Waterfowl hunting season planning can now get underway since the 2020-2021 migratory bird season hunting dates and regulations were recently approved by the Board of Natural Resources.
“Recent federal legislation, the Natural Resources Management Act, allows Georgia to offer two additional days of duck hunting to active duty military and veterans. These days will occur on the same dates as Youth Waterfowl Days, which is on Nov. 14-15, 2020 this year,” said Greg Balkcom, state waterfowl biologist for the Wildlife Resources Division. “The duck hunting season will end on the fixed date of January 31 like last year. The daily bag limit for mallards remains at two this year, with no more than one hen, and the scaup bag limit dropped to one. The bag limit change for scaup is responsive to a population decline for this species.”
Some need-to-know dates and details for waterfowl season are the September Canada goose season (Sept. 5-27) and the September teal season (Sept. 12-27). Canada goose hunting has three additional seasons: Oct. 10-25, Nov. 21–29, and Dec. 12 – Jan. 31. Hunting season for ducks is Nov. 21-29 and Dec. 12-Jan. 31. A complete summary of migratory bird hunting season dates and bag limits is online at https://georgiawildlife.com/migratory-bird-info.
Youth, Veteran, and Active Duty Military Waterfowl Days are Nov. 14-15, 2020. On these two days, veterans, active duty military, and youth age 16 or younger may hunt specific migratory birds, such as ducks, Canada geese, and mergansers. Youth must be accompanied by an adult of at least 18 years of age (only the youth may hunt, unless the adult is a veteran or active duty military).
State license fees help support wildlife conservation in Georgia. The state receives federal funds from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program, based on a number of factors, including the number of paid sporting licenses. In Georgia, these funds are approximately $14 million a year and have helped restore habitat and improve wildlife populations, among other conservation efforts. Hunters may purchase licenses online at www.GoOutdoorsGeorgia.com, by phone at 1-800-366-2661 or at more than 800 license agent locations.
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