Georgia, 2026-27 season year

Georgia Bear Season 2026-27

Q: When does bear season open in Georgia in 2026-27?

Firearms: September 17, 2026 to January 10, 2027, varying by zone across 3 rows in the agency table. Archery: September 12, 2026 to October 9, 2026. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division publishes these dates and the full zone tables on this page were read from its own page on September 19, 2026.

Q: Does Georgia have a spring bear season in 2027?

No. Georgia dates no spring bear season. Every bear window in the 2026-2027 regulations falls between September and January. Spring bear seasons are mostly a western pattern, and the national page lists the states that hold one in 2027.

Q: Where are the rest of the Georgia bear hunting rules?

At Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, whose regulations page is linked on this page. Those rules are legally binding, change annually and vary by zone and land ownership; the permit and tag system, zone maps, methods and reporting requirements are all published there. This page carries the season windows themselves, with the source page and read date attached.

Bears in the southern Appalachians rely heavily on oak acorns to build fat reserves prior to the winter denning season. Understanding fall mast crops, which are highly variable from year to year, helps to predict where hunters are more likely to find bears during the hunting season.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division

Firearms: September 17, 2026 to January 10, 2027. People report black bears in Georgia most in July, and 22 percent of all reports fall in September, October and November. Everything below is Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division’s own words and dates, read on September 19, 2026, beside the record of what people reported.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 19, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.

September 17, 2026 to January 10, 2027

Firearms

published

September 12, 2026 to October 9, 2026

Archery

published

No season

Spring bear season

no season

July

Busiest reported month

396 reports on record

Fall activity

When black bears are most active in Georgia

Georgia counts three separate bear populations rather than one continuous range: the north Georgia mountains, the Ocmulgee River drainage in central Georgia, and the country in and around the Okefenokee Swamp in the southeast. The division puts the statewide population at about 5,100 and says bears may range over the entire state at times, with natural range expansion documented in recent years. The season structure follows those three populations, so the state's bear zones are drawn around them rather than across the whole map.

The bars count research grade American black bear observations people uploaded to iNaturalist for Georgia, by calendar month, across every year the platform holds. The busiest month in the record is July, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by November. The drop into winter reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency’s sentences below, not the curve, carry the timing.

396 research grade American black bear observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Georgia across every year the platform holds, and 22 percent of them fall in the three shaded fall months. The busiest month in the record is July, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by November. These are counts of what people reported, so they measure observers as well as bears; they are not a population, not a survey and not a statement about this autumn. See the records on iNaturalist.

Research grade black bear reports uploaded for Georgia by year, 2016 to 2025: 6 in 2016 and 60 in 2025. Most of the climb is the platform itself growing, and every species on it shows the same shape, so this is a record of reporting rather than a population trend.

What Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division says

Fall feeding

Bears in the southern Appalachians rely heavily on oak acorns to build fat reserves prior to the winter denning season. Understanding fall mast crops, which are highly variable from year to year, helps to predict where hunters are more likely to find bears during the hunting season.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Denning

Bears in Georgia use hollow trees, excavated holes in the ground, brush piles, rock crevices or other places that offer protection as winter dens. The breeding season is in July and cubs are born in the den in late January or February.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

When conflicts and sightings rise

Removing attractants is critical in resolving conflicts between people and bears. It may take several days for the bear to learn that it will no longer find a free meal. Usually, the bear will move on when the food source is gone.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

A young black bear resting its chin on a bare dead branch in a green hardwood forest, ears forward, looking at the camera — A young black bear on a dead limb in the hardwoods. In the eastern forests the fall feeding season runs on acorns and beechnuts, which is why the agency sentences quoted on these pages talk about hard mast and mast years. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear (20083897724)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Hunting dates

Georgia bear seasons, 2026-27

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division dates American black bear seasons under its own names, and each is below under that name with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them, the source page linked beside each table, and the date it was read.

Firearms

published

Firearms opens in 3 days, on October 1, 2026 (Southern Bear Zone: Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Lanier, Lowndes and Ware counties).

Georgia firearms, as published by Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Southern Bear Zone: Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Lanier, Lowndes and Ware counties (segment 1)	September 17, 2026	September 19, 2026	Four three-day windows on consecutive weekends, all inside 2026.
Southern Bear Zone: Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Lanier, Lowndes and Ware counties (segment 2)	September 24, 2026	September 26, 2026
Southern Bear Zone: Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Lanier, Lowndes and Ware counties (segment 3)	October 1, 2026	October 3, 2026
Southern Bear Zone: Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Lanier, Lowndes and Ware counties (segment 4)	October 8, 2026	October 10, 2026
Northern Bear Zone: Carroll, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Walton, Barrow, Jackson, Madison and Hart counties and all counties north of them	October 17, 2026	January 10, 2027
Central Bear Zone: Bibb, Bleckley, Houston and Twiggs counties	December 19, 2026	December 19, 2026	A single day. The division says a second hunt day will be opened in January if fewer than six female bears are taken on December 19, and asks readers to check its site after December 21.

Dates read from Big Game Seasons, Dates & Limits, 2026-2027 Georgia Hunting Regulations, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, accessed 2026-09-19.

