Turkey season starts Saturday; Here’s everything you need to know

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Today marked the beginning of private land hunting in Georgia. The 2025 turkey season lasts from March 29 through May 15.

Turkey hunting on public land and Wildlife management areas has a delayed start of April 5, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said.

“On the public lands, you’ll need to be drawn. Applications deadlines are passed for all public land draw hunts. So, make sure you check the regulations, make sure you’re actually on an open hunt, on a sign-in hunt if you’re hunting on public land in Georgia,” said Brian Vickery, a Game Management Supervisor for the Georgia DNR.

In order to hunt turkey in Georgia, you need a hunting license, a big game license and a harvest record.

“Your license purchases, whether you go one time or every day of the season, are still giving us the benefit of being able to continue the research and the monitoring on all wildlife, not necessarily just game species,” continued Vickery.

It is recommended that hunters wear bright colors, but avoid red, white and blue, as experts said other hunters could mistake you for a gobbler.

The DNR is requesting that hunters participate in a brief survey to help with turkey population research.

“This is basically asking them to document their time, effort and observations of the things they saw and heard during the process of their hunt. This is allowing us to get to get a better understanding of the effort that goes into harvesting a bird and some other data points we are looking at,” said Vickery.

Click here to take the survey.

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