Vespula squamosa - Southern Yellowjacket
Supposedly, I can't screw up this ID (highly distinctive and unmistakable) because of those conspicuous longitudinal yellow stripes on the scutum, (but I am not familiar with these.)
If correct, this would fill in Georgia's August datapoint. And more interestingly, this guy was scavenging, or had killed, what was possibly a Gryllus wood cricket (best seen in wider-view photos #2 and #3). In this first close-up photo, the Yellowjacket has torn off a chunk of prey and dragged it some distance from the main carcass.