Georgia dates its bear seasons by zone, and the three zones barely resemble one another. The Southern Bear Zone runs four three-day windows on consecutive weekends in September and October; the Northern Bear Zone runs one long window from the middle of October into January; the Central Bear Zone is a single December day that may gain a second day in January. Only the Northern Bear Zone has an archery window and a primitive weapons window ahead of its firearms dates.

Archery

published

Archery is OPEN now in the Northern Bear Zone: Carroll, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Walton, Barrow, Jackson, Madison and Hart counties and all counties north of them, through October 9, 2026.

Georgia archery, as published by Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Northern Bear Zone: Carroll, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Walton, Barrow, Jackson, Madison and Hart counties and all counties north of them	September 12, 2026	October 9, 2026

Dates read from Big Game Seasons, Dates & Limits, 2026-2027 Georgia Hunting Regulations, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, accessed 2026-09-19.

Georgia dates an archery bear season in the Northern Bear Zone only. The Central and Southern zones open with their firearms dates.

Spring bear season

no season

Georgia holds no spring bear season. Georgia dates no spring bear season. Every bear window in the 2026-2027 regulations falls between September and January. Source: Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division.

Other Georgia bear seasons the agency names

Primitive Weapons & Youth Only Firearms

published

Primitive Weapons & Youth Only Firearms opens in 12 days, on October 10, 2026 (Northern Bear Zone: Carroll, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Walton, Barrow, Jackson, Madison and Hart counties and all counties north of them).

Georgia primitive weapons & youth only firearms, as published by Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Northern Bear Zone: Carroll, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Walton, Barrow, Jackson, Madison and Hart counties and all counties north of them	October 10, 2026	October 16, 2026

Dates read from Big Game Seasons, Dates & Limits, 2026-2027 Georgia Hunting Regulations, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, accessed 2026-09-19.

A one-week window in the Northern Bear Zone that sits between the archery dates and the firearms dates.

The agency's own season sentence

Black bears occur in three distinct regions in Georgia, but may range over the entire state at times in search of food or a territory of their own.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Current Georgia regulations

Permit and tag requirements, zone maps, permitted methods, tagging and reporting, and everything else a bear hunter is bound by for Georgia are set by Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division: current regulations

A black bear track pressed into wet grey mud, five rounded toes in an arc above a broad pad, with a second fainter print beside it — A black bear track in mud in Shenandoah National Park. Tracks, scat, turned over logs and claw marks on smooth beech bark are the sign most people meet in the fall woods, weeks before they meet the bear. Photo: M. Punches, NPS. “Black Bear Track in Mud (44654784885)”, ShenandoahNPS, Public domain

Bear season in other states

Georgia deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Georgia small game seasonPheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel openers, read from the same agency.Georgia foraging calendarThe acorns, beechnuts and berries the agency names as fall bear food are the same mast a forager follows.

An adult black bear standing on a broken limb high in a hardwood tree above two small cubs, all three looking down — A mother black bear and two cubs of the year in a hardwood tree. The denning sentences quoted on the state pages describe when family groups like this one go to ground, and it moves by weeks between a Gulf Coast winter and a northern one. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear Family (20083894064)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Georgia bear season questions

When are black bears most active in Georgia in the fall?

In the observation record for Georgia, research grade black bear reports peak in July and 22 percent of all 396 reports fall in September, October and November. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division describes the fall feeding period in its own words, quoted on this page with a link to the page it came from. Reports count people as well as bears, so the shape of the curve is the useful part and the exact numbers are not.

When does bear season open in Georgia in 2026-27?

Does Georgia have a spring bear season in 2027?

When do black bears go into dens in Georgia?

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division describes the denning timing for Georgia in the sentence quoted on this page, read on September 19, 2026 from the page linked beside it. In the observation record, reports fall below 40 percent of the July peak by November and reach their low in January. That drop reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency's sentence, not the curve, is the denning answer.

Are black bear sightings in Georgia increasing?

The number of research grade black bear reports uploaded for Georgia went from 6 in 2016 to 60 in 2025. Most of that rise is the platform itself growing, since every species on iNaturalist shows the same climb, so the year bars on this page are a record of reporting rather than a population trend. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division describes when sightings and conflicts rise in Georgia in the sentence quoted on this page.

Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Georgia?

Where are the rest of the Georgia bear hunting rules?

A brown wooden Bear Country sign with a white bear pictogram and a red band, on two posts at the edge of a lodgepole pine campground in low sun — A Bear Country sign at Indian Creek Campground, Yellowstone. The land manager writes the rules on the board, and they change by campground and by season: food storage orders, closed drainages, and whether a soft sided tent is allowed at all. “Bear Country Sign for Indian Creek (14457698423)”, Yellowstone National Park from Yellowstone NP, USA, Public domain

A snow covered track running between pines bent low under heavy snow, with a strip of blue sky above — Midwinter at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Maine. This is denning season in the north; each agency's own sentence on when its bears enter and leave their dens is quoted on the state pages, and the month bars show the reports thinning to match. “Winter at Moosehorn (11714166893)”, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region, Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with agency data read on September 19, 2026 and an iNaturalist record to September 19, 2026. Every sentence about bear behaviour is Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division’s own, quoted exactly with a link to its page; every season window is republished from the agency page linked beside it, and windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. The month bars count what members of the public reported and are not a population. See also the national bear season guide.