Handle your archery equipment safely

Archery and bowhunting safety rules cover all aspects of using archery equipment including storing, handling and shooting.

At times, the same rules and regulations that apply to firearms also apply to bows and arrows. Always check local regulations before bowhunting (covered in R-Licence Category 2 - Hunting with bows, in Section 2 of this course), and follow these archery safety rules.

• Always point the bow and arrow in a safe direction.
• Only place an arrow on the string (nock an arrow) only when it is safe to shoot.
• Be sure of your target, and what is in front of it, immediately behind it and beyond it.
• Never shoot over a ridge.
• Only shoot when you have a safe range or shooting area and a safe backstop.
• Do not shoot an arrow straight up into the air.
• Wear an armguard and finger protection while shooting bows and arrows.
• Handle arrows carefully.
• Immediately repair defects in equipment.
• Store your bows in bow cases — preferably hard cases — and store recurves and longbows unstrung.
• Store arrows in quivers.