t say excellent. I think that storm damage may have effected movement, along with warm weather. Had another excellent season with family.

Good: The year-round feeding, being very selective with what bucks we shot and concentrating on shooting as many does as we can.

Fair: Deer numbers were good, just not seeing quality bucks.

Fair: Deer population down and no shooter buck on camera or seen.

Fair: No deer. No large bucks.

Fair: Fewer deer seen and harvested. Suspected reasons: 1. Adjacent clubs use feeders, which we do not. 2. Recent increase in predators seen from stands and on trail cameras (mainly coyotes but also large bobcats). 3. Fewer food plots planted due to rock-hard ground secondary to severe drought.

Fair: Saw the biggest buck I’ve seen since hunting this lease. Couldn’t get a shot at him. Saw two other shooters but passed on them waiting for the big boy to come back… he didn’t. Didn’t see any shooters except during the peak-rut period. First year I can remember that I didn’t harvest a buck.

Poor: Every year we see fewer and fewer deer, and the limits never change. It will not improve until DNR lowers the limits and stops telling all clubs to kill as many does as possible. Some may need it, but most do not. I get tired of hearing people saying “where’s the deer” or “they’ve all gone nocturnal,” when the reality is that they’re dead from overthinning.

Poor: Lack of deer seen during season.

Poor: This season was off for sure. Not sure if the hurricane messed them up or what. Deer sightings were way, way, way down. Cameras showed really only young deer frequently. Hardly any rut signs or activity. The October lull came early and stayed all season. We ended up with four deer total for four of us hunting, and we had to work hard for those. I took off opening day for 30 days, hunted five or six days a week and saw four deer total during that time frame.

Wilkinson Co. E-2, G-7, F-5, P-3

Excellent: I saw plenty of deer and killed five deer.

Excellent: To keep everyone happy. We can’t tell the truth, we live in the USA don’t worry, be happy! It’s all good!

Good: I saw a fair number of deer and a couple of good bucks, one of which I killed. The weather was very warm early in the season and well into the rut. Due to the warm weather and mosquitoes, I did not hunt as much as I would have liked during the early part of the rut. I also did not hunt much in the evenings when the weather was warm, also due to the mosquitoes. My hunting property is in the river bottom, and all of the sloughs and low spots were full of mosquito breeding water from the hurricane. Usually these areas are dry in the fall.

Good: Did not see as many deer as years past.

Good: It wasn’t the best year of seeing really good bucks.

Good: Saw a lot of deer early in the season.

Good: Didn’t see as many deer as prior years but shot two quality bucks and a doe.

Good: Rut was intense. Lots of movement.

Fair: A lot of health issues kept me from going as often as I wanted and the movement was a little slow where I hunted.

Fair: Not a lot of rut action.

Fair: Fewer deer seen.

Fair: Too hot early in season.

Poor: A lot of does. No shooter bucks of 4 1/2 or better.

Poor: I saw the fewest deer I’ve ever seen from the stand in 55 years of deer hunting. On a neighboring tract, two hunters hunted eight days and saw NO deer. My opinion is that recent timber clearcutting on three adjoining tracts caused the lack of deer, one tract received a controlled burn three days before the end of deer season.

Poor: Too hot and not as many deer as in previous years.

Worth Co. E-7, G-4, F-2, P-1

Excellent: Saw and harvested mature bucks.

Excellent: I saw deer each time I sat in the stand on or in the ground blind. We let several deer walk. My oldest son and my niece shot their first deer sitting with me. My middle son shot his first deer during the same hunt as me, but he sat with his dad, and I killed my biggest buck yet the same day. We have watched several bucks on our trail camera throughout the season.

Excellent: Everyone got a big buck.

Excellent: My kids killed deer, my nephews killed deer, my sister killed her biggest, and I killed my biggest.

Excellent: Plenty of deer with a great buck-to-doe ratio.

Good: Saw lots of deer.

Good: The rut seemed strange. Didn’t see much rutting activity and really didn’t see many bucks of any age. I was able to harvest some does, but even that seemed off.

Good: Saw plenty of deer this year and was able to harvest a very nice buck.

Good: Saw multiple deer—bucks and does. Most bucks were not over 3.5 years old.

Fair: We’re trophy hunters, not meat hunters Saw plenty of does and smaller bucks and passed on a few I know others would have been thrilled to harvest. We’ll never get big bucks if hunters shoot the 3 and 4 year olds. Shoot does if you just want meat. Ten should be plenty for any family.

Fair: Observed fewer deer.

Poor: Too many hogs.

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Turkey Hunters Speak On 3 Years Of Reg Changes

It’s not front-page news that Southeastern turkey populations have taken a nose dive in recent years. As researchers probed into the issue, some believed that gobblers being shot before the majority of breeding was done was a cause for declines in turkey populations. As a result, Georgia WRD believed a shorter turkey season for Peach State hunters—with a reduced limit—would be a step in the right direction.

So, with three spring seasons under our belts with less time turkey hunting and more uninterrupted breeding going on, we were curious to see what our GON readers are seeing in terms of turkey populations on the primary properties where they hunt.

We wanted to know if folks are content with limited turkey hunting opportunity, maybe in hopes that populations will rebound. Or, are hunters wanting to see Georgia go back a longer season that begins earlier?

Results and a sample of comments are below.

• Lots of birds three years ago. Scarce now. In favor of two-bird limit but not limiting reasonable hunting opportunities.

• I would like to see it go back to the way it was before 2022. Since the 2022 season, we have not been able to harvest a single gobbler.

• No turkey have been harvested since later opening.

• I don’t mind the shorter turkey season or two-bird limit. I dislike the later opening day.

• I totally agree with the reduction in how many gobblers we can take per season. I do not agree with the shorter season. Where I hunt, by the time season opens, all the breeding is done. Reducing the bag limit and hunt time looks like a knee-jerk reaction that penalizes the hunters.

• I think the changes to turkey season were helpful.

• Turkey season needs to  start another week later. Seemed to help first year.

• If you look at the harvest data from 2017 to 2024 at Cedar Creek WMA, the late starting date and reduced limits do not seem to be solving the problem. Cedar Creek has been following the guidelines for five years.

• Go back to three gobblers, and make the season start even earlier than before by two weeks.

• It would be good to see public and private turkey dates line up the same.

• My honest opinion on turkey season is that only one gobbler should be killed a season but the season should be kept shorter. Also, more encouragement on killing coyotes.