Georgia · Squirrel · 2026–27 Edition
Georgia Squirrel Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Squirrel season (gray and fox) | Statewide | Aug 15 – Feb 28 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily, statewide (gray and fox combined) | 12 — no possession limit found published by Georgia DNR |
|---|---|
| WMA / Voluntary Public Access / department-managed lands — fox squirrel | 1 per person per day; some WMAs disallow fox squirrel hunting entirely — check the specific WMA's regulations |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (August 15, 2026) 06:27 — 20:47
Rule: Legal hours for hunting are 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset — Georgia's single rule for hunting, which covers squirrel; the night-hunting exceptions do not include it. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Georgia sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Squirrel hunters in Georgia need a Georgia hunting license.
Georgia hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Georgia — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does squirrel season start in Georgia?
The 2026–27 opener is August 15, 2026. See the table above for the full window.
When does squirrel season end in Georgia?
The 2026–27 closing date is February 28, 2027.
Is there a difference between fox and gray squirrel rules in Georgia?
See the bag limit table above — most states run one combined limit across both species, but this is worth confirming against Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division before you hunt.
How many squirrels can you shoot in Georgia per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Daily, statewide (gray and fox combined) — 12 — no possession limit found published by Georgia DNR. WMA / Voluntary Public Access / department-managed lands — fox squirrel — 1 per person per day; some WMAs disallow fox squirrel hunting entirely — check the specific WMA's regulations. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting squirrel in Georgia?
On opening day (August 15, 2026) legal light runs 06:27 to 20:47. The rule is: Legal hours for hunting are 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset — Georgia's single rule for hunting, which covers squirrel; the night-hunting exceptions do not include it. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Georgia sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt squirrels on my own land in Georgia without a license?
Georgia residents 16 and older don't need a license on land they or their immediate family own — tenants aren't covered. Deer and turkey still need a free Harvest Record, and waterfowl needs a free state license plus the federal Duck Stamp.
Verified · Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division · Last verified 2026-08-14
Publisher's note. Read directly from Georgia DNR's own site (georgiawildlife.com), which publishes this as a dated press article rather than a static regulations table — the exact same season structure (Aug. 15–Feb. 28, 12/day, 1 fox squirrel/day on WMAs) is repeated across three separate georgiawildlife.com pages/articles from different years, plus an August 2026 local-news writeup (wtoc.com, 2026-08-04) that explicitly quotes DNR staff and states the dates as 'Aug. 15, 2026 – Feb. 28, 2027' for the current season, which is what is recorded here. A companion official season-dates PDF (georgiawildlife.com/sites/.../Season%20Dates%20July%2025-26.pdf, prior season) independently confirms 'Aug. 15–Feb. 28' and '12 per day' for squirrel with no separate possession-limit column — no possession limit for squirrel could be found on any georgiawildlife.com page checked, and none is stated here rather than guessed. The Publuu-flipbook readability issue flagged for Georgia did not block this state: georgiawildlife.com's own HTML season-announcement articles were fetchable and are treated as the primary source instead of the flipbook regs guide. Fox squirrel WMA restriction is stated verbatim from the DNR article: 'not all [WMAs] allow fox squirrel hunting or have a fox squirrel bag limit of one per person per day' — the exact list of which WMAs disallow fox squirrel entirely vs. cap it at 1/day was not itemized on this page.