Gallium nitride (GaN) is a key material in blue light-emitting devices and is recognized as one of the most important semiconductors after Si. Its outstanding thermal conductivity, high saturation velocity, and high breakdown electric field have enabled the use of GaN for high-power and high-frequency devices. Although lots of researches have been done on the optical and optoelectrical properties of GaN, the defect-related ultrafast dynamics of the photo-excitation and the relaxation mechanism are still completely unclear at present, especially when the photo-generated carrier concentration is close to the defect density in n-type GaN. The transient absorption spectroscopy has become a powerful spectroscopic method, and the advantages of this method are contact-free, highly sensitive to free carriers, and femtosecond time resolved. In this article, by employing optical pump and infrared probe spectroscopy, we investigate the ultrafast photo-generated carriers dynamics in representative high-purity n-type and Ge-doped GaN (GaN:Ge) crystal. The transient absorption response increased as probe wavelengths increased, and hole-related absorption was superior to electron-related absorption, especially at 1050 nm. The transient absorption kinetics in GaN:Ge appeared to be double exponential decay under two-photon excitation. By modelling the carrier population dynamics in energy levels, which contained both radiative and non-radiative defect states, the carrier dynamics and carrier capture coefficients in GaN: Ge can be interpreted and determined unambiguously. The faster component (30–60 ps) of absorption decay kinetics corresponded to the capturing process of holes by negatively charged acceptor C _N. However, the capturing process was limited by the recombination of electron and trapped holes under higher excitation after the saturation of deep acceptors. As a result, the slower component decayed slower as the excitation fluence increased. Moreover, the experimental and theoretical results found that, the carrier lifetime in n-GaN can be modulated by controlling the defect density and carrier concentration under a moderate carrier injection, making GaN applicable in different fields such as LED and optical communication.