2024 WMA Bowhunting Special

Bucks like this make Flint River WMA a headliner for Georgia WMA bowhunting. This buck was taken by Richard Miller last season and scored 128 4/8 inches. There have been seven P&Y bucks taken from this WMA since it first opened to the public in 1994.

This may be a record. We’ve got 142 WMAs, state parks or VPAs that hosted public-land bowhunts last year. Some are headliners—like Flint River and Sapelo—but some of them are obscure, small tracts you probably have never heard of. Where is Echeconnee Creek anyway?

OK, so last year we had a pink elephant. Sapelo Island’s 2022-23 hunter-success rating came in at 460%. We spoke with WRD’s Blaine Tyler, and he cleared that up pretty quickly.

“Only five hunters officially signed in (2022),” said Blaine. “It’s important to acknowledge that the total number of hunters is likely higher, and the percentage rate becomes skewed due to hunters not signing in.”

There you have it. Hunters not signing in. Guys, sign in before you go. You’ll avoid a possible ticket, and we’ll get better data to share with the GON Community.

OK, that’s old business.

New business: For the first time ever, this 2023 season at Sapelo hosted non-quota archery hunting for the entire archery season on their “South End.” However, we’ve got another elephant… the announcement about the South End being open the entire season wasn’t clearly stated in the regulations booklet. Still, we ended up with 30 hunters killing 33 deer for another through-the-roof hunter-success rate of 110%. It’s not 460%, but is this accurate or not?

“Honestly, in my nine years here on Sapelo, last season was the most physical signatures I’ve ever seen,” said Blaine. “The regs weren’t completely clear, but the word had spread among the hunting community. I believe last season produced the most accurate data record we’ve had in a long time.”

Well there you have it. With the regs being very clear this year (stated as “South end: Sept. 14-Jan. 12,” it’ll be interesting to see if participation climbs any. We’ll revisit next year to see how folks did. For now, the South End of Sapelo is the top dirt in the state to take a WMA deer with a bow.

For more on hunting this Georgia barrier island, go to GON.com/hunting/sapelo-island-wma.

Moving onshore, let’s take a quick glance at the list of the “Top 25 WMA’s For Bowhunting.” This is where you’ll see several of those smaller tracts that don’t ever get headlines, until now. Let this article be a little nudge to get you in research mode. Consider Soap Creek (1,000 acres), Bartram Forest (1,343 acres), Oconee Dan Denton (100 acres),  Echeconnee Creek (750 acres) or Flat Creek (850 acres). Those small areas all made the Top-10 list.

With more than 140 public-land choices to choose from, it can be overwhelming on where to try bowhunting this season. GON’s WMA Bow Special is designed to help you drill down through data to make your bowhunting choices a little bit easier. You’ll find hunter and harvest numbers in the charts below.

Hunter-success rates and rankings can fluctuate from year to year, likely due to some areas receiving lighter pressure, and just a few deer can jack the success rates up—or down. For some areas, we don’t get information on one year and the next we do, so just study closely.

In addition to the GON WMA Bow Special, look at the Georgia Hunting Seasons & Regulations booklet before you hunt anywhere. Consider places that are open outside of the state’s regular archery season. You may find the woods to yourself.