I learnt that you can hunt in the UK with a catapult/slingshot. Can you hunt with a bow and arrow then?

I was told bows and arrows were made illegal in the uk primarily to stop plebs poaching the lords deer??
Bows aren't illegal in the UK. It's just not legal for us to hunt with them, but when did that ever stop a poacher?
It's my belief that had bows been in common usage for shooting deer at the time that the first deer act was written, then they may well have been included as a legal means, with specified draw weights, arrow types, etc.
 
on some land that a club i am in has permission to shoot over, the lease states that you are not allowed to shoot fish in the tributary stream at the boundary.
used to be a good salmon area apparantly
 
:rofl::rofl::rofl: and I suspect we'll be doing the same chasing around for fuel as they did....and maybe primers and good old school lead ammo. All whilst driving flat out across a deserted area to a great soundtrack🎸🚜🚑
You would make a cracking apocalypse tour guide 👍
Drop me a message if it goes ti ts up, I have big plans.
 
Bows aren't illegal in the UK. It's just not legal for us to hunt with them, but when did that ever stop a poacher?
It's my belief that had bows been in common usage for shooting deer at the time that the first deer act was written, then they may well have been included as a legal means, with specified draw weights, arrow types, etc.
I don’t know what the story was in the UK, but here bows and arrows were deliberately excluded from the ‘76 wildlife act as a legal hunting method.
We were a reasonably disparate group, bows did come up for discussion, but were excluded from the legislation for 2 main reasons, firstly no one knew of anyone hunting with one and secondly there were some concerns regarding their efficiency.
At that time, the early 70’s, bow hunting was nowhere near as popular as it has since become and we were dealing with bare bows and recurves.
A couple of the senior Lemons on our committee were in contact with senior Lemons in the BDS and more or less followed their lead.
The subject of bow hunting does get raised every now and again but theres no support.
Leaving other considerations aside, one of the rationales for allowing deer hunting with bows is that it increases hunter participation without affecting the overall harvest.
Do you really want more people out there spending more time in the woods but shooting fewer deer?
 
Not sure how true it is but I understand that killing game with a catapult using a stone/pebble as ammo is illegal as it is classed as "Stoning"

Hence the use of ball bearings (also more accurate than an irregularly shaped stone/pebble)

Happy to be corrected on this if I am wrong.

Ade :cool:
 
Bows and crossbows are illegal to hunt with in the UK. The catipult is actually classed as a toy but you can hunt with it , however if you dont do a clean job of the killing you can be charged with cruelty ( though it would be a hard case to prove intent over accident) .
Used improperly it can become an offensive weapon but so can most things even a shoe
 
I don’t know what the story was in the UK, but here bows and arrows were deliberately excluded from the ‘76 wildlife act as a legal hunting method.
We were a reasonably disparate group, bows did come up for discussion, but were excluded from the legislation for 2 main reasons, firstly no one knew of anyone hunting with one and secondly there were some concerns regarding their efficiency.
At that time, the early 70’s, bow hunting was nowhere near as popular as it has since become and we were dealing with bare bows and recurves.
A couple of the senior Lemons on our committee were in contact with senior Lemons in the BDS and more or less followed their lead.
The subject of bow hunting does get raised every now and again but theres no support.
Leaving other considerations aside, one of the rationales for allowing deer hunting with bows is that it increases hunter participation without affecting the overall harvest.
Do you really want more people out there spending more time in the woods but shooting fewer deer?
The Bow hunting organisations are working towards licensing bow hunting to those who qualify to the internationally recognised test . Bow hunters i know travel abroad and more nations allow it as dont with the quals ( that are pretty international)
In many ways it answers some of the questions of safety in more populated areas , it comes with the nightmare of deer wandering round with arrows sticking out of them when something has gone wrong !
Personally i think it takes great self control to pass up everything than the perfect opertunity of a clean shot , well under the hunters ability level ( that for me would be a draw to it not away from it ) . Others will see things differently of course
 
The Bow hunting organisations are working towards licensing bow hunting to those who qualify to the internationally recognised test . Bow hunters i know travel abroad and more nations allow it as dont with the quals ( that are pretty international)
In many ways it answers some of the questions of safety in more populated areas , it comes with the nightmare of deer wandering round with arrows sticking out of them when something has gone wrong !
Personally i think it takes great self control to pass up everything than the perfect opertunity of a clean shot , well under the hunters ability level ( that for me would be a draw to it not away from it ) . Others will see things differently of course
The current regulations and restrictions date back to the 60’s and 70’s, a very different time and place.
Bows were simple recurves and longbows without sights and there were far fewer legal impediments to acquiring a firearm.
At that time bow hunting was very much a minority niche interest, even in the USA, so it was treated as such and ignored.
The attitude was very much “ if you want to hunt deer, go get a rifle”. It still is.
I won’t campaign for you because I don’t want to share the forests with cammo clad archers creeping around in the bushes while I’m under pressure to get numbers on the ground and will have to take up the slack.
Selfish maybe, but from what I‘ve read firearms users and bow hunters sharing the same ground makes a very poor mix and personally I would not give you a separate dedicated bow season or hunting territory.
There may be some application for bows in suburban areas in some circumstances, but even in the USA suburban deer are being culled under licence using silenced firearms at night.
Best of luck with your campaign, but you get a 👎 from me.
 
Having seen videos of people hitting pennies from decent distances, I not to long ago purchased a wasp catapult to have a play with.

I can confirm, I would be unable to hit an elephant standing 10m away.

I then snapped a band and it's been sat in the drawer for 2 months.
Il take it off your hands lol
Love a wasp catapult 😂
 
It was not illegal to hunt with bows and arrow or spear in the UK until sometime in the 80's when some Muppets we're sticking field point in some swans and deer faces. This then gave the Communist organization that goes by the name of RSPCA to campaign for its outlawing.

You can buy or make all the hunting tackle and broadheads you desire but you can not hunt here.
You do have to be 18 or older to buy a crossbow.
It is the arrow or bladed shaft that is technically illegal to hunt with. Technically you can hunt with a stone bow or something that propels a ball.
 
It was not illegal to hunt with bows and arrow or spear in the UK until sometime in the 80's when some Muppets we're sticking field point in some swans and deer faces. This then gave the Communist organization that goes by the name of RSPCA to campaign for its outlawing.

You can buy or make all the hunting tackle and broadheads you desire but you can not hunt here.
You do have to be 18 or older to buy a crossbow.
It is the arrow or bladed shaft that is technically illegal to hunt with. Technically you can hunt with a stone bow or something that propels a ball.
whats a stone bow?
 
A stone bow is like a crossbow with a pouch to load stones. The WCA prohibits the use of bows or crossbows to hunt birds.
 
Back
Top