JUMP TO: How to Apply | Priority Points | Available Hunts | Success Rates | Pro Tip | Additional Reading

Georgia public lands offer plenty of great turkey hunting opportunities, but your best odds of success typically come in the form of the state’s quota turkey hunts.

That’s because quota hunts limit the number of hunters utilizing the WMA, which in turn reduces pressure and keeps the birds a little less on edge and a little more vocal for at least the first week of season.

Photo of an adult and youth Georgia turkey hunter with a turkey.
Photo courtesy of Mark Wooley

So, if you’re interested in hunting one of Georgia’s quota hunts this turkey season, read on. I’ll dive into all the available hunts, how many priority points you’ll likely need to draw each (and even some you can draw with no points), as well as your odds of success for each hunt based on previous years.

There is a ton of information to digest in this article, so feel free to use the jump links above to get right to the information you need!

How to Apply for a Quota Turkey Hunt

Applying for a Georgia quota turkey hunt is easy and free. You do not have to purchase your hunting license prior to applying. The process is the same whether you are a resident or nonresident hunter.

Here are the 8 steps to apply:

1. Head over to the gooutdoorsgeorgia.com website and click on the “Quota Hunts” link.

Screenshot of step 1.

2. Login to your account. If you don’t have an account, create one.

Screenshot of step 2.

3. Once logged in, click on “Apply for a Quota Hunt”

Screenshot of step 3.

4. Look for the Turkey option, and click “Apply”

Screenshot of step 4.

5. Choose to either “Apply as an Individual” or “Create a Party” if you are applying with a group.

Screenshot of step 5.

6. Select up to three hunts

Screenshot of step 6.

7. Arrange the hunts in your preferred order of preference by dragging and dropping them. Be sure to put your first choice at the top. Then click “Continue Application”

Screenshot of step 7.

8. Make sure you are wagering the correct number of priority points, then click “Submit”

Screenshot of step 8.

You’re all set!

Typically you will receive an email a day or two after the February 15th deadline letting you know if you were drawn.

What Are Priority Points?

Georgia’s state-managed quota turkey hunts on WMAs and VPAs work on a priority point system. The way it works is, every year you apply for a quota turkey hunt and aren’t drawn, you get a priority point to use in subsequent years.

You can also opt to apply for only a priority point if there’s not a hunt you want to draw. You can continue to accumulate priority points year-after-year until you finally use them to draw a hunt.

The more priority points you have, the better your odds of drawing a hunt.

Some quota turkey hunts can be drawn without any priority points. Other hunts may require four or more.

Check out our full explanation of how priority points work in the video below.

Available Quota Turkey Hunts for 2024

For 2024, Georgia is offering 67 quota turkey hunts across 34 Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) and Voluntary Public Access areas (VPAs).

Depending on demand, these hunts may take anywhere from zero to over 6 priority points to draw. Quota hunts open the first week of turkey season are typically the hardest to draw and have the highest success rates (more on success rates below).

If you don’t have any priority points, there are still opportunities to draw a quota hunt, but it will likely be for later in the season, and the hunting will be tough. But it beats not getting to hunt at all.

The table below breaks down all 67 quota turkey hunts for 2024, including hunt dates, the number of hunters to be drawn, as well as the estimated number of priority points needed to draw the hunt based on 2022 quota hunt data (unfortunately the DNR has not posted 2023 data).

