UKH

Is it legal?

No, not in the UK.

No. But you could have googled that.

What do you want to hunt? Welshmen, cats, buffalo?

Blanket “no” for the UK for longbow, recurve, compound and crossbow hunting.

For the USA, it’s permitted if you meet a bunch of conditions specific to the state you’re hunting in.

Pre or post apocalypse? After the apocalypse I expect enforcement of these things will be pretty nonexistent.

In NY state there are bizarre rules for deer hunting. Something like one deer per season with each of rifle, musket and crossbow

Unless you're an Englishman, within York city walls, shooting a Scotsman between Monday and Saturday. 

Pretty sure there's still a few active bylaws along the lines of "every adult man must practice archery every Tuesday in the village square".

I think its the churchyard every Sunday. Which is why yew trees are common in churchyards.

If you did that today, rock up to the Methodists and set up targets in the car park, you'd be in trouble. I expect that there are modern laws that supersede the old ones, that may still be on the books.

Just arrows? That might be ok, you'll have to be quick though.

Bow hunting in the UK isn't legal. Archery clubs use '3d' field targets as a substitute (fake plastic animals)! 

https://archeryworld.co.uk/targets/3d-animal-targets

Owning and shooting a bow is legal, although there is a bit of grey area over where and how you can. Strictly speaking having bow and arrow (a weapon) visible in a public place could get you in trouble. All archery clubs will be shooting with insurance in place (Archery GB or NFSA) and following a code of conduct etc. to make sure no one gets sued or arrested.    

You can in France, deer and boar. I knew someone years ago who did it, hazy memory says you had to demonstrate very high levels of accuracy and competence to get a licence. That may not be correct given that pretty much anyone with half a bottle of wine in them can blast away to their heart's content with a rifle at anything that moves. 

Using a longbow in an average churchyard would be handy for business.

The yews connnection with churchyards almost certainly predates anything to do with archery and quite possibly from pagan traditions.

I head this on a guided tour around a poisonous plants garden just last week (Yew is the most poisonous plant found in the uk). The belief was, so we were told, was the poisonous and wide spreading roots were meant to stop the dead from rising from the ground, which is why they are widely planted in church yards and cemeteries. As the trees are extremely long lived,  sometimes the burial grounds and trees predate the church. 

It's a less humane way to kill an animal so thankfully it's illegal.

Seems there are overlapping theories why yews grow in churchyards. Thanks, I didnt know their history was so rich.

https://britainsbestguides.org/blogs/why-do-so-many-english-churchyards-hav...

Like firearms, it's completely dependent on the skill of the hunter. It's a lot more humane being hit in the heart with a hunting arrow than shot in the stomach with a rifle.

Personally I wouldn't like to see it allowed in the UK given the stupidity of the general population, but other European countries seem to manage it.

If it was allowed we'd see extremely rapid licencing of bows, which given their lethality might not be a bad thing, but would upset a lot of law abiding archers.

Completely agree.

My comment came from the perspective that for the average user, I expect it's hard to be accurate with a bow, whilst to have an immediately lethal shot with bow, the accuracy has to be very good. The wound is bigger with guns so the accuracy is a little less important.

So I think there would be a lot more cases of injured and slowly dying animals if bow hunting was the norm.

Obviously if you limit the usage to very talented archers the results may be different, but bows are so accessible you;d get a large variety of talent and therefore outcomes.

Depends on the gun. A .22 would do rather less damage than a broadpoint from a fairly powerful bow.

Main difference is you have to be a lot closer so either need to have good woodcraft skills or be in a hide/stand.

I doubt there would be much in it in terms of injuring a deer. Since the average person would unlikely get close enough even to hit the deer in the wrong place whereas with a rifle they have far better chance.

the photo at the end of the interesting read shows the author standing in front of a house with a giant plunger on top of it!?!? What is that? Doesnt look like a chimney

Think its this.

https://englishbuildings.blogspot.com/2015/06/chipping-norton-oxfordshire.h...

Wow! That is an odd looking building, very impressive! 

Yeah. Its Dave Camerons house, I believe ...

Certainly a bit odd.  I rather think it's Bliss Mill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bliss_Tweed_Mill:
"The chimneystack is styled as a tall Tuscan column."

I believe the house was built by Davros, him who invented the Daleks.  

To be fair, no one would be legally hunting deer with a .22

True

Your average person isn't going out hunting deer with an appropriately powerful rifle.

I think English Yew is not good for longbows, mostly the best stuff came from Spain I seem to recall reading somewhere.

I'd understood the fact that many Yew trees predate the churches which were often built on old religious sites of significance.

Slightly off subject, but Churchyard Yew trees and archery have absolutely no link. They were never planted or used for the production of bows.   Long bows were used by armies of many thousands in the middle ages and there would absolutely no way the casual planting of Yew trees in church yards could have kept up the supply.

The yew wood used for our bows came from  commercial yew plantations, of which there are remnants left in both England, Spain and France, where production of good straight grained wood was grown.

I thought Davros was Kojak's brother

Presumably you can hunt most fish with arrows, ASFAIK harpoon guns are legal too which are essentially a form of bow.

Looking at the list of protected animals it may not include those regarded as pests eg rabbit, rats, voles other than water voles. Presumably some escaped or introduced animals eg mink are not protected.

Edit.Actually just checked and while poison or some traps are legal for killing pests, bows and crossbows are apparently not. Presumably fishing with them may be legal. Catapults?

Also spearfishing is illegal in freshwater, but harpoon guns and presumably bows can be used in sea with most mammals being protected. Some fish will be protected based on species, size and perhaps season.

I could have, but I was on here when the question popped into my mind. And I don't use g*ogle

Rabbits, pigeons and squirrels. 

I looked it up because that sounded like bullshit and it is. Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. You might be thinking of bear but that's one per season total, nothing about muskets in there.

Most mammals?

Intrigued to know which mammals are not protected.

In reply to Bridge it:

Maybe aln just has some interesting 'wild food' recipes and doesn't want to disturb the neighbours with loud gunshots. Don't be so judgmental.

It certainly isnt bullshit.  I have relatives in law there who are avid hunters and forever discussing the rules , which are here

https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/hunting/regulations/crossbow

Specifically:

"Deer

The number of deer a hunter may take depends upon the licenses and privileges purchased. If a licensed hunter has the proper tags, they are permitted to shoot more than one deer in a day. Here is a description of the tags received with each license type. Refer to the chart below for a description of how each tag can be used.

If you purchase:

Hunting License --

You will receive a Regular Season Deer Tag.

Muzzleloading or Bowhunting Privilege*--

You will receive a Bow/Mz Season Either Sex Deer Tag.

Muzzleloading and Bowhunting Privilege*--

You will receive one Bow/Mz Season Either Sex Deer Tag and one Bow/Mz Season Antlerless Deer Tag, both of which may be used in either season.

* A hunting license must be purchased to be eligible for Bowhunting and Muzzleloading Privileges."

Correct! Some livestock are daft enough to eat yew berries. So they need to be walled away. But yew is a useful wood, very hard and rot resistant, even if not  necessarily for longbows. Speculation that the Christian tradition is to do with repurposing pagan traditions. That makes an interesting story whether or not true.

You'd have hoped natural selection would mean animals don't eat poisonous stuff but it's not always the case I spent a few days/last summer clearing some horrible poisonous bushes to prevent cattle eating it on my uncle's farm (A few days doing a single task is a good way to learn my hands aren't as tough as theirs )

Your uncle´s cattle have hands?!

From what I've read the problem with livestock and yew berries is that the flesh isn't poisonous but the seeds are.

Dave

My apologies I read the same page but I read it incorrectly, the more than one a day not one a season part. I was wrong it means you can use your bow and rifle tag on the same day.

Although my father in law has a bunch of muzzleloaders they're not "muskets". Anyway I'll stop now because this is of no interest to people or even myself and I made myself look foolish.

Needles too, I believe. In case anyone's thinking of pine tea

I must admit that I did a double take on “Muskets”. I know an American who hunts deer with a muzzle loader. I also expected some antique thing, but it turned out to be something a bit more modern - in .50 calibre. Photo of same model of rifle attached.

who was that American woman who went hunting soay sheep on (I think) Islay? She'd have had an easier time of it with a bucket of sheep nuts and a house brick

Larissa Sweatlick

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/20790091.us-huntress-sparked-outrage-pic...

Don’t do it with a bow. As a 12 year old I had a 30lb bow and some arrows hidden down a rabbit hole a couple of km from Bakewell and used to stalk the rabbits which infested the overgrown disused sewage works. I finally hit one, but not cleanly, and I won’t ever forget its screaming. Never did it again. 