WMA or VPAQuotaHunt DatesPoints to Draw*
Alapaha River WMA, Only Hunt1504/06/2024 – 04/14/20244
B.F. Grant WMA, Only Hunt8004/13/2024 – 04/19/20243
Big Lazer Creek WMA, 1st Hunt5004/06/2024 – 04/14/20243
Big Lazer Creek WMA, 2nd Hunt5004/20/2024 – 04/28/20241
Blanton Creek WMA, 1st Hunt3504/06/2024 – 04/12/20244
Blanton Creek WMA, 2nd Hunt3504/13/2024 – 04/19/20241
Bullard Creek WMA, Only Hunt8004/06/2024 – 04/12/20241
Ceylon WMA, 1st Hunt4004/06/2024 – 04/12/20243
Ceylon WMA, 2nd Hunt4004/20/2024 – 04/26/20241
Ceylon WMA, 3rd Hunt4005/04/2024 – 05/10/20240
Charles B. Henson VPA, 1st Hunt1004/06/2024 – 04/11/20242
Charles B. Henson VPA, 2nd Hunt1004/12/2024 – 04/18/20240
Charles B. Henson VPA, 3rd Hunt1004/19/2024 – 04/25/2024N/A
Charles B. Henson VPA, 4th Hunt1004/26/2024 – 05/02/2024N/A
Charles B. Henson VPA, 5th Hunt1005/03/2024 – 05/09/2024N/A
Chattahoochee Fall Line WMA – Almo, 1st Hunt5004/13/2024 – 04/21/20241
Chattahoochee Fall Line WMA – Almo, 2nd Hunt5005/04/2024 – 05/12/20240
Chattahoochee Fall Line WMA – Fort Perry, 1st Hunt1504/06/2024 – 04/08/20244
Chattahoochee Fall Line WMA – Fort Perry, 2nd Hunt1505/04/2024 – 05/06/20240
Chattahoochee Fall Line WMA – Hilliard, 1st Hunt4004/13/2024 – 04/21/20242
Chattahoochee Fall Line WMA – Hilliard, 2nd Hunt4005/04/2024 – 05/12/20240
Chickasawhatchee WMA, 1st Hunt4004/06/2024 – 04/12/20243
Chickasawhatchee WMA, 2nd Hunt4004/13/2024 – 04/19/20241
Chickasawhatchee WMA, 3rd Hunt4004/20/2024 – 04/26/20240
Clybel WMA, 1st Hunt2504/13/2024 – 04/17/20245
Clybel WMA, 2nd Hunt2505/04/2024 – 05/08/20241
Crockford-Pigeon Mountain WMA, 1st Hunt4004/06/2024 – 04/12/20243
Di-Lane Plantation WMA, 1st Hunt3004/13/2024 – 04/19/20245
Di-Lane Plantation WMA, 2nd Hunt3004/20/2024 – 04/26/20241
Dukes Creek – Smithgall Woods State Park, 1st Hunt2004/13/2024 – 04/14/20245
Dukes Creek – Smithgall Woods State Park, 2nd Hunt2004/27/2024 – 04/28/20242
Dukes Creek – Smithgall Woods State Park, 3rd Hunt2005/11/2024 – 05/12/20241
Gaither WMA, 1st Hunt1004/06/2024 – 04/10/20245
Gaither WMA, 2nd Hunt1004/13/2024 – 04/17/20241
Gaither WMA, 3rd Hunt1004/20/2024 – 04/24/20240
Griffin Ridge WMA, 1st Hunt2504/20/2024 – 04/26/20242
Griffin Ridge WMA, 2nd Hunt2505/04/2024 – 05/10/20241
Griffin Ridge WMA, 3rd Hunt2505/11/2024 – 05/15/20240
Hart County WMA, 1st Hunt504/06/2024 – 04/13/2024N/A
Hart County WMA, 2nd Hunt504/27/2024 – 05/04/2024N/A
Joe Kurz WMA, 1st Hunt2504/06/2024 – 04/14/20244
Joe Kurz WMA, 2nd Hunt2504/27/2024 – 05/05/20242
McGraw Ford WMA, Only Hunt1004/06/2024 – 04/12/20244
Oaky Woods WMA, Only Hunt8004/06/2024 – 04/12/20242
Ocmulgee WMA, Only Hunt10004/06/2024 – 04/12/20242
Oconee WMA, 1st Hunt3004/06/2024 – 04/12/20244
Oconee WMA, 2nd Hunt3004/13/2024 – 04/19/20241
Ohoopee Dunes WMA – North Tract, Only Hunt2004/06/2024 – 04/12/20243
Paulding Forest WMA, 1st Hunt5004/06/2024 – 04/14/20244
Paulding Forest WMA, 2nd Hunt5004/20/2024 – 04/28/20242
River Bend WMA, 1st Hunt1504/06/2024 – 04/12/20243
River Bend WMA, 2nd Hunt1504/13/2024 – 04/19/20241
River Creek, The Rolf and Alexandra Kauka WMA, Only Hunt504/19/2024 – 04/22/20246-plus
Rum Creek WMA, 1st Hunt2504/13/2024 – 04/17/20244
Rum Creek WMA, 2nd Hunt2504/27/2024 – 05/01/20241
Sheffield WMA, 1st Hunt1004/06/2024 – 04/14/20243
Sheffield WMA, 2nd Hunt1004/20/2024 – 04/28/20240
Silver Lake WMA, 1st Hunt3504/06/2024 – 04/10/20243
Silver Lake WMA, 2nd Hunt3504/25/2024 – 04/29/20240
Standing Boy State Park, 1st Hunt1004/26/2024 – 04/28/20242
Standing Boy State Park, 2nd Hunt1005/03/2024 – 05/05/2024N/A
Treat Mountain VPA, 1st Hunt1004/06/2024 – 04/14/20242
Treat Mountain VPA, 2nd Hunt1004/20/2024 – 04/28/20241
West Point WMA, Only Hunt8004/06/2024 – 04/12/20242
Wilson Shoals WMA, 1st Hunt1504/06/2024 – 04/13/20243
Wilson Shoals WMA, 2nd Hunt1504/20/2024 – 04/27/2024N/A
Wilson Shoals WMA, 3rd Hunt1505/04/2024 – 05/11/2024N/A
* Points to Draw estimate based on 2022 results. 2023 results were not available at the time of publishing.
N/A – hunts marked N/A didn’t exist in 2022, so there is no estimate to how many points it will take to draw.

WMA and VPA Success Rates

While this information is useful for making your hunt selections, be cautious in basing your decision solely on success rates.

There’s a few reasons for this, including:

  1. Compliance with harvest reporting requirements is not as good on some WMAs or VPAs as others.
  2. Success rates on small WMAs or VPAs with a limited number of hunters can seem overinflated with just a few birds harvested (Like River Creek below with a 58% success rate).
  3. Success rates can vary significantly from one year to the next. So, just because Rum Creek had a 31% success rate last year, doesn’t mean hunters will be that successful this season.

The information shared below is based on the entire turkey season for each WMA and VPA, not one particular quota hunt. In some cases, these WMAs may have open hunts after their quota hunts, which can skew the success rates compared to how hunters did on just the quota hunts.

WMA or VPA# HuntersHarvest% Success
Alapaha River14196.4%
B.F. Grant166169.6%
Big Lazer Creek1161412.1%
Blanton Creek17063.5%
Bullard Creek268269.7%
Ceylon WMA12054.2%
Charles B. Hensen VPA11218.2%
Chattahoochee Fall Line
Almo Tract
10532.9%
Chattahoochee Fall Line
Fort Perry Tract
3912.6%
Chattahoochee Fall Line
Hilliard Tract
5259.6%
Chickasawhatchee13875.1%
Clybel4736.4%
Crockford-Pigeon Mtn285176.0%
Di-Lane981111.2%
Dukes Creek45511.1%
Gaither1715.9%
Griffin Ridge10000.0%
Hart County WMA7211.4%
Joe Kurz4137.3%
McGraw Ford14521.4%
Oaky Woods18484.3%
Ocmulgee170105.9%
Oconee11754.3%
Ohoopee Dunes North10987.3%
Paulding Forest328329.8%
River Bend9244.3%
River Creek11654.5%
Rum Creek321031.3%
Sheffield10265.9%
Silver Lake WMA10632.8%
Standing Boy Creek900.0%
Treat Mountain VPA27311.1%
West Point139117.9%
Wilson Shoals14042.9%

Pro Tip: If you have the points, choose the first hunt for your preferred WMA. Success rates are almost always highest on the first hunt, then drop dramatically on subsequent hunts. 

Additional Reading

Public Land Turkey Hunting Tips

2024 Georgia Turkey Season Info

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