Not in the UK

My simplified gun categorisation lumps all those starting with m together!

What I don't understand is why it matters what you kill them with. Why not just say 3 a year, or whatever.

Rats.Obviously not truly marine but certainly swim in sea! Sinking ships and all that. Other occasionals eg mink. Actually I suppose it might still be illegal to use a bow as land regulations probably still apply in UK waters.

I guess because every American has more firepower than a small nation. There needs to be some restraining of their god given right to shoot anything that moves.

Back on topic.

As a vegetarian, I'm all for people hunting bears with arrows, in theory. It should be an equal match. Stalking each other through the woods and going toe to toe. Kill or be killed. The very essence of kill to eat. Certainly more macho, than blasting Bambi with a battlefield grade weapon. However, in practice, I expect the brave hunters will sit in a tree house, above some bait. Safe in the knowledge that the bear cant get them regardless of how badly they wound it.

You could just leave them rather than giving them an unnecessary and agonizing death.

I would disagree for a few reasons, including the one you set out.  Arrows kill large animals with broadheads, which are [the last time I looked, several decades ago] basically 4 razor blades.  So it cuts up the inside of the bear/moose/large mammal.  And then the animal goes away to bleed to death and die.  Or maybe not, because the hunter may have missed the vitals and the animal goes away to suffer.  An injured, almightily pissed off bear wandering around the woods is not good for anyone, including the bear.  Also, not many people actually eat the bear meat. [may be different outside of Canada?]

I think dread-i's point was along similar lines to the warnings about not trying to rely on a handgun to tackle bears, because the bear will just stick the handgun up your ar*e... i.e. your chance of the bear killing you is quite high.

oh, lord. that's the one. no better than I remembered....

I think it’s pronounced Sweaty-lick. 

You cannot hunt fish with a bow and  arrow. 

Section 1 of The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975, Lists  illegal methods of catching fish.  I won't repeat them all but includes nets, wires, snares, firearms and   includes "...throwing or in some other way discharge a stone or any other type of missile for the purpose of taking or killing of salmon, trout or freshwater fish. 

You don't need to be a lawyer to realise that an bow and/or arrow is a missile as covered under the above act. 

But it's OK for saltwater fish?

During the pandemic I discovered that someone not far from here keeps some fairly unusual Jacob sheep.  (They have a really impressive satanic looking tup.*)

I'd never seen one before, and while I was looking online to find out what breed it was one of the first things I found was a ranch in the USA (Texas I think) where you can 'hunt' one for $$$s. 

When I say "hunt" I mean you turn up with your gun, pay your money, shoot the sheep in a field and then pose for a photo with it.

*Edit to add: photo

As per my edit to my post it is legal to use a harpoon gun in saltwater, and I imagine a bow would be regarded as similar. Obviously would be pretty difficult to use due to refractive index difference between air and water. I do remember children's books with pics of indigenous people fishing using bows.

Nobody has riparian rights for saltwater fish...

Are they ovine a laff?

No, it’s ewe that’s ovine a laff 

You can go off spear fishing, and I'd assume bow and arrow hunting in the sea.  There doesn't appear to be any similar regulations which prohibit such methods at sea.  I used to spear fish in the Med but I would not do it now - seems unnecessarily cruel.

It's baaaaaad!  I looked it up again - the whole business is even sadder than I remembered:
https://www.texashuntlodge.com/hunting-packages/4-horned-jacob-sheep

In reply to Bridge it:

For food.

I could, but I want to eat them.

A couple of weeks ago I was out in the garden and saw the police helicopter hovering over the village a mile down the road (Forth in Lanarkshire)  apparently some kids were doing target practice in the coop carpark with a crossbow. Not what you'd expect outside west lothian.

But I would expect it in Forth. Jeez you must have been bad in a previous life to end up there!

In reply to Bridge it:

As are you. You're replying to your own preconceptions and opinions.

Your standards are slipping.

Yes. The berries aren't strongly flavoured but they're sweet and OK for a wee taste as you walk along.

In reply to Bridge it:

You assumed I was asking the question for myself. You assumed I asked it because I wanted to do it. You assumed it was due to a desire 'to kill'.

I will admit having seen this thread.

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/the_pub/london_crossbow_attacks-769127

I am suspicious.

What are you suspicious about?

In reply to Bridge it:

Yes but the person making the comment about shooting Welshmen, and the one about shooting Scotsmen in York, were joking. Calm